Nextdoor Nature Northumberland

From our base at Hauxley Wildlife Discovery Centre, our Nextdoor Nature Northumberland team are supporting communities to take action for nature, in Amble, along the coastal villages of Northumberland, and all the way up to Berwick-upon-Tweed! Our team - Tash, Raven, and Callum, working alongside the wider Northumberland Wildlife Trust - are here to listen, share knowledge, and support local groups in making a real difference for both people and wildlife.The Nextdoor Nature Northumberland project is all about providing communities with the advice and support they need to help nature thrive right on their doorstep. Whether it’s skill-sharing, connecting groups together, or simply offering guidance, we want to empower people to take action in ways that matter most to them. Above all, we hope to leave a lasting legacy - one that strengthens communities through nature and inspires projects that will continue to flourish for years to come.

Meet the team (from left): Raven, Tash and Callum:

From individuals to formal organisations, nature-lovers young to old, ideas big or small, we truly believe that everybody can play a part in taking action for nature and we would love to help!

Need some inspiration? Here’s some ideas to get you started: 

· Improving a local area e.g. litterpicking, pollinator friendly planting, nature friendly gardening 

· Art projects related to nature and climate change e.g. beach art, recycled art 

· Advocating for nature and wildlife e.g. campaigning 

· Creating wildlife areas e.g. bog gardens, tree planting, planting wildflowers 

· Species focused projects e.g. bird boxes, pollinator pathways, hedgehog highways, reptile hibernaculums, citizen science surveys

We can help with things like 

· Advice for everyone (whether your project is already up and running or whether you’re just getting started!) - land management advice, how to get more people involved, new ideas to better help nature in your area, etc.

· Skill sharing – we can help with leading training or bringing in other experts to increase green skills in your community.

· Connecting to other local groups – we can connect groups together working on similar things for support and to share successes (how to overcome struggles learned through previous experiences)

· Funding – we have access to funding ourselves; we can signpost to available funding if needed and can help with the application process to make things easy.

· Events – we can attend local events with our info stall, we can help with organising local nature friendly events e.g. citizen science activities/intro to wildlife recording, building bird houses and wildlife ponds, running ID sessions, etc.

If you have any project ideas or actions you would like to take for nature where you live, let us know – we would love to help! 

Get in touch with the team; 

Email: natasha.hemsley@northwt.org.uk

Call/text/Whatsapp: 07393 571 998

This project is funded by the UK Government partly through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and the North East Combined Authority Investment Fund with the North East Combined Authority as the lead authority.

Enjoy this poem by Raven, Communities Assistant:

The grass is green... somewhere.

“The silent street, not a soul pass by.

No buzz of a bee, nor sound of the sea.

One foot follows the other,

Razor sharp cans, glass and cigarette smoke to smother.

Through tunnels of grey,

Nobody is out to play today.

The path you walk isn’t entirely hushed,

Whooshing of winds from cars rushed.

Feeling drained, accidentally kicked a can of beer,

What happened to the green on this sphere? 

You wonder.”

Walking through the walls of Graffiti ‘claimed’ words of war that you don’t understand. The only relief of greasy chip smell, that wafts through a cracked takeaway window. Reality hits sharp and fast out here. Narrowly avoid stepping into a sloppy brown deposit, not missing out on the unmistakable scent of dog’s poo. Feeling sick you decide for the first time - in a long time, to try something new. You take a different path today, on your way home this time.

 “Soft padded path

Adorning lush flowers they are ever colour bringing,

The sound of people and birds are singing.

You survived the cold grey,

Everyone here is inviting you to play.

Your feet embrace, the grounding earth,

Soft grass soothes sore feet and the scent of fresh air with all its worth,

Bee’s buzz! Butterflies and fluffy moths! You lock eyes with your first otter!

A world full of life, this is the life. The one of dreams. No bother as you spot her.

Excitement overtakes you.

It’s here! It’s here! The green of earth. 

It’s been here all along!

If only. If only you could share this space with others and protect it, for all its weight in gold. 

Don’t let it disappear. We can share our world with more than ourselves and learn their whispers and secrets, unlocking endless potential.

Be that ‘somewhere’

Bring that peace, joy and refuge.

To all, I wish a bright future, touched by sun.