Pollinators are often thought of as just bees, but birds, bats, butterflies, wasps, and hoverflies also play a vital role in moving pollen between plants. These creatures are responsible for pollinating crops and every third mouthful of food we eat, while also supporting healthy ecosystems.
Community Celebration at Wythenshawe Park
This Saturday, the local community will gather at Wythenshawe Park for the Championing Nature Summer Heartbeat Moment, a free event celebrating pollinators and their favourite wildflower food. The event marks one year since the launch of the Championing Nature project, a six-year initiative made possible by Wimbledon and Emirates, aimed at restoring nature and people's connection to it in Wythenshawe.
School and Community Engagement
Over the past year, the project team has worked with seven primary schools in the Wythenshawe area, delivering nature connection sessions with seasonal themes. Most recently, the focus has been on pollinators. Sessions incorporated tennis balls to demonstrate pollen transfer, followed by making seed bombs for children to take home. Artwork created by the children will be displayed at the park during the event.
The Championing Nature Community Engagement team also hosted workshops with community groups, showing how gardens, balconies, or accessible greenspaces can be made more attractive to wildlife. This included making wildflower seed bombs to provide food sources for pollinators.
Event Activities
The free-to-enter Heartbeat Moment begins at 10am on Saturday, July 11, next to the park's Horticultural Centre. Activities include a range of workshops to raise awareness about the role of pollinators. Special guests Blossom Manchester will collaborate with Lancashire Wildlife Trust to run a Pollinator Planting workshop, where participants learn about pollinator-friendly plants, seasonal flowering, simple habitat ideas, and how small growing spaces can contribute to biodiversity. The workshop includes a practical demonstration and hands-on activity where participants sow or pot up pollinator-friendly seeds to take home.
Inspired by Steve Backshall's visit to Wythenshawe Park in April, there will also be a BioBlitz workshop to identify which pollinators call the park home.
By Laura Hacking Vile, Engagement and Wellbeing Communications Officer for The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside. To become a member, go to www.lancswt.org.uk or call 01772 324129. For more information about Cheshire Wildlife Trust, call 01948 820728 or visit www.cheshirewildlifetrust.org.uk.
