Mawnan Park Nature Garden

Aim

To create a vibrant nature garden in Mawnan Junior Playing Field that supports local wildlife and brings the community together.

Welcome! Phase One of the Mawnan Park Project is here - bringing a Nature Garden to life.

We're transforming Mawnan Junior Playing Field into a wildlife-friendly space where everyone can connect with nature, play, and relax. This crowdfunding campaign focuses on creating a biodiverse garden area, enhancing habitats, and running community wildlife activities.   

Please help us unlock £5,300 of match funding from Cornwall Council’s Climate and Nature Fund and Community Chest. 

If our community raises £4,700 by 5 December 2025, Cornwall Council will match it with an additional £5,300 to support our nature garden project. 

Anything we raise over £10,000 can go towards extra improvements such as new play equipment, seating and accessible pathways - helping us make the playing field a more welcoming and enjoyable space for everyone.

Why your support matters

Spending time in nature has a real impact on health and wellbeing. Access to green spaces improves physical activity, reduces stress, and supports children’s development. Sensory-rich natural areas also benefit neurodivergent individuals and older residents, offering safe, stimulating environments to explore.

Your donations will help us:

• Plant shrubs, wildflowers, and a foraging hedge for wildlife and people to enjoy.
• Add bird and bat boxes, along with habitats such as bug hotels.
• Create a nature garden with a toddler-proof fence for safe play and habitat protection.
• Train volunteers to care for the gardens and monitor wildlife.
• Host annual BioBlitz* events so families can discover and celebrate local nature.
• Install a cycle rack to promote active travel, and add wildlife and heritage signage to help the community learn about the area.

*A BioBlitz is a community event where people come together to identify and record as many species of plants, animals, and fungi as possible in a specific area over a short period of time. 

Community consultation 

Thanks to a Community Capacity Fund** grant, we consulted residents of all ages to identify priorities for the park. The children’s own designs showed us how important nature is to them, alongside play and accessibility. Focus groups included older residents with mobility challenges, parents of disabled children, and teenage girls, while over 200 survey responses and 88 children’s contributions demonstrated strong engagement and some great ideas. Over 300 people joined our Design Mawnan Park and Village Fete in September 2024, demonstrating how much the community cares about shaping this space for everyone to enjoy.

 Some designs for Mawnan Park by local children

Volunteer tidy-up sessions

This summer, volunteers came together to tidy the existing sensory garden, preparing it for planting season. Their hard work means the Nature Garden Project can start with a solid foundation, ready to support wildlife and provide a safe, engaging space for everyone.

With the trees already funded through a Forest for Cornwall Plant the Gap grant, your support will help complete the Nature Garden Project - filling it with shrubs, wildflowers, and habitats for birds, bats, and pollinators.

Together, we can make Mawnan Park a greener, healthier, climate-friendly, and more wildlife-rich space for the whole community. Donate today to help us bring this vision to life!

Keep up with our news and check out the exciting new rewards we’ll be adding every Friday at www.facebook.com/MawnanJuniorPlayingField

Please note, we have reduced the minimum donation for rewards as an early Black Friday offer. Any remaining rewards will be removed at midnight on Thursday 27 November and added to our coffee morning raffle*, held from 10am to noon on Friday 28 November at Sunnyside House, Grove Hill. This will ensure none of the donations are wasted. *Tickets available in advance from Toad Hall Cottages on Goldmartin Square.

**Cornwall Council’s Community Capacity Fund is part of the Good Growth Programme, delivering the UK Shared Prosperity Fund in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made