Support Bon Volks' Swift Guardians project

Aim

The Swift Project is an initiative led by Bon Volks to protect Margate’s endangered swifts and reconnect people with local biodiversity.

Bon Volks is a non-profit arts organisation operating in the spirit of common care and collective organising, providing affordable workspace to creative practitioners. Over the past ten years, we have supported Margate’s local community by organising creative workshops, environmental projects, and community gardening groups.

We are seeking support for the Swift Project, an innovative, community-led initiative that uses the return of Margate’s swift colony as a focal point to promote local biodiversity and inspire environmental sustainability.

In the last 3 years we have responded to the dramatic lost of Swift habitats by becoming stewards of the colony that return to our neighbourhood each year. We have run events and put up 17 swift boxes in our neighbourhood.

This summer, we'll be hosting the Swift Weekend, designed to bring the community together to celebrate the importance of biodiversity, raise awareness about the fragile ecosystems that surround us, and explore our collective role in safeguarding nature. The event will combine artistic workshops, community gardening projects, educational talks, and nature walks to deepen the local community’s relationship to its ecological systems and encourage sustainable practices.

Each summer, the skies over Margate come alive with the acrobatic flight of swifts who travelled thousands of miles from Africa to nest in our buildings. But swifts are vanishing fast. In the UK, their numbers have declined by over 60% in the last 25 years, mainly due to the loss of nesting sites in modern buildings.

At Bon Volks, we believe creativity and community can help turn this around.

Your support will help us:

• Build new swift nest boxes
• Launch a town-wide public awareness campaign about swift conservation
• Host our Swift Weekend 2025 with events for people of all ages
• Build a local network of “Swift Guardians” who will monitor and protect our swift colonies

Preventing and preparing for climate impacts through biodiversity conservation
Healthy ecosystems are our best defense against climate change. Swifts play a vital role in controlling insect populations, contributing to ecological balance. Their presence indicates a thriving local ecosystem. Protecting them means creating habitats that support biodiversity more widely, from insects to plants, strengthening the resilience of our urban environment.

Climate change can feel overwhelming. The Swift Project makes climate action tangible: building swift nest boxes, planting for pollinators, and monitoring colonies are small but powerful steps that help people see their role in safeguarding nature. This fosters a culture of shared responsibility and collective action, preparing our community to respond to wider environmental challenges.

This is not just about saving a species, it’s about connecting people to place, nature, and to each other.

Donate today to become a Swift Guardian!

Rewards:

Postcard & Print

T-shirt (Design 1)

T-shirt (Design 2)

Swift Box

This project successfully funded on 31st August 2025