Green Heart Festival

On the 8th June, the University of Birmingham held its 'Green Heart Festival' launch weekend. Measuring over 12 acres, the Green Heart is a green space in the centre of campus for students, staff and the local community to enjoy. It provides a unique space for performances, socialising, meeting and studying, while opening up views across the whole campus.

It was a very wet morning putting the gazebo up, but that didn't dampen our spirits! At our stall we had lots of crafts for children to get involved with, including; pine cone hedgehogs, upcycling plastic bottles into hedgehog cress planters, origami hedgehogs and a hedgehog house design competition. The winner of the competition will have their design made by our Estates team and located on the Green Heart.

We had lots of children and families take part in our activities and we were able to advise the local community on how to make their gardens more hedgehog friendly.

The two winners of our Hedgehog House Design Competition:

By Bethany age 11

By Meg age 5 and 3/4

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Go Green Week

Monday 8th February - Friday 12th February 2021 Here at the University of Birmingham it’s Go Green Week, where we'll be focusing on how we can be greener, more sustainable and work together to protect our environment. We’re in the middle of a climate emergency, so action needs to be taken now to drive change for future generations. So this week The Guild have a range of events, activities and resources focused on doing just that. The Hedgehog Friendly Campus campaign aims to make campus and the local area a place where hedgehogs and other wildlife can thrive. Unfortunately, our prickly friends are undergoing a concerning decline and numbers in urban areas have declined by 30% since 2000. There is no single cause to why hedgehog numbers are declining, but everyone can make a difference in their gardens and green spaces by taking a few simple actions. From litter picking, to creating a hedgehog highway there are lots of ways you can help, and the Hedgehog Friendly Campus team have cr...

How to make a pine cone hedgehog

This is a great, easy hedgehog craft for the kids! It only requires a few crafty items and these can easily be substituted for things you do have! Pine cone (you could use teasel or if you can't find any pine cones) Piece of felt or other fabric (you could even try paper or card if you don't have any fabric) Googly eyes (easily substituted for buttons, beads or you could draw on eyes with a pen) Glue Scissors (ask an adult to supervise) Step 1: Choose your hog! You could see if you can find any on your daily exercise! Step 2: Cut out a piece of felt in the shape of a diamond for the hedgehog's face. Step 3: Cut out a small triangle in a different colour felt for the hedgehog's nose. Don't worry if you don't have different colours! Step 4: Assemble the hedgehog's face! Add googly eyes, and glue nose to complete your hog's face. This is easier done before attaching the face to the pine...

Making a feeding station

Strange times are upon us! The UK has been in lockdown since last Monday and we are still getting used to not being able to go out whenever we like and the supermarket shelves being bare. But nature is carrying on business as usual! Birds flitting about foraging for nesting materials for impending eggs, lolling queen bumblebees looking for nest sites and hibernating hedgehogs are waking up as the temperatures rise, looking to fatten up after winter. An easy way to help hedgehogs post winter sleep, is to feed them cat/dog food and provide plenty of water. In order to stop hungry foxes and pesky cats from stealing your hedgehog's food, you can build a feeding station. It doesn't have to be anything fancy and can be made with things you may already have in your garden or shed. 1. You can use old bricks to make a base. Just make sure it's big enough for a hog to get in and out of, and ensure that the entrance is 13cm x 13cm. 2. You can make a lid ou...

Hedgehog Friendly Campus UoB

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