Lowestoft Campus East Coast College - In Touch with Nature Project update

* The Wellbeing Garden at East Coast CollegeFoundation has been given an area of the grassy quad to call our own and students have decided they would like to benefit people, the environment and animals in the design and content of the Wellbeing Garden.We purchased the following things:4 fruit trees at a cost of approximately £100. These will help to reduce carbon emissions alongside other trees that will be planted in that area and students and staff will be able to eat the fruit when the trees have matured.Flowers that attract bees and butterflies at a cost of approximately £35. These will be of a variety of colours and aromas so there will also be a sensory element for people to enjoy. The benefits for bees and butterflies lie in the nectar produced by these plants and the shelter they provide.A solar powered water feature that can double as a bird bath for approx. £50. People will enjoy the sound of the water feature and birds will benefit from this too.A bug hotel at a cost of about £15 which will benefit insects and students who may be able to track and study the insects seen in this.A bird feeder at a cost of approximately £20 which can be used for feeding birds during the winter months. Students will also benefit from learning more about the birds that land in the vicinity and by taking responsibility for feeding the birds on a weekly basis.In the last few months, the brickwork students have been pulling out old hedging and brambles as well as pulling down old sheds.In the meantime, some of the other students have been making bird feeders by using recycling plastic bottles and these are now hanging in the hedgerows. We go and check on the progress being made by the brick students and re-fill the bird feeders. The majority of the time these have been almost emptied.