Tag Archives: Somerset

CleanupUK has been operating for nearly 20 years and occupies a distinctive position in the environmental sector, combining practical environmental action with community empowerment insome of England’s most disadvantaged neighbourhoods. These communities are disproportionately affected by litter, so they focus on those in the top 30% of the UK’s Indices of Multiple Deprivation.

They are currently working in 26 local authorities of England including Bristol, supporting disadvantaged communities to help protect their green spaces and build better connected neighbourhoods through volunteer-led cleanup sessions.

Each year, around 4,500 people are supported through their grassroots action which has long-lasting benefits for residents, nature and the environment

Bristol is a vibrant, multi-cultural city but also has several pockets of high deprivation that face a number of social issues and experience high litter levels. It is also one of the UK’s most nature-rich cities with over 400 parks, green spaces and a network of nature reserves and habitats supporting diverse wildlife. However, they are under constant pressure from litter and pollution, especially in more disadvantaged neighbourhoods where there are less high-quality green spaces than in wealthier areas.

Parks, riversides and other spaces are regularly degraded by litter that attracts further littering, antisocial behaviour, dog fouling and drug paraphernalia. All this has a direct impact on residents’ quality of life, their access to time in nature and limits children’s opportunities for outdoor play and engagement with the natural world. This is why our community-led action to improve these spaces is particularly important.

The key objectives in Bristol are to increase the number of our Hubs in time from 3 to 5  and ensure that every hub has a regular litter-picking group attached to it. We see this as critical to increasing activity levels, boosting volunteer numbers, and strengthening community ownership. Overall, the work in Bristol is in a positive position with an active Hub based in each of the following areas:

• Wellspring – serving neighbourhoods in Barton Hill and Lawrence Hill, areas of East Bristol
with high deprivation levels. The Hub continues to perform strongly despite maternity cover arrangements and has an established volunteer cleanup group. Its regular activities are helping to strengthen local ownership and improve the long-term sustainability of
environmental action here.

• Shirehampton – serving neighbourhoods where there are significant pockets of deprivation. The Hub has developed its activities significantly over recent months, with CleanupUK’s litter-picking equipment being shared with other local community groups, helping us to extend the reach and impact of our work.

• Hartcliffe & Withywood – this Hub here serves a community experiencing significant
deprivation, where many residents face poor health, unemployment and the continuing
pressures of the cost-of-living crisis. Cleanup UK recognise both the need and the opportunity to make a lasting difference  Over the coming months intensive support will be provided to recruit and train new volunteers, strengthen community participation, and establish a sustainable, resident-led cleanup group to help improve green spaces and local ecosystems.

Restore Our Planet are pleased to support this excellent project.

More Trees BANES is a grassroots charity helping communities across Bath and North East Somerset—and increasingly, nearby areas—grow their own trees from locally collected seed, supporting both biodiversity and climate resilience.

Rather than importing trees, which can increase the risk of pests and diseases, they grow their own. The innovative “hub and spoke” model allows the propagation of trees at a central nursery and they distribute young seedlings to a growing network of over 17 community tree nurseries, including school-based nurseries and partnerships with local organisations.

Everything  is powered by people. Over 300 volunteers contribute their time each year — gathering seed in local woodlands, nurturing saplings in nurseries, and planting them out into the community. Volunteers range from school pupils and Duke of Edinburgh Award students to community groups, businesses, and individuals who simply want to give something back.

More Trees work flexibly with each  nursery site to suit local needs, whether it’s an urban allotment or a school garden, and  training and support is offered to build confidence and community.

In the last year alone ( 2024/25 ), they’ve planted over 5,000 trees across Bath and surrounding areas. Sites have included The Oval and Stirtingale Road in Bath, and a new woodland in Almondsbury, developed with Forest of Avon and Ecosurety.

Importantly, some trees are planted by the same people who nurtured them—volunteers from MIND’s Greenlinks project grew and then helped plant trees at The Oval, with clear positive effects on wellbeing, confidence, and connection.

Education is a key part of their mission. The school nursery programme now runs regular sessions with over 200 pupils involved each term. Young people learn how to care for trees from seed to planting, while developing practical skills and environmental awareness. This hands-on learning is delivered free to participating schools.

More Trees are excited to be developing  their own central nursery and training hub on a long-term lease in Twerton, Bath, thanks to support from CURO, the Forestry Commission, and BANES Council. This new facility will provide space for seed processing, training, events, and community engagement, cementing our vision for sustainable, local tree production.

Restore Our Planet are pleased to be supporting this exciting project.

The common swift, a designated iconic species in Bath, has declined by 53% between 1995 and 2016 and is now amber listed. It is believed loss of nest sites is at least partly responsible. These migrant birds return from their wintering grounds in Africa to the same spot each year to breed – usually in buildings, in gaps in roof tiles and eaves.

Due to our tendency to seal up buildings during renovation or knock them down, swifts are returning to discover their nest site has gone or access is blocked.

To attempt to counteract this trend, Bath Swift Group, part of Bath and District RSPB Local Group, decided to encourage interested local residents and churches to install swift nest boxes.

Restore our Planet has supported the purchase and erection of these in appropriate locations.

By the end of the 2023 season Bath Swift Boxes had supplied and installed 108 new boxes in Bath and the surrounding area including colony boxes in three of Baths church towers.

Take-up of the boxes though unpredictable has been encouraging and will surely increase with time. The primary objective is to provide Swifts with opportunities for nesting and occupation will surely increase with time.

In the six years since 2017 Bath Swift Survey  identified 176 locations in Bath that have at one stage or another been occupied by Swifts.RSPB Bath Swift Group now know those areas of the city favoured by Swifts and are able to understand better what is needed to sustain there numbers.