*** PHOTO OPPORTUNITY *** PHOTO OPPORTUNITY *** PHOTO OPPORTUNITY***<br><br>Islington Council's Nature Conservation Team are hosting a visit of environmental volunteers from insurance firm AXA at the Ecology Centre in Gillespie Park, N5.<br><br>2005 is the 'Year of the Volunteer' in Islington - themes have included older people, sport, disability and the environment.<br><br>The 60 finance staff from AXA UKGroup Hearts In Action Challenge, will visit on Wednesday 9 November 2005 to clear and reline a pond, cut a meadow, prune trees and shrubs and paint the visitor centre.<br><br>Every year AXA helps local communities or charities by carrying out challenges in their local areas. <br> <br>Gillespie Park is a local nature reserve for the community found in the heart of inner city London. Home to many animal and plant species it contains a rich variety of habitats including areas of grassland, woodland and ponds. These habitats are managed using traditional methods such as coppicing, hedgelaying and hand meadow cutting which are both more sustainable and attractive to wildlife than many modern methods.<br> <br>The Nature Conservation Team based at the Park and Visitor's Centre welcomes help from community volunteers to maintain this valued greenspace for visitors and the local community to enjoy. <br><br>Cllr Bridget Fox, executive member for sustainability said:<br><br>"Community involvement has always been at the heart of Gillespie Park's success - whether it's attending the annual Gillespie Festival, learning about birds at an ecology workshop for kids, or - as in this case - helping maintain the park.<br><br>2005 has been designated the Year of the Volunteer in Islington. We'd like to see more employers follow AXA's example and get involved - after all businesses are important members of the community, too."<br><br>Activities for the day include:<br><br>Pond clearance<br><br>There a number of small ponds in the park which have been artificially created and collect water from the visitor centre hand-basins and other fresh water outlets. These ponds have been planted with a wide range of aquatic plant species and support a large number of invertebrates, frogs, toads and newts. The staff at the centre are keen to re-line the ponds as they are leaking, and would like our help to clear out the overgrown vegetation in order that they can re-line the ponds.<br><br>Meadows<br><br>The meadows within the park boundaries are cut back in rotation using traditional scythes and they are in desperate need of manpower to assist with this during November, in order to prepare the meadows for the following year. There will also be a number of people hand-picking the Micklemas Daisies from the meadow to prevent overgrowth next year.<br><br>Tree-works<br><br>The centre would like our assistance to thin out some of their hedges with handtools with the possibility of laying additional hedges.<br><br>Painting<br><br>The Visitor Centre has a number of attractive murals of the park and associated wildlife. These murals are in need of some attention and the centre is happy to provide us with organic paint for members of our team to tidy up the paint<br><br>*** PHOTO OPPORTUNITY *** PHOTO OPPORTUNITY *** PHOTO OPPORTUNITY***<br><br>Photographers are welcome to meet Nature Conservation Team and AXA staff:<br><br>Wednesday 9 November 2005<br>9.30am – 4.30pm<br>Gillespie Park and Islington Ecology Centre,<br>191 Drayton Park<br>London, <br>N5 1PH<br><br>For more information on Hearts in Action Challenge, please call Sarah Jolliffe on 07117 989 5441.<br><br>ENDS
Page Last Updated: 17 December 2009