Always on
This project successfully funded on 2nd December 2024, you can still support them with a donation.
Mini Bloomers together with nature
Gainsborough, North Lincolnshire, United Kingdom
Aim: Providing free activities to local children to develop a love of nature, their environment and friendships within their community
Mini Bloomers was started by Tanya, a volunteer for the local Bloom group, in Summer 2023 as a way of engaging the local children to develop a love of nature, their environment and making friends whilst building a sense of community. This was initially as an incentive to get involved in the local Bloom group over the summer. As it developed the children then asked for it to continue as they enjoyed it so much. It was decided to continue the group during half term holidays.
There has been numerous activities for the children to participate in and enjoy. Some of these activities have been
Mini Olympics - Mini Bloomers style with things such as a Taekwondo warm up with Master Tim Corlett, tyre run, archery, bean bag shot put, Frisby discus, races and relay with Councillor Delsignore and wife Cath and Football with Nathan Jarman. This was a huge hit with everyone and has been requested again in future
Stargazing with melted marshmallows and hot chocolate - the hot chocolate and marshmallows were a hit but unfortunately the clouds covered most the stars that night
Hedgehog Walk and Lego brick build - We met at the Library and walked almost the same distance a hedgehog does in one night to demonstrate to the children the distance hedgehogs cover. We finished at The Brick Hut where the children made their own Lego hedgehog to take home
Bug Walk and Talk - Mary our local expert gave the children a talk about all the wildlife they found on the walk around KLASSIC Park. This was great success and we even ran over time because of how much fun was had
Plant a Pollinator pot - At our annual Gala the children could plant up their very own Pollinator Pot to take home and observe what happened. The resources for this were kindly donated to us from local businesses such as Kirton Garden Centre - Jack's Patch and Discount Hub
Bug Hotel build - Our first bug hotel was made in summer 2023 but we noticed that for it to last a long time we needed to make it more secure so earlier in 2024 we reconstructed the bug hotel and made an improved version
Nature art and crafts - We have had several nature craft sessions at Love in a Cup community café this year one was inspired by Andy Goldsworthy by using natural things to create art. The annual Art Exhibition at the Town Hall has also for 2 years now displayed art work created by Mini Bloomers
Community work by Street cleaning and Litter picking - Our young helpers have worked really hard trying to keep our town clean by cleaning street sign, clearing the paths and curbs of weeds and litter picking
New Project @ KLASSIC Park
- The children have shown great interest in wildlife and planting, therefore we are now also running weekly sessions, some will be on an additional project at KLASSIC Park and others will be within the town. This project will see us develop the overgrown land next to the Bug Hotel. We hope to further develop the children's knowledge about nature, wildlife habitat and enabling them to grow their own plants and potentially veg in the future. The more we develop the area, it is hoped we can contribute to conservation watches and see the numbers expand and grow. We are keen to work with local nature/wildlife groups to develop this type of work and expand the children's understanding of local nature and their habitats. We are also keen to develop their horticultural knowledge and are welcoming of any local groups who would like to come and work with us around this.
Some of the work completed so far
We also have our very own superstar Emily - Emily made her own planter and decorated it. She grew some plants from seed and then planted it up. This planter is displayed within the community and was recognised by the East Midlands in Bloom judges. They loved Emily's work so much that they nominated her for the Doug Stacey Young Persons Award. Emily received this award along with a trophy to keep and a giant trophy to display for a year.
It was an absolute joy seeing Emily receive this award and we hope to encourage a lot more children to take part in our activities and potentially even more children can achieve great things like Emily has.
We are raising funds to enable us to continue providing regular free activities to local children. Not only in the holidays but also for the new weekly activities and activities at KLASSIC Park too. Funds would be used to purchase more, appropriately sized children's gardening tools and equipment to develop their skills in gardening. To purchase more plants, more materials we may need for the project as we further develop plans such as hard landscaping materials, materials needed to make wildlife habitats and equipment needed to monitor the wildlife. Funds would also be used to continue providing activities in the school holidays, resources needed for activities and room hire if required.
We would love your support for our group because we love what we are doing and it benefits the whole community.