Barnes box clever for Suffolk's barn owls

With our vision to bring back Suffolks barn owl to the west of of Suffolk, Barnes Construction have manufactured ten barn owl boxes to a bespoke, tried and tested design for installation over the coming months.

Myself, Nick fayers, Managing Director of Barnes Construction, and Martin Griffiths, carpenter who constructed the boxes offer up the design for all to see.

Our aim is to install as many of these boxes on community sites across the county as part of advisory work to engage with and inspire local people to take action for wildlife on their doorstep.

Have you seen a barn owl? Add your viewing to our interactive map

Carillion's woodland adventure continues...

Carillion and the Trust have once again built upon their ongoing relationship by entering into the Carillion Natural Habitats Fund for 2012/13. Over the past year the specific partnership efforts have focused on the last remaining parcel of ancient woodland at Bradfield woods with the Trust delivering on all of the promotional and beneficial outcomes highlighted in the funding bid. These include:

• New business members event mentioning the forthcoming involvement of Carillion staff at Hannah’s close to an assembled business community.
• Launch with press release and photocall about their involvement over the project period.
• Volunteer feature on our homepage.
• Ongoing blog features
• Best practice case study on website
• One day Plant Identification Course to upskill staff.
• Presentation to Carillion staff in Ipswich about Hannah’s close, Bradfield Woods and the new green oak centre.
• Three practical conservation team days on 'Discovering the benefits of ancient coppice woodlands', 'Creating conditions to restore ancient woodland habitat' and 'Ride Management'.

Legal and General charity event

I attended a charity day at Legal & General in Ipswich last week to promote opportunities for staff to  get closer to local wildlife. Some requested advice about wildlife gardening, some discovered they could visit a local nature reserve near to where they live, and others that we put on over 500 events throughout the year for children, families and adults (see pic below) - something for everyone, from badger watching and beach combing to bushcraft and bug hunting.

Our thanks to Yvette Marsh (CSR Coordinator) and her team for making the day a useful networking event for all the charities attending. This is what Yvette had to say...'The event was a fantastic way for charities to promote their work and for Legal & General to be involved in the local community.  Both staff and the charities benefited from the day, and many opportunities to build upon this great work have been identified as a result.'