On Sunday 15th January twelve of the children from 1st Aldershot Scout troop (based in North Town) joined volunteers at Rowhill nature reserve for a day of hard work, learning and fun (whilst working towards their Community Challenge badge).
The Scouts arrived at 10am to meet Debbie, the Project Leader, on a cold but bright day. Debbie spoke to the children about the nature reserve. She explained who the volunteers were and why they do it. They talked about the project they are currently working on and how the children could help. They were given a safety briefing and distributed hard hats and gloves before heading into the reserve.
The children aged between 10-14 had a very hard day’s work which included a lot of lifting and shifting of branches and staves whihc the volunteers had been cutting down. The Scouts spent the morning working in pairs ensuring the right amount of staves were tied together. The children then helped to carry the bundles away and load them up onto a trolley before stopping for a well-earned packed lunch.
The children seemed to really enjoy themselves and worked really hard. They had time in the afternoon, after helping to shift the trailers they had loaded, to ask the volunteers questions about the nature reserve and the part they play. The scouts were vey grateful to the volunteers and really enjoyed their day at the nature reserve.
The nature reserve is located between Aldershot and Weybourne and the volunteers meet up fortnightly to work on the area helping to ensure the area is maintained, tidy and well kept. There is a lot of work to do as the area covers 55 acres including ancient woodland and a hay meadow. The purpose of the group is to help to protect and enhance the local countryside (which the Scouts took on board as they are currently also working towards a Global Conservation badge).