'Friends of' goes Borough wide

The ‘Friends Of’ Bashfordsland Wood & Oakfield Glen have been meeting each month since September 2015 to carry out practical tasks in their local woodland, last month they collected materials from the wood and made festive wreaths.  

The ‘Friends Of’ volunteer programme has proven so popular in Carrickfergus that Mid and East Antrim Borough Council will be extending the programme to Larne and Ballymena sites this year.

Voluntary work can be inspiring and rewarding – a real learning experience. You can develop new practical skills, meet new people and learn about your local environment. Volunteering can help you gain confidence and self-esteem and can also have health benefits as you are being active outdoors. You can really make a difference to your local green space by protecting it and improving it for the benefit of the local wildlife and community.  Volunteering provides opportunities to enhance your CV and is highly commended by employers and of course, it can be great fun.  Why not get involved in 2017?

The Friends of Bashfordsland Wood & Oakfield Glen will continue to meet on the second Saturday of each month in 2017.  

Details of the new ‘Friends of’ programmes can be found below:

Friends of Ecos Nature Park

Meeting at Ecos Centre, 10am (to 12noon) on:

Saturday 21st January

Saturday 18th February

Saturday 18th March

Friends of Larne Town Park

Meeting at Bankheads Lane, 2pm (to 4pm) on:

Saturday 21st January

Saturday 18th February

Saturday 18th March

Friends of Carnfunnock Country Park

Meeting at the visitor centre 10am (to 1pm) on:

Saturday 28th January

Saturday 25th February

Saturday 25th March

Ahoghill New Park

Mid and East Antrim Borough Council own a 3.16ha site adjacent to the community centre at Cardonaghy Road in the village of Ahoghill. At October’s Council meeting it was agreed to create a park with this land and a public consultation has officially opened to hear from the service users.

Council’s vision is to transform this closed site and create a public park that will provide a popular community space with an array of walkways, wildlife, wildflowers, trees and wetlands area. Mid and East Antrim Borough Council is committed to the continual improvement of our Borough’s infrastructure, to creating opportunities for health and well-being, and to increasing social, environmental and economic benefits for our residents. The creation of this public open space area would enhance the offering within this village, improve quality of life for those living in the area and enhance the attractions of the area for future development.

The Parks & Open Spaces Section would therefore encourage Mid and East Antrim residents, especially those living in and around Ahoghill, to get involved in this consultation process and to provide valuable feedback by completing a short online survey before the closing date of Friday 13^th January 2017. Please see map and link to survey below. 

Ahoghill New Park

Wild About Food Winter Festival

The Mid and East Antrim Borough Council’s ‘Wild About Food’ project has been running throughout 2016 in collaboration with Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council, and was funded by Heritage Lottery Fund. The two Council areas celebrated the success of the programme with a final Winter Festival event in Mossley Mill on Saturday 10^th December. Activities included delicious winter fare workshops, wreath making, robin box building, arts and crafts and woodland creatures.

The ‘Wild About Food’ project was Mid and East Antrim's contribution to Northern Ireland's Year of Food and Drink 2016 which is a celebration of everything delicious about Northern Ireland. Throughout 2016 participants across the Borough have had the chance to taking part in a range of events and workshops making the most of our fantastic local products.

Workshops throughout the year have included Love Veg at Eden Allotment Gardens, Cook Your Catch at Blackhead Path, Pesto making at Ecos Nature Park, Ice Cream making at Dixon Park and Apple Day at Diamond Jubilee Wood, and have proven extremely popular. Our ‘Winter Festival’ was a great way to celebrate the end of this exciting programme.

 Furthermore, this project was intended to act as a reminder of the ecosystem processes which provides us with food, air and water, and remind us of the importance of the natural world around us. With today’s reliance on supermarkets, and the assumption that any food can be purchased at any time of the year, this project has hopefully reminded people of the importance of our local produce and those ingredients which have not incurred thousands of air miles and the associated carbon foot print.

Greenisland Community Orchard

The Mayor of Mid and East Antrim Borough Council, Cllr Audrey Wales, officially launched National Tree Week 2016 by planting the first fruit tree in the new Greenisland Community Orchard.

Cllr Wales said “I was delighted to plant the first tree at Greenisland Community Orchard. The community then planted the rest of the site with 75 fruit trees, including apple, pear and plum. Participants also enjoyed building a bug hotel, meeting some woodland creatures and tasting orchard food and drink. I hope this site will flourish and provide a valuable resource for the community for many years.”

National Tree Week is the UK’s largest celebration of trees and the start of the winter tree planting season. As part of our Tree Week celebrations, Mid & East Antrim Borough Council’s free activities across the Borough have ranged from practical workshops in Ecos Nature Park, Ballymena and Bashfordsland Wood, Carrickfergus, to tree planting with school children in Larne.

Anyone can make a difference to their view and to biodiversity by adding a tree. Planting a tree is a very positive thing to do and is great fun, even in the depths of winter. There are plenty of reasons to get planting –it's great exercise, children love it, and you'll be making a valuable contribution to our local wildlife. Every tree counts.

The Tree Council’s National Tree Week is the UK’s largest celebration of trees and the start of the winter tree planting season. The first‐ever National Tree Week was held in 1975 to make Britain more tree‐conscious, encourage tree planting and promote awareness of the importance of proper care and maintenance of trees.

Tree Week marks the beginning of the tree planting season which runs right through to February. Why not get outdoors and plant a tree this winter, or simply enjoy the tremendous trees we already have in the Parks & Open Spaces in our Borough?

Friends Of

The Friends Of Bashfordsland Wood & Oakfield Glen continue to meet each month, on the second Saturday of the month, at Oakfield Community Centre, 10am to 1pm. Recent tasks have included river cleans and bat box building. If you are interested in getting outdoors and learning new skills, while preserving this fantastic woodland, please come along.

The 'Friends of' volunteer programme is coming to Larne and Ballymena in January 2017. Please see below for more details. 

Whale Watching, Portmuck

Participants enjoyed Mid & East Antrim's fantastic coastline and learning about local biodiversity at the Whale Watching event, Sunday 6th November, Portmuck, Islandmagee. On the day participants were pleased to see harbour porpoise, grey seals and seabirds.

You can often also see whales and dolphins at this spot - a real treat.

 To find out more about Mid & East Antrim's biodiversity please visit: www.midandeastantrim.gov.uk/biodiversity

Mid and East Antrim In Bloom awards ceremony 2016

The Mayor of Mid & East Antrim Borough Council, Cllr Audrey Wales, was delighted to host the Mid & East Antrim in Bloom awards ceremony on Friday 28^th October at the Carrickfergus Town Hall. At the awards ceremony winners and runners up received their certificates and prizes and enjoyed afternoon tea.

Cllr Wales said “The Mid & East Antrim In Bloom awards are a chance to celebrate the many months, and often years, of hard work individuals and groups put into improving their gardens, towns, villages and schools. The Mid & East Antrim In Bloom campaign encourages everyone who lives in the Borough to think about their local environment and how flowers, plants and gardens can enhance it for people and wildlife. By actively supporting our ‘In Bloom’ campaign and competitions residents not only brighten our Borough but have been fundamental to our success in Ulster in Bloom  and Britain in Bloom.”

“There are ten Mid and East Antrim in Bloom community competition categories in total. The general competitions are open to all residents of the Borough and are the Best Kept Front Garden, Best Kept Front Container Garden, Best Kept Community Planting Scheme, Best Kept Allotment Garden, Best Kept Commercial Premises and the Gardening for Wildlife Award. There are also four competitions specifically for our Young People (16 & under) in the Borough. These competitions are the Tallest Sunflower Competition, the Painting Competition (16 & under / 10 & under), the Poetry Competition and the Best School Gardening Project.”

“I am pleased to say the campaign has been extremely well received this year and has had over 1,000 entrants from all across the Borough. In 2017 we will continue our Mid and East Antrim in Bloom campaign, continue to take an active role in supporting community horticulture and continue to be an award winning Borough.”

To see a full list of winners and runners up please visit www.midandeastantrim.gov.uk/inbloom