shops, primary schools and local residents tohelp tidy up the gardens.

Touchwood Summer Bedding projecttakes place on May 24 – Three boroughschools come together to help brighten upManor Walk and Library Square with beddingplants supplied by Touchwood.

Hockley Heath Gardeners Club – TheEnvironment Champions will be helping withplanting for this years In Bloom competition in June - if you have some free time pleaselet me know – the more hands the merrier!

Spring 2011

Welcome to the first edition of our newsletter for 2011. The first half of this yearhas been really busy for us and there have been many success stories whichhave been highlighted in this newsletter. There is much to look forward to aswe continue get our communities working together. Well done for all of yourhard work so far and here’s to a great and successful 2011!

What you’ve done!

In April the residents from St. FrancisGardens in Olton all came out to help theEnvironment Champions on a litter pickof the open space. Working together foran hour in the glorious Spring sunshinethey collected 10 bags containing avariety of things including an animal skull– being one of the Champions’ mostamazing finds.

In addition to the clean upNeighbourhood Management areplanning some improvements later thisyear to the area adjacent to the St Bernard's Rd entrance of St FrancisGardens. These will include raising thetree canopy, removing some of theovergrown vegetation which will open upthe area, helping to eradicate antisocialbehaviour and repairing the brokensections of fencing.

The Environment Champions will begoing back to St Francis Gardens in theautumn with a group from The Challenge(a Government initiative in the WestMidlands working with young adults todevelop their life skills to help them findemployment) to plant bulbs in the area!

Spring 2011

EnvironmentalChampions

What’s coming upChamps from Area Two show their horticulturalexpertise nationwide – Barbara and John from AreaTwo are expert gardeners and have an eye for detail.Look out for them in the Which? magazine forApril/May where they will be showing their expertise onthe lawn in their back garden!

Love Food Hate Waste Campaign – Six Champs aresupporting road shows with the Waste and Recyclingteam to spreading the word and staff a stand at Asdain Chelmsley Wood throughout May.

Jubilee Gardens Community Day takes place onMay 18. This will be a real coming together of local

Other highlights from April/May

Anything else?

Trish WillettsEnvironment Champion Co-ordinatorTel: 0121 704 6534Email: pwilletts@solihull.gov.uk

Allotment VacanciesDue to two large extensions at Jillcot Road Allotment Site off Hobs Moat Road, we currently have anumber of vacant plots and no waiting list for the site. If anyone is interested in taking on an allotmentin this area, this is a great opportunity as the majority of sites in the Borough have waiting lists of atleast a year. For further information contact Rebecca Webber on 0121 704 6115 or visit the websitehttp://www.solihull.gov.uk/parks/allotments.htm

Shrub replanting took place in Draycote Close, Damson Wood.

Environment Champions did a community litter pick in Dovehouse Lane, Olton

A pond clearing and litter pick project took place in Chelveston Crescent, Monkspath

Environment Champions supported the Park Rangers in Queens Gardens, Chelmsley Wood, paintingthe footbridge rails and benches

Volunteers from the Princes Trust Team painted the Shopmobility Shop on Drury Lane, Solihull

A community clean up took place in Shirley park

A personal thank you!I would like to take this opportunity to offer a BIG thank you to Enterprise and Ringway who are our twoStrategic Contractors, without whose support the Champions’ projects would not come to fruition.

Litter pick me up!

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What you’ve done! What you’ve done!

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A corporate team from ISS atBirmingham Business Parkcame out to assist the CastleBromwich Community Project.They not only gave up their timeto help clear bramble, butsupplied the bags to put therubbish in and the shrubs tocreate a wonderful communitygarden at the top of thegraveyard. They were supportedby the youth team from CastleBromwich youth andcommunity centre who regularlygive up their time to assist withthe maintenance of thegraveyard.

A greener cleaner graveyardThe Sustainable Team from Solihull Council came together with the Environment Championsto help Langley Senior School clear the woodland area. A 30 strong Environment Championteam from Npower came out on 3 and 4 March to help clear the woodland area to the rearof the school and open up some pathways to enable the students to use the area forWoodland curriculum studies. Also as Reynolds Cross Special School is also on the site theteam were mindful to ensure that the pathways were wide enough for wheelchair access.The volunteers litter picked, cut bramble, created paths, moved logs and re-sited bird boxesto help the school.

See the wood for the trees

Environment Champions from Knowle,Monkspath, Birmingham and Stourbridgecame together to help Mr & Mrs Barlowat their property in Willow Drive, CheswickGreen. A brook that runs along the backof their property had become soovergrown with vegetation that it wascausing concern for flooding. The teamcame to the rescue and resolved theissue in 4 hours! A local Champion litterpicked around the village on the sameday collecting two full bags of rubbish!

A helping hand

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