Young rally to project plea

10:14am Thursday 28th August 2008

A Government-backed initiative to attract young people to conservation work is showing signs of success in West Oxfordshire, writes PETER BARRINGTON

Young people are giving up some of their spare time by rolling up their sleeves, getting their hands dirty and their boots muddy, all in the cause of conservation and the environment. They also challenge the stereotype that only the over-50s are interested in the future of the Oxfordshire countryside.

For these young people aged from their mid-teens to early twenties are part of the v project, a national youth volunteering programme.

The v project is in the first of its three-year lifespan and locally has seen young people tackle such tasks as clearing village ponds of unwanted weed, uprooting highly invasive plants and clearing footpaths of encroaching vegetation.

Jane Bowley, Wychwood v project officer in West Oxfordshire, explained: "The project is part of the national youth volunteer programme for England and is designed to capture the interest of 16 to 25-year-olds. It is, in some respects, a follow-up to the millennium volunteers programme, in which the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers was very active. The v project is Government-funded in England only, not Scotland or Wales."

She explained that a bid for funding to cover West Oxfordshire work was made by the Friends of Wychwood, an organisation concerned with conservation in the Wychwood Forest region of West Oxfordshire, from north of Chipping Norton to the confluence of the River Windrush and Thames.

"The aim of the project is to raise awareness of young people in their local environment and to gain an understanding of the history of the landscape and wildlife of the area," said Jane, who is based at Woodstock.

So far around 20 young people have begun taking part in various jobs, though Jane is keen to recruit more volunteers and has begun talking to sixth formers in local comprehensive schools.

Among the early volunteers are Amy Booth, 21, of Chipping Norton, who is studying physics at Durham University, and Jenny Senior, 20, of Bampton, near Witney, who is studying journalism and the media at Portsmouth University.

"I wanted to do something useful in my long summer holidays," said Amy. "In just three weeks I have put in around 50 hours of work. Clearing ponds has been one of the jobs."

Jenny has been pulling up the Himalayan balsam plants from the River Glyme in Woodstock.

"I have also learnt a lot more about trees than I knew before," said Jenny.

The Himalayan balsam is a plant that grows in a similar way to nettles, sending out shoots in all directions.

Jane said: "It looks very attractive when its pink flowers are blooming but it spreads very easily when the seed pods burst open and the seeds rapidly germinate. The plants are very invasive, particularly in the water meadows of the Glyme and other rivers."

Footpaths at Coggest Manor Farm Museum on the edge of Witney have been cleared of spreading weeds and vegetation.

Riverbank reinforcement work has soaked up the energies of work parties. This has entailed 'spilling' or planting young and quick growing willows to help shore up crumbling banks.

Visits have also been made to the Wigwell Common nature reserve, a large tract of natural grassland at Charlbury, to see wildflower management schemes.

"We shall also be working with the Cotswolds Wardens and I hope to have sessions on dry stone walling and hedge-laying," said Jane.

In addition to providing tasks, the v project is also out to encourage young people to come up with their own ideas.

"It is not all about pulling up weeds. We want to launch some art and design work and creating publicity material. We do need a logo," said Jane.

She expects many of the young people will volunteer to take part during school and college holidays and weekends.

"I can see that some people will dip in and out of the programme. Transport might also be a bit of a problem in our rural area, though travelling out-of-pocket expenses can be claimed," said Jane.

Both Amy and Jenny said they would continue with volunteering, adding that the experience will look good on their CVs.

For more information go to www.wychwood.v@oxfordshire.gov.uk or jane.bowley@oxfordshire.gov.uk

The annual Wychwood Forest Fair on Sunday will this year support the v project to encourage 16 to 25-year-olds to become volunteers.

The fair, run by the Friends of Wychwood, supports the Wychwood Project, which helps local people to promote and support the landscape and wildlife within the historic area of Wychwood.

Activities will show progress in this programme and invite people in this age group to join in.

As usual, there will fun events for children, including a fun fair, Punch and Judy, storytelling and games.

There will also be opportunities to taste local foods and farm produce and to see local craftspeople at work.

The fair is from 11am to 5pm at Aston Road, Ducklington, just off the A415 south of Witney.

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