Communities in Newcastle come together to transform outdoor spaces into nature and wildlife havens

A report published on November 11 revealed the results of a National Lottery Heritage Fund. The £5 million Nextdoor Nature programme enabled Northumberland Wildlife Trust to work with communities across the city of Newcastle for two years.

At a time when a recent UK Government evaluation of green prescribing showed that connections to nature can bring about big reductions in anxiety and depression symptoms and impressive improvements in well-being, the benefits of the Nextdoor Nature programme for people are significant.

Extraordinary transformations have taken place across six communities in Benwell & Scotswood, Elswick, Wingrove, Arthur’s Hill, Byker, and Walker over the last two years. Communities that have often been traditionally or historically excluded from making decisions about nature and the environment in their local areas. The benefits of nature connectedness have never been better appreciated.

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Nextdoor Nature has given people the skills, tools and opportunity to take action for nature. In Newcastle, the projects have included supporting a group of over 55-year-olds to transform their outdoor space in Walker. They helped Kids Kabin in Byker take an overgrown and unloved patch and taught them how to weed it and plant and look after it with new tools.

In Walker the project team helped Pottery Bank's Allotment Gardeners transform an overgrown space into a woodland wildlife haven, facilitated a group of people getting together and taking action to help swifts across Newcastle, and, finally, helped local groups gain funding, gave advice to them and supported local events - all in two short years.

Nextdoor Nature’s legacy will live on beyond the end of the funding so that local communities can continue the work, as well as using their new skills and contacts. 95% of the participants in the Nextdoor Nature programme said that as a direct result of the project, there is now greater collaborative working between residents, local organisations and groups, and 82% feel there is now greater decision-making about wildlife in the hands of local people.

Eilish McGuinness, Chief Executive, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, says: "We were delighted to support this transformative project as it so strongly supports our vision for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone. This project delivers on our ambition to connect people and communities to heritage and the natural environment. I am delighted so many people are taking an active role in caring for nature and it has ignited a passion and commitment which will have positive impact for people and our environment into the future."

Natasha Hemsley, Nextdoor Nature Project Officer says: "I’m over the moon about the success of this programme, and humbled by the astonishing work that communities have achieved, not just across Newcastle but the whole of the UK. When communities are given the support to make a difference for nature, creative things happen. I’m especially excited by the knowledge that these changes form part of a sustainable legacy as more people become inspired to take action for nature where they live."

Many participants expressed that the project gave them a purpose and increased their sense of community. Engaging in collective efforts to improve local nature made them feel like they were part of something bigger, contributing to a common goal and enhancing their pride in their local area.