In the middle of the heavily built-up area of East Oxford lies Boundary Brook Nature Park, one of Oxford Urban Wildlife Group’s greatest award-winning achievements.

Boundary Brook Nature Park was one of the group’s first projects that followed the aim of the group of protecting and encouraging wildlife in Oxford and giving practical help and advice on wildlife matters. The park is what used to be an area of derelict allotments on Cricket Road and has, over the years, transformed into a flourishing nature park. Since the transformation the park also offers opportunities for practical conservation work and demonstrates organic gardening methods, and it is used widely by school groups and local organisations for conservation projects.

This spring, a group of Year 10 students from neighbouring school St Gregory the Great (a school that regularly visits Boundary Brook Nature Park for their conservation projects), came out in force and volunteered their services to this project.

The students set to work on an area of the reserve that had become very overgrown and unkempt, pulling nettles and brambles up and taming overgrown grass.

Following a lot of hard work in the sweltering spring sunshine the students finally succeeded in their task, despite the nettle stings and bramble scrapes.

After concluding the project, the students were left impressed by Oxford Urban Wildlife Group and decided to go one step further and do some fundraising to thank the warden, Alan Hart, and his team at the reserve. The students held a cake and candy sale at their school and raised £125.

Oxford Urban Wildlife Group was very honoured by this gesture and excited about the prospect of spending the money on some much-needed equipment.

As well as the Boundary Brook Nature Park, the group also holds a range of outdoor and indoor events throughout the year, including guided wildlife walks, talks and surveys of the city’s green sites.

If you would like to find out more about the project please visit www.ouwg.org.uk or contact OUWG on 01865 820522.

If you would like to do some practical conservation work the group has work parties on most Sunday mornings and many of the weekdays (contact the Warden 07979 608 013 for details).