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 Project
name:
Egg Newsletter
Social Landlord’s name:
Devon & Cornwall Housing Association
Location:
North Devon
Project aim:
To raise Devon and Cornwall Housing
residents’ awareness of green issues and local
environmental initiatives in North Devon.
What you have done:
Designed, edited and distributed two green
newsletters and organised summer holiday nature
conservation workshops. The idea for this
initiative came from a group of residents taking
part in a green training programme at Trafford
Hall. On completing the course they applied for
a Community Do It Yourself Grant. The
application was successful and they went on to:
edit two newsletters and run a series of Bird,
Bat and Bee box making workshops on estates
during the Summer holiday of 2005 and consult
with other resident’s about forming a
constituted Environmental Green Group (EGG).
(Download the magazines here, please note, they
may take several minutes to download
EGG Magazine Issue 1 ,
EGG Magazine Issue 2)
Which community partners were
involved:
A newsletter desktop publishing training day was
led by an organisation named ‘Project Cosmic’.
The newsletter featured a wide cross section of
community partners. The RSPB, Care Blackerton
and the Devon Wildlife Trust supported the
family workshops. Devon & Cornwall Housing
provided staff support, insurance and match
funding to contribute to the costs of the
project.
Where did the money come from:
The Community Do It Yourself grant from
Trafford Hall, Devon & Cornwall Housing.
The RSPB and Devon Wildlife Trust provided a
wide selection of publications and information
sheets on wildlife and nature to hand out at the
workshops.
What worked well:
The newsletters were very popular and making
contact with the community projects featured in
them led to other initiatives like the RSPB
Avocet Cruise – a free day out for residents
sailing on the River Exe. The bird box making
workshops were particularly heart warming as we
found grandparents working along side their
grand children making and decorating the boxes.
We went on to put boxes up in wildlife areas and
on the side of blocks of flats and were thrilled
when we received phone calls and emails saying
that they were being nested in.
 What
didn’t work so well:
The
distribution of the first newsletter was poor,
it was given to housing staff to deliver but the
second newsletter was slotted inside the main
residents’ magazine Devon & Cornwall Housing
sent out. The workshops delivered in venues on
estates worked best where residents didn’t have
to travel far, we held one in a town centre
venue and no-one turned up. The bird box
workshops involved using hammers, nails and
screws and so the risk assessment and level of
adult support was important. It went really
smoothly but we had to make sure that we covered
all the health and safety aspects and Care
Blackerton who led the workshop had pre-cut,
drilled and sanded the wood pieces. Their good
preparation was invaluable to the safe running
of the activity.
What next:
The Egg group decided to build on the
success of the newsletter and create this web
site, encouraging other residents and housing
providers to submit their environmental ideas
and share good practice.
Contact name:
Residents Environmental Green Group
Email:
info@regg.org
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