Volunteers Week

As part of Volunteers Week (3nd to 8th June) we hold our annual Volunteer Away Day where we invite our volunteers to have a day off from undertaking volunteering for us and visit other organisations and see what they are doing.

View across Chippenham Fen © LOHP

This year we visited Chippenham Fen National Nature Reserve (NNR), in Cambridgeshire. The site is managed by Natural England (NE). Senior Reserves Manager for NE, Chris Hainsworth met us and gave us a guided walk around the reserve.

LOHP Volunteers enjoying a visit to Chippenham Fen © LOHP

We were told all about the history and management of the reserve. Which included their recent project to try and improve the peat soils across the reserve by increasing their wetness. This was done by installing a series of dams.

One of the many dams installed at Chippenham Fen to help wet up the peat © LOHP

We also were lucky enough to encounter some of the rarer species found on the site such as Cambridgeshire Milk Parsley, Silver Barred Moths and Beruladium procurens a hybrid umbellifer. There were also lots of more common things including Orchids, Sedges, Bog Bean, Bog Pimpernel, along with a Grasshopper Warbler and Marsh Harrier.

Bog Pimpernel at Chippenham Fen © LOHP

Everyone found the morning really enjoyable and informative, a nice change from doing practical work, hopefully everyone will be spurred on to get back to work next week.

LOHP Volunteers winding their way through Chippenham Fen © LOHP

Help Nature for Future Generations

Barn Owl © Rowena Langston

Ensure the long-term future of the unique wildlife and landscape of the beautiful Little Ouse valley, for many more to enjoy by leaving a gift in your will. Visit our Legacies page for more details or view our Gifts in Wills Flyer below.

Wildflowers New Fen © Ellie Beach

People often wish to remember their friends and families through gifts made "in memory of". Celebrate your life through a donation - helping us to maintain habitats for otters, water voles and kingfishers, rare river valley fens, heathlands and woodlands in the beautiful Little Ouse valley - a gift that will help us to safeguard our wild places for future generations to enjoy. Visit our Giving 'In Memory of' page for more details or view our Gifts in Wills Flyer below.

LOHP Gifts in Wills Flyer- FINAL.pdf

Download PDF • 3.03MB

Exciting Funding News!

With thanks to players of People's Postcode Lottery, we are pleased to announce that our project to improve greenspaces and increase access to the outdoors has been awarded funding by Postcode Places Trust.

Little Ouse Headwaters Project (LOHP) received £24,986, made possible thanks to players of People's Postcode Lottery. The funds will be used to start to improve access around our sites in all weathers, making sites much more accessible to all and increasing community access to the outdoors, while enhancing wildlife habitats. It will help us to further engage and educate local residents and visitors, by providing funding to produce our newsletter ‘News from the Ouse’ and reprint our leaflet that will allow people to explore the Little Ouse and find out more about the wildlife and history of the area. The project will help us to raise our profile and promote volunteering opportunities.

Rob Robinson Chair of LOHP said: “The support from players of People's Postcode Lottery is invaluable, enabling us to carry out much needed access improvements, enhancing wildlife habitats and engaging with a wider audience”.

We hope to start work on the project this autumn, with completion by December 2025. So, look out for next edition of ‘News from the Ouse’ coming soon.

Find out more about the funders

People’s Postcode Lottery https://www.postcodelottery.co.uk/good-causes