How about becoming a Volunteer?
You can volunteer either by joining in with our regular work parties or with other aspects of the Group; volunteering with us gives you the opportunity to improve your physical health, learn a bit about the natural history of the Common and find companionship with other people keen to do their bit for our environment. Helping maintain the Common can contribute to your own quality of life, as well as making a genuine difference to such a lovely area. You will meet new people and have the satisfaction of belonging to a group with a shared aim, letting you replenish your mental ‘batteries’ through interaction with nature and other people. Volunteering can also help if you have experienced illness and need to gradually be revitalised so you start to feel positive about life again! If you have never tried sawing through a tree branch or cutting and raking vegetation that is taking over, why not give it a go? We have training from the County Council Countryside Wardens to learn how to use specific tools, if needed, and refreshments are provided – what more could you ask for!
Some of the things families and kids can do on the Common!
How about printing out our Spotter sheets by clicking on the links below and seeing how many of the animals, plants, birds, and reptiles you can see? Remember, you may have to be very quiet and stay still to see some of the inhabitants of the Common. You can colour in the pictures on the sheets, too.
Collect leaves and make a collage when you get home.
Go on a Scavenger Hunt – try to find seeds from 4 different trees, something soft, something knobbly, a white stone, 3 different feathers, leaves from 5 kinds of tree, twigs that look like letters of the alphabet, a dock leaf (good to recognise in case a stinging nettle catches you unawares!) or whatever you decide to put on your list, then see who has the most interesting collection.
Lay a track with sticks as arrows for your friends to follow!
See if you can map your visit and draw the bits you liked best, then write about why you liked them, so you know where to head for next time!
Have a picnic in the open air – make sure you clear up afterwards though!
Look for different kinds of fungi – you may need to look up as well as down for this one!
Take some paper and crayons or pencils with you in your backpack and do some bark rubbings. Find an interesting pattern in the bark of a tree, hold your paper in place (or get someone else to hold it for you) and rub your pencil to and fro over the knobbly bumps on the bark. Wax crayons can be good, too. You could add leaves from the tree whose bark you’ve rubbed and make a picture at home.
Here’s your chance to find out about the Common in an easy access leaflet.
Our Easy Read leaflet gives lots of information in an easy and understandable way. Why not have a look by clicking on the link below?
You might be surprised at what you can see, and hear, on Hartlebury Common!
Have you looked at our YouTube videos?
Click on the YouTube link to see video clips taken on the Common of a Pantaloon Bee excavating its nest, Common Darter dragonflies egg laying in Rush Pool, Red- banded Sand Wasp, and Ivy Bees in a frenzy to mate – we will be adding more in the months to come. Keep checking back!
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