WOKINGHAM in Bloom held a bee house building project at the weekend that repurposed old and unwanted mugs.
Children from Floreat Montague Park Primary School joined volunteers from the environmental group for an afternoon of activity at Wokingham Community Fire Station.
Through a series of hands-on projects, the children learnt how to encourage nature into their gardens, creating wildflower seed bombs for pollinators and butterflies, and solitary bee homes.
The children made these with help from Wokingham in Bloom volunteers and firefighters, who assisted them to transform the mugs,by lining them with cardboard and inserting bamboo canes.
During the afternoon, firefighters talked to the children about fire safety inside the home and outside in nature.
Wokingham in Bloom and Wokingham Community Fire Station have been working together for a number of years on projects in the borough.
These include the development and transformation of Howard Palmer Gardens, and the creation of a health and wellbeing garden at the fire station where the team can rest and recover between callouts.
Old ladders, buckets and lockers have been repurposed in the space to create planters and water features.
A haven for wildlife, it is also a kitchen garden for herbs and vegetables.
Councillor Morag Malvern, Chair of Wokingham in Bloom and member of the Royal Berkshire Fire Authority said; “We had a wonderful afternoon.
“By coming together, we all learnt from each other, got our hands dirty, and took away simple creations that will benefit wildlife within the town.”
“We value our partnerships with organisations, business and schools here within Wokingham, and look forward to many more days where we can have fun, share knowledge and help build a more sustainable environment for us all to live in.”
“We’d like to thank Wokingham Community Fire Station for being amazing hosts today.
“It’s so important that we continue to educate the community about fire safety.
“To do so in such a fun, safe environment was a credit to all involved.”
Firefighter Hughes said: “It was great to host the children of Floreat Montegue School.
“They were a fantastic audience and contributed enthusiastically when we talked about fire safety.
“It’s the first time I’ve been involved in a joint scheme such as this.
“Wokingham in Bloom’s work is amazing, and it’s brilliant to see the kids so interested in nature.
“We really enjoyed watching many of them save their sandwich crusts to feed the worms in our wormery.
“A big thank you to all the volunteers who helped to make the day such a fun one.”
For information about Wokingham in Bloom, visit: www.wokingham-tc.gov.uk
To know more about Wokingham Community Fire Station, log onto: www.rbfrs.co.uk and search for Wokingham.
