Yesterday ‘AWE-activity’ occurred at Boasley Cross Primary School. The School had identified to Melissa Trudgill and Derrick Brett that, as an AWE project, their large pond needed some hard work and attention in order for the children to be able to use it again for their wildlife and science lessons.

The pond was overgrown, had debris and rubbish in it, but mostly had some very dense reeds which dominated one half of the pond.
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There were many planning conversations with Boasley in-house wildlife specialist Lorriane Simmons who provided good links between the School, the Estates Team and Melissa.

Grateful thanks to Sharon Perkins and the Estates Team who had organised and undertaken the invaluable, preparation work – creating 3 compost bins made from pallets ready to receive the sludge, reeds and green waste from the pond. Extra safety measures had also been installed by their team.

Derrick and Melissa had sought prior wildlife expertise and advice from Lucy Alford of the South West Lakes Trust and she had quickly dismissed an earlier idea of workers submerging in the pond and wearing waders, in order to ensure wildlife was protected due to the time of year.

The team on the day were fab and included Philip Duthaler, Premises Manager Small Schools Team, Gary Friend Caretaker Small Schools Team, Derrick Brett Executive Director of Civic Leadership, Melissa Trudgill Community Engagement Manager and Boasley Cross Parents Emma Daniels and Susan Turner.

The work might well have been cold, smelly and dirty, but the team were rewarded by many close encounters with beautiful frogs, newts plus crocodile (see photo below) and hot drinks and cake afterwards.
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Thanks so much to all who helped and for the warm welcome from Boasley Cross Primary School.