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This project successfully funded on 10th October 2023, you can still support them with a donation.
Connecting with Nature in Hillingdon
Uxbridge, Greater London, United Kingdom
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Aim
‘Connecting with Nature in Hillingdon’ will help protect and enhance seven nature reserves and country parks in Hillingdon over three years.
About London Wildlife Trust
London Wildlife Trust is dedicated to the protection of London’s wild spaces and engaging London’s diverse communities in nature through our nature reserves, education, volunteering and campaigning. Our vision is a London alive with nature, where everyone values and takes action for wildlife.
Connecting with Nature in Hillingdon
British Airways and Heathrow have announced a new partnership with London Wildlife Trust to help protect local wildlife and ensure Hillingdon residents are able to enjoy the abundance of wildlife that surrounds them.
British Airways and Heathrow are jointly investing in the project, called ‘Connecting with Nature in Hillingdon’, which will help protect and enhance seven nature reserves and country parks in the Hillingdon area. They include Minet Country Park, Cranford Country Park, Huckerby’s Meadows, Yeading Brook Meadows, Ten Acre Wood, Gutteridge Woods, Ickenham Marsh and Fray's Farm Meadows.
Volunteering opportunities for the local community
The project will also create volunteering opportunities in the community and build on the great work Hillingdon Council and the Trust are doing to ensure all corners of the community can access and enjoy the green spaces in their local area.
Hillingdon's Wildlife
Hillingdon has many natural gems where residents and visitors can discover the likes of kingfishers and kestrels along the flowing lifelines of the Yeading Brook and River Crane.
Conservation work will be delivered with the expertise of London Wildlife Trust and include cattle grazing, path and fence maintenance, habitat restoration and new planting, as well as wildlife surveying.
To monitor progress, a ranger will be recruited to work closely with volunteers to look after the sites, and recruitment for these opportunities will open shortly. Regular events including guided walks and outdoor learning will also be organised, to help reconnect residents.
New partnership established in Hillingdon to enhance wildlife sites
Mary Brew, Head of Community Investment and Responsible Business at British Airways, said: “At British Airways, we’re incredibly proud of our BA Better World Community Fund, which over the last year has supported more than 170 charities and organisations across the UK. This latest partnership with London Wildlife Trust is another brilliant project we’re delighted to support through the Community Fund. We’re looking forward to seeing ‘Connecting with Nature in Hillingdon’ deliver its programme of community engagement activities and volunteering opportunities across the borough.”
Becky Coffin, Communities and Sustainability Director at Heathrow, said: “We are delighted to support the launch of Connecting with Nature in Hillingdon, helping to protect some of the borough’s most important wildlife sites and allowing the community to reconnect and play their own role in their conservation. Helping projects like this is exactly what our Giving Back Programme is all about, helping to make this area a great place to live and work.”
Richard Barnes, Head of Conservation at London Wildlife Trust said: “This new partnership will enable us to build upon our 40-year investment in Hillingdon with a more ambitious programme of capital works, volunteering and engagement activities on five of our reserves and two of Hillingdon’s; delivering a step change in connecting communities with these sites.”
Cllr Eddie Lavery, Hillingdon Council’s Cabinet Member for Residents’ Services, said: “We’re delighted to see the London Wildlife Trust working with Heathrow and British Airways to bring some welcome improvements to key wildlife sites in the south of our borough.
“We’re committed to creating a green and sustainable borough for residents, so we’re grateful two of Hillingdon’s biggest organisations see the value in protecting and enhancing the greener pockets of our borough to safeguard them for current and future generations.”
Special thanks to the Crane Valley Partnership for their video of Ten Acre Wood.
BA Better World Community Fund has provided £100,000 of match funding
BA Better World Community Fund – Planet has provided £100,000 of match funding
BA Better World Community Fund Employee Giving 2024 has provided £1,200 of match funding
BA Better World Community Fund Colleague Giving has provided £600 of match funding
Avios Donations has provided £403 of match funding
The British Airways Club has provided £176 of match funding
BA Better World Community Fund – Sustainability Learning Completion Programme has provided £30 of match funding
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made