We are also working more closely with South Hanningfield Parish Council and West Hanningfield Parish Council to produce a walks leaflet for the local area and this project has also enabled us to form relationships with Essex County Council, Rights of Way.  The Parish Council are willing to do a lot of work towards this venture and partnerships like this will ensure that projects are carried forward.

 

Building a wildlife garden at a local primary school, Runwell School, is proving a great example of partnership working with Essex & Suffolk Water, Essex Biodiversity Project and the teachers, parents and children at the school.

 

We have a new partnership with RHS Hyde Hall Gardens who have a 360-acre site in Rettendon which allows visitors to immerse themselves in nature.  They also have lots of plans to develop the site further with wildlife in mind.  Representatives from Hyde Hall came and supported us on our Wildlife Day at Hanningfield and have also been very kind in inviting Bill Godsafe, the warden, and myself to talk at their Head Gardeners Day.  This meant we could talk to Head Gardeners from a number of different sites and spread the word about Living Landscapes.  One of the aims this year was to have stalls at more events in the local area to spread the word.  The best of these has been the Hyde Hall Flower Show in August, where we were very kindly invited to sell products from our shop, distribute leaflets and talk to visitors about the Trust, Living Landscapes and Hanningfield.  This was a fantastic event and attracted 9,000 people over the 3 days giving us the opportunity to reach a wide audience. I would like to say a huge thank you to Hyde Hall for giving us this opportunity and hope we can continue to build on this partnership in the future.

 

These are just some examples of the partnerships we are building through the Living Landscapes initiative.  This is an opportunity for all of us to reach out beyond our reserves, to look for opportunities to spread our message and form mutually beneficial partnerships.  It is only through doing this that we can hope to restore, recreate and rebuild Living Landscapes.