What is the project about?
Coalface to Wildspace is an exciting, new project funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the West Midlands Combined Authority. The project is focusing around neighbourhoods across Walsall over the next three years.
There has previously been very little focus on amphibian and reptile conservation in this region, so this project will raise awareness through public engagement, improve habitat through community interventions, and bring attention to local heritage.
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What are the aims?
We will be working with local communities to improve habitats for reptiles and amphibians and wider wildlife through the creation of Neighbourhood Wildlife Corridors. These will involve working with people to create homes for wildlife in urban areas, linking up some of the green spaces in Walsall.
We also aim to educate about local heritage relating to the history and geology of Walsall with regard to the species that now share this space with people and the species that used to live there.
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What will we be doing?
We will be running wildlife gardening workshops across the region. This will involve working in 8 neighbourhoods across Walsall to create wildlife corridors to improve the area for amphibians and reptiles.
We have created an exciting digital film on local geological, natural, and social history and are holding film screenings at local schools and community venues. The film focuses on the history and heritage present under the surface of the current visible landscape of Walsall and its connection to the wildlife that lives there now, particularly reptiles and amphibians.
We will be running creative workshops in summer to build models out of LEGO® bricks, reflecting the different stages presented in the film. The models will be judged by palaeologists and will go on tour to different venues before finding permanent homes within the communities that built them.
The final phase of the project involves the creation of Speaking Sculptures. We will run community workshops to identify local wildlife ‘jewels’, meaning special places within our key sites that have strong positive associations for community members. This will be followed by the creation of wildlife focused sculptures to will live on each site and give the project a lasting legacy. Each sculpture will have a QR code linking to a soundscape for people to enjoy.
These sculptures will be installed on each of our 8 key sites, as well as 2 additional community sites. Community celebration festivals will be held at each site towards the end of the project, to unveil the sculptures.
You can see our key sites marked in red and our additional community sites in blue, as well as our neighbourhood wildlife interventions marked by snakes or ponds here:
Our Neighbourhood Wildlife Corridors So Far!
We have worked with a range of community groups across Walsall to create habitat enhancements and link up Walsall’s greenspaces. These groups have included allotments, schools, nurseries, and more!
Together, we have dug our first pond in Walsall at Winterely Lane allotments, as well as two mini ponds and a bog garden at local community centres. Other interventions include a series of toad abodes popping up around Walsall, a new sensory garden and a hibernaculum!
You can see all of these interventions on the map above!
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How to get involved
There are several ways you can get involved and help us to transform Walsall from Coalface to Wildspace. Why not attend one of our workshops or film screenings? Or get in touch if you have a community space or group and are interested in hosting a workshop or enhancing your outdoor space.
The details of our upcoming sessions are listed on the Froglife events page.
Happening soon:
- Wednesday the 14th of June – Wildlife Gardening Workshop at Mettamind from 13:30 to 14:30
- Tuesday the 20th of June – Wildlife Gardening Workshop during Friends of Pelsall Common Meeting from 15:00
- Thursday the 22nd of June – Pop-up Wildlife Gardening Workshop at Mettamind Open Day from 10:15 to 12:15
- Thursday the 22nd of June – Wildlife Gardening Workshop at Q3 Academy
- Monday the 26th of June – Wildlife Gardening Workshops at Ormiston Shelfield Community Academy
- Tuesday the 27th of June – Wildlife Gardening Workshop with Caldmore Community Gardens Women’s Tuesday Group from 10:00 to 12:00
- Wednesday the 28th of June – Wildlife Gardening Workshop with Girl Guides
- Thursday the 29th of June – Wildlife Gardening Workshop at Q3 Academy
- Saturday the 29th of July – Pop-up Wildlife Gardening Workshop at Brownhills Summer Fest
- Tuesday the 22nd to Saturday the 26th of August – Creative Model Building Workshops using LEGO® bricks – times and locations TBC
To be kept in the loop about upcoming project news and events, please don’t hesitate to contact our Project Manager Christina at Christina.Nijjar@froglife.org or subscribe to our mailing list.
With thanks to our funders and thanks to the National Lottery players
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