News and Events
Upcoming events:
Saturday 7th August - ECO-ACTIVE DAY - task to be confirmed, 10am-1pm, meet at York Environment Centre
Wednesday 18th August - ECO-ACTIVE DAY - task to be confirmed, 10am-4pm, meet at York Environment Centre
Saturday 4th September - ECO-ACTIVE DAY - task to be confirmed, 10am-1pm, meet at York Environment Centre
Latest News:
Wednesday 28th July: St Nicholas Fields has received Green Pennant Award!
St Nicholas Fields Local Nature Reserve has been recognised as one of the country’s best green spaces with a prestigious Green Pennant Award. The award is the first Green Pennant to be awarded for a green space in York. Green Pennant Awards (part of the Green Flag Award scheme) recognise and reward the best community run parks in the country and St Nicholas Fields stood out after impressing the judges with excellent facilities including well managed green space, signage and amenities as well as the dedication of volunteers and local residents.
John Brierley, Project Co-ordinator with the Friends of St Nicholas Fields, said: “St Nicks is a unique green space ~ transformed into what it is today by the work of hundreds, probably thousands, of volunteers, who have cleared rubbish, built paths, sown wildflower meadows and planted trees and shrubs. It is now home to a wide variety of wildlife and a great place for people locally to enjoy. The Green Pennant award is a tribute to all those people who have, over the last 20 years, helped to create this fantastic green space.”
A big thank you goes to everyone who's helped us achieve this award! We hope you'll come and help us celebrate this achievement tomorrow at the AGM (see Events for more details).
Monday 21st June: 10k appeal for our 10th anniversary
Please support our 10k runners or join in! Do you fancy the incredible experience of running or walking through York alongside a few thousand people and raising money for a good cause? Please let us know - we still have some places available on St Nicks team entering Jane Tomlinson's 10k run on 1st August. Since it is York Environment Centre's tenth anniversary this year, we plan to have ten runners & walkers flying our colours. We aim to raise at least £1,000 and the entrants need to work towards this team target.
There is still time left to train up for running it and the team will be helping each other to get ready. But walking or skating will be just as much fun! Whichever way you decide to enter the race, it promises to be a day to remember, as you will be experiencing York streets as you may have never seen them before - no cars, just masses of cheerful (if rather sweaty) people. Go on, join our team!
If you don't fancy running or walking the race yourself, please support our brave team. All the money raised will be used towards the Centre's continued development as a hub for environmental action in York. You can support our team by making a donation through our Charity Giving page.
Saturday 12th June: Give or Take Day Success
The sixth Give or Take Day (also known as Junk Swap) was a great success. We had around 250 people bringing and taking stuff ranging from books and clothes to chairs and decking. We've prevented over half a tonne of items going into landfill and a great time was had by all. Steve of Daftasadrum put on three energetic drumming workshops, our Volunteer Co-ordinator Katie and a few of her young volunteers entertained children with junk craft activities, Robin helped participants keep fit by letting them use our pedal power generator (almost managed to boil a cup of tea) and also showed off our mobile solar heating unit. A big thank you goes to all who helped us make the day so good! You can see some pictures from the day in our Events Image Gallery.
Tuesday 8th June: Calling all 14 to 16 year olds! Come and get eco 'n' get active!
St Nicks has recently started an exciting new volunteering project for 14-16 year olds, with funding from the York Youth Community Action Project, a pilot initiative to engage young people in volunteering across York. Young people can volunteer on the nature reserve one Saturday a month at our ‘Eco-Active’ Days or with school groups who will be visiting us during the day. We are also setting up a group called “Get-Eco, Get-Active”, a youth led group for young people interested in making a difference to the environment. If you are interested or know someone who may be, please contact Katie, our newly employed 14-16 Volunteer Coordinator, who will be more than happy to give you all the details. Her email address is katie[insert @]stnicksfields.org.ukFriday 21st May: Volunteer Park Ranger wanted
We are looking for an enthusiastic volunteer to become St Nicks Park Ranger. Please see our Job Vacancies page for more details.
Saturday 8th May: What a great day!
York Environment Centre celebrated its 10th anniversary in big style. We had over 300 people joining in, who were a great mix of local community, greenies, politicians and all age groups. There were lots of cakes, stalls and activities from local groups, interesting speakers, a haiku workshop, tasty food and plenty more cake. A more detailed report will follow in our next newsletter and more images will be added to our Gallery soon. A big thank you to everyone who helped us organise this big event and those who came along!