Forest Schools in Mid and East Antrim

Mid and East Antrim Borough Council is committed to promoting our parks and open spaces as important educational and recreational resources and Forest Schools is a great way to achieve this. The number of Forest Schools in Northern Ireland is increasing and we are proud to be at the forefront of this initiative. 

This year, all the schools in the Borough had the opportunity to take part in the Forest School programme via the Forest School Awards. Three schools have now been selected to take part in the 2017 Forest Schools programme. 

Carrickfergus Central Primary School have chosen Shaftesbury Park as their site. Shaftesbury Park is a charming Victorian park in Carrickfergus town centre with plenty of mature tree specimens and is connected to Carrickfergus Mill Ponds Nature Reserve which is home to a wide range of wildlife.

Kirkinriola Primary School have chosen Ecos Nature Park as their site. Ecos Nature Park is an oasis of wildlife close to the heart of Ballymena town centre. The site is 220 acres of parkland, maturing woodland, peaceful lake, ponds, and meadows.

St Johns Primary School have chosen Cranny Falls Nature Reserve, Carnlough as their site. Cranny Falls includes a beautiful waterfall in a wooded valley and a disused limestone quarry, where there are cliffs, wetlands and grasslands.

‘Friends of' nature flock in across the Borough

The Mayor of Mid and East Antrim Borough, Councillor Audrey Wales MBE, has revealed how pleased she is at the volume of volunteers attending at the various ‘Friends of’ meetings this year. Cllr Wales said: “We have had a fantastic turn out at our Friends Of meetings which have been running each Saturday in January.

“Our Friends Of groups are now running at Bashfordsland Wood & Oakfield Glen Carrickfergus, Ecos Nature Park Ballymena, Town Parks Larne and Carnfunnock Country Park,” she said.

Already in 2017, Mid and East Antrim’s ‘Friends Of’ volunteers have helped with bird ringing at Bashfordsland Wood & Oakfield Glen, willow coppicing at Ecos Nature Park, creating a wildlife pond at Town Parks Larne and removing snowberry, an invasive species, from Carnfunnock. Throughout the year, volunteers will continue to help with a wide range of practical tasks such as nest box building, tree planting, river cleans, invasive species removal and wildflower planting.

Our ‘Friends Of’ groups are a great opportunity to get outside in the fresh air, meet likeminded people and learn new skills, all the while protecting and improving your local green space. Volunteering can help participants to gain confidence and self-esteem and can also have health benefits as you are being active outdoors. Volunteering provides huge opportunities to enhance your CV to impress future employers or help with university applications. And of course, it can be great fun!

Upcoming Friends of meetings: Friends of Bashfordsland Wood & Oakfield Glen, Saturday 11 February, meeting at Oakfield Community Centre; Friends of Ecos Nature Park, Saturday 18 February, meeting at Outdoor Education Centre; Friends of Town Park Larne Saturday 18 February, meeting at Bankhead’s Lane and Friends of Carnfunnock, Saturday 25 February, meeting at visitor centre

Friends of Town Park

A good turnout at the first ‘Friend of Larne Town Parks’ meeting on 21 Jan. Volunteers enjoyed an afternoon beginning work on a wildlife pond. The next meeting is Sat 18 Feb, 2pm - 4pm, meeting at Bankheads Lane.

If you’d like to get outdoors, learn a new practical skill, and meet new people, our Friends Of group could be for you!

For more information T: 028 9335 8231 E: parks@midandeastantrim.gov.uk

Friends of Ecos Nature Park

A great turn out at the first ‘Friend of Ecos Nature Park’ meeting on 21 Jan. Volunteers enjoyed a morning coppicing willow. The next meeting is Sat 18 Feb, 10am – 12noon.

If you’d like to get outdoors, learn a new practical skill, and meet new people, our Friends Of group could be for you!

For more information T: 028 9335 8231 E: parks@midandeastantrim.gov.uk

Ballymena joins in The Big Garden Birdwatch 2017

Participants at Council’s Big Garden Birdwatch event at The People’s Park, Ballymena on Sunday 29 January spotted 35 species of birds on site! Our keen bird watchers saw some interesting species such as redwing, goldcrest and jay, and of course, garden regulars blackbird, starling and robin. This data has been submitted to the RSPB to help build a picture of garden wildlife across the UK. There is still time for you to submit your results at https://ww2.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/activities/birdwatch

Wild About Food shortlisted for the NI Year of Food & Drink awards

The shortlist for the NI Year of Food and Drink Awards has been announced. The judging panel, made up of highly respected food writers, critics and hospitality experts, were overwhelmed with the level of entries for the inaugural year of the awards, celebrating the achievements of the Year of Food and Drink in 2016. –

Deputy Mayor of Mid and East Antrim Borough Council, William McNeilly, who attended a number of the workshops said “We are delighted that our ‘Wild About Food’ initiative has been shortlisted for the Best Food Story Award.”

“Wild About Food was a collaboration between Mid and East Antrim Borough Council & Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council, funded by Heritage Lottery Fund, aiming to celebrate the fantastic local produce available to us in the area. This project was our contribution to the Northern Ireland's Year of Food and Drink 2016 and we incorporated the Year of Food and Drink monthly themes.”

“Throughout the Wild About Food programme participants were educated, able to learn new food preparation skills, learn about local ingredients and learn about foraging. For example, participants foraged for wild garlic and made a wild garlic pesto at Ecos Nature Park and enjoyed learning the traditional skill of sea angling and ‘cooking their catch’ at our Cook Your Catch workshop at Blackhead Path, Whitehead. Other workshops included a Love Veg BBQ at Eden Allotment Gardens, Carrickfergus, bread baking, ice cream making, and a celebration of the apple harvest at Diamond Jubilee Wood, Whitehead.”

“The programme was also intended to act as a reminder of the ecosystem processes which continues to provide us with food, air and water reminding 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 programme aimed to remind people of importance of local produce and how to make the most of ingredients which have not incurred thousands of air miles and the associated carbon foot print. “

Charles Campion, Georgina Campbell, Joris Minne and Professor Una-McMahon Beattie met at Hillsborough Castle on Mon 16 January to deliberate the entries. The shortlist and winners will be announced at the awards evening on Thursday 02 February at the Culloden Estate & Spa.

Mayor meets 'Friends Of'

The Mayor of Mid and East Antrim Borough, Councillor Audrey Wales MBE, is encouraging residents to ‘give volunteering a go’ in 2017.

She said: “Our ‘Friends Of’ volunteer groups undertake a wide range of tasks such as nest box building, tree planting, river cleans, invasive species removal and wildflower planting."

“These groups are a great opportunity to get outside in the fresh air, meet like-minded people and learn new skills, all the while protecting and improving your local green space.”

Cllr Wales added: “Volunteering can help people to gain confidence and self-esteem and can also have health benefits by being active outdoors. Volunteering provides huge opportunities to enhance your CV to impress future employers or help with university applications. And of course, it can be great fun.”

Indeed, the Mayor has herself joined the Friends of Bashfordsland Wood and Oakfield Glen and got involved in their bird ringing tasks.

Cllr Wales explained: “Bird ringing is the attachment of small numbered tags to the leg or wing of a wild bird to enable individual identification. Ringing birds allows us to learn how long our birds live and when and where they move – information which is important for bird conservation. It was great to see so many birds on site, including a rare find – a treecreeper. The ‘Friends of’ volunteers record the birds on site each year,” she said.

The Friends of Bashfordsland Wood & Oakfield Glen will continue to meet on the second Saturday of each month at Oakfield Community Centre 10am (to 1pm). 

• Friends of Ecos Nature Park, meeting at Ecos Centre, 10am (to 12pm) on Saturday 21 January, Saturday 18 February, Saturday 18 March
• Friends of Larne Town Park will meet at Bankheads Lane, 2pm (to 4pm) on Saturday 21 January 18 February and Saturday 18 March
• Friends of Carnfunnock Country Park meet at the visitor centre 10am (to 1pm) on Saturday 28 January, Saturday 25 Feb and Saturday 25 March