The Herefordshire Wildlife Trust’s new Wildlife Watch club offers young naturalists the chance to explore nature at Queenswood.

The new club is aimed at children aged between seven and fourteen and it meets once a month at either Queenswood Country Park and Arboretum or the nearby Bodenham Lake nature reserve. The group will be undertaking practical conservation tasks as well as learning about our native flora and fauna.

Their first meeting was held in June when the group leant all about bugs, bees and butterflies. They also created a deluxe bug hotel for a variety of minibeasts to live in at the orchard at Queenswood.

Queenswood’s Engagement Officer, Hayley Herridge, who coordinates the group said: “This group provides young people with the opportunity to take practical action for wildlife. It’s great to see children who really love nature, sharing their interest and knowledge. Over the next year our programme includes many exciting opportunities to learn including a bat walk and survival skills at the Queenswood Forest School site. We take our cause seriously, but we have lots of fun playing in the woods too!

“Spending time outside and engaging with the natural world should be an important part of childhood and this club is another way for children to do that and also gives them the opportunity to make new friends and work together as a team. Queenswood and Bodenham Lake are both special places and by running the club here means that the children can really feel a part of the sites, helping their wildlife and getting to know the landscape really well.”

Wildlife Watch is the junior branch of The Wildlife Trusts and the UK’s leading environmental action club for kids with 150,000 members across the UK. Herefordshire Wildlife Trust’s Queenswood Wildlife Watch club is open to members of the national group and non-members alike.

The club meets on the first Sunday of each month and there is a different theme each month. Upcoming themes include Survival Skills, Moths, Bats, Autumn & Hibernation, Fungi and Christmas Crafts. The Trust hopes that children will sign up to come along each month though children are welcome to come along as a one-off too.

Booking is available through our What’s On pages or contact Hayley Herridge: h.herridge@herefordshirewt.co.uk / 01432 530088