Published on: Thursday, 19 April 2018
Last updated: Thursday, 19 April 2018
A group of schoolchildren have created pottery homes to help protect the wildlife at their local rail station garden.
The 50 youngsters, from Wix & Wrabness Primary School, have made pottery wildlife refuges which they will bring to Wrabness rail station garden on Friday 20th April.
The wildlife houses will join a new sculpture which also has pride of place in the garden – a metal train designed by Cobnuts Co-operative, a local eco-arts cooperative who design creative habitats, and fabricated by local firm Derek Taylor Engineering Ltd.
Terri Ryland, Community Rail Partnerships Officer for Essex County Council said, “I love the habitats created by the children. They’ve done a great job which will help to attract wildlife to our station garden and they’ve also learnt important lessons about rail safety while having lots of fun. I’d like to thank the children, Cobnuts, Derek Taylor Engineering and Greater Anglia for their support in helping to make this project possible.”
The project has been co-ordinated by the Essex and South Suffolk Community Rail Partnership which promotes positive partnerships between the railway and the community.
Representatives from the CRP will help the children on the day and take them for train rides to Manningtree station courtesy of Greater Anglia to practice the rail safety lessons previously delivered in school by the CRP.
Paul Haynes, Greater Anglia’s Community Partnerships Manager, said, “We’re pleased to offer our support to this excellent community rail partnership project which has brought benefits, not only for wildlife, but by creating a lovely station garden at Wrabness which the whole community can enjoy and by introducing rail safety guidance to the children involved.”