The thing is we have included EVERYONE in the village and needed help from the wider community too. No-one has been left out. It was vital that we were 100% inclusive. If someone wasn't interested… no problem. There has to be kindness and acceptance with each other. No pressure was what we intended anyone to feel from our activities. Only invitations.

More ways used to communicate this year:  Instagram. Facebook. Village Noticeboard. Parish Magazine - every edition - which reaches another 3 villages, as well as our own. A survey through every door to find out what we already have in our gardens, the school did this for us. More letters door to door. More knocking on doors and meeting people face to face. We've set up a village WhatsApp group with 21 homes included already, and growing.

We wanted to ensure young people had a chance to be involved. School was amazing and did SO much. They were very involved and did many activities to support 'Nature's Friends'.

Teenagers are an often an overlooked group, but are so precious and valuable, they care very much about the environment. We wanted their help! And they've been FABULOUS! We wanted to make it nice for them so we made a picnic and did a 'Plant and Picnic'. It was a total success. 

Individuals, groups and clubs linked with Irthington, Andy Booth from Irthing Joinery, many volunteers within the village have given a lot of their time. Community litter-pickers, the Parish Council, Irthington WI, Church PCC, Flower Club and school. And the people we ended up involving, the City Council, County Council, our MP Dr Neil Hudson, the wildlife charities Butterfly Conservation, RSPB and of course, Cumbria Wildlife Trust.

Knowing that the time and energy is paying off dividends for our community and it's wildlife. We are spending time on something really important which will hopefully make life better for people and nature which will continue onwards.

There is a purpose and positivity to each day. Hope for a better future. New friends made. A real community feeling, a closeness and support.

At times it's been challenging, amid fears that we wouldn't crack certain things in time (bank account, funding, organising for a certain event or planting). We didn't have long, from learning our submission was successful and we were in the Britain in Bloom Finals in February 2022, to knowing so much needed to happen by the Summer.

We've been told by the RHS that we are the first and only place who has been accepted into the National Finals so quickly. Less than a year after entering Cumbria in Bloom, it usually takes a place 4-5 years. As a result, there was an awful lot of work to be done, in a short time. And it hasn't always been straightforward when working with people.

The impact has been like a light shining in a world that often feels too dark. The news is full of horrors, but concentrating on something so good, close to home has given positivity and focus on what we do have some control over.

We hope this will have a knock on effect and we'll all notice an increase in insects and birds, plus other wildlife in our village. Our community has benefited very much and we have been connected by a common aim, enjoying the results together in a shared sense of accomplishment.

People who have recently moved in are now in contact with those who have been here for a long time. Communities these days are generally not what they were in the past. Our working together has managed to achieve so many more connections with each other that it feels like time has been turned back to the days when everyone knew and looked out for each other.

People have appreciated this, saying how lovely it has been to meet others in the village. It seems that having a great project to share, as well as creating opportunities for meeting up has been key. For instance; the plant and picnic, cups of tea, refreshments on judging days where the whole village was invited. 

And the day the RHS visited us, coming up from London. They liked our story so much and this was yet another chance for meeting up for a cuppa in church. Such simple things... subjects to get people talking about and to be included in.

And of course, wildlife will thrive if there is thought and kindness in our gardens and spaces.

The unexpected is that we are a case study for Cumbria Wildlife Trust's new campaign, Wilder Cumbria. To play a small part in possibly helping or encouraging other people or communities to do something for nature would be INCREDIBLE. Which is why we are so happy to help.

The start up of our village WhatsApp group to more easily reach everyone with information and up to date news has continued to increase in numbers. The photos and news shared continues to bring us closer. The unexpected thing is that post our 'in Bloom' judging days, this is continuing and at the moment, people are harvesting plums and apples. They're putting them out on their fronts in boxes and letting people know in the group to come by and grab some. Yum!

And we have been surprised again and again by kindness and thoughtfulness, see answers below.

There have been some really lovely surprises along the way. When people do something unexpected which is thoughtful, supportive, or kind. This has lifted us up and has kept us going. The fabulous metal bespoke bench gifted to Irthington in Bloom for the community was very special.

When people turned up with plants they wanted to donate so we could sell them for funds, or plant around the village. A surprise knock on the door with a personalised top for Danny to wear when he was showing the judges around.

Organising the 'We Support Ukraine' display was easier to organise than expected with the teenagers. We took to knocking on doors for this and speaking with people face to face. This worked well and the mams and dads were behind it totally too. They loved the idea and we worked together with them to decide on the best way to bring it together. A later start to suit the teenagers, refreshments being made for the picnic involved more of the community, and it was a very productive and happy morning.

Asking a small group of ladies to help with organising the refreshments in church (on judging days for Cumbria and Britain) was such a good idea. They were a Godsend, very organised and could be left to sort this side out completely. Total trust and I didn't have to worry for a moment! We were in very good hands, these ladies had years of experience of sorting things out. Their support meant the world.

People's help, either personal or professional, offering their time and expertise so generously. There have been many volunteers and then there was also the parish council, our MP, City Council Waste Services, Andy Booth from Irthing Joinery, the vicar who was so generous with allowing us the church space whenever we needed it for meetings or community events connected with 'In Bloom', plus many more.

The gardens of individuals who live here and the effort that was put into being 'Nature's Friends'. Hedgehog houses, toad houses, loads of pictures sent to us and other nature friendly ideas. As well as hanging baskets and pots, there have been wonderful displays throughout the village.

Oh the challenges! There have been LOADS! This is where I feel we can be the most help for others. In all honesty, this has not been an easy undertaking and has taken more time than I ever envisaged when we were nominated for Britain in Bloom. But there will definitely be an overlap, on what we did and what communities choose to do to help nature, and how to go about this.

If there are public areas, even if they're small, something could be done with them to improve things for nature. However, you can't just start planting. Who owns the land? Is it the parish council or someone else? We gained permission to work on our parish corner from our parish council. We worked with our parish council and had their full support. They were unable to help financially, but helped in any other way they could and councillors did volunteer their time, in one case, many hours!

You can't just put out a planter or a box, or work on a verge...(Highways and Parish Council working together in our case to agree and grant us with permits). This is where people will definitely need support and help. This was the painful side of things.

Lovely ideas...but the days where you could just get up and set to are gone. People could easily be knocked off at this stage and it could fizzle out, whereas a bit of help and support could get things off the ground and moving.

It's the transition from an idea to an action...regulations, paperwork, reaching the right people. Eugh!! And I barked up quite a few wrong trees before finding the right answers and contacts. This took hours. My personal situation allowed me to spend time on this and persist. But I understand and am very aware that many people won't have the time or inclination (I had the Britain in Bloom Finals looming ahead of us, which meant giving up wasn't an option).

It will be most straightforward when a few neighbours get together to work for nature in their own gardens, making hedgehog Highways and working together with planting ideas, or feeding stations, or creating new habitats for instance. This will be the easiest way to go because it will be in their own space.

However, as soon as it involves a community area, or any land, whether started by an individual or a group, complexities will appear.

If it will involve a community space, a plan of what is intended and permission will be needed first and foremost. Then who will pay for the plants or plan to be fulfilled? This is not a question meant to put anyone off, we have proven that it is most certainly possible. There are ways to accomplish these things; some knowledge and understanding of what is required and a bit of assistance could make this side of things much simpler. Even if it's information of who to contact and how to go about it.

We had to set up a group bank account. This was never an intention, even when we realised we were in the Britain in Bloom Finals, we thought we wouldn't need to. Silly us! There is no escape from these complications, they are essential to move forward. A cheque for funding cannot be paid into an individual bank account, it has to be a group account. It was a necessity for us and not a choice. Help and information on this subject will be vital.

Then there's the actual funding to find. Again, this has to be an area where there is support and help, where to look and how to go about it, because there is funding out there. To receive funding from the County Council we had to first find a contact. I was fortunate after searching (for a good while!) to find Jackie. She was excellent in her support of us. She visited us in the village, went through the application form with us (it wasn't short) and advised us. We needed 2 quotes for every item we had on our plans. We also needed to prove to her that we were the group we claimed to be, with proof of our existing bank account, group name and our CONSTITUTION.

The CONSTITUTION was yet another headache. I'd realised we needed one and fortunately we had it ready for the funding application. I'd learned we needed it for a group bank account but in the event didn't need it to open the one we chose. However, for funding we most definitely did. HOURS! COMPLEX. BORING. HEADACHE. 

COMMUNICATION is so important if there are a few people joining in together. I've answered this in an earlier question, 'Who did you include'. But I can't say enough how much this has helped our village to come together. A lady who recently moved into our village said that out of all the ways in which we communicate, you can't beat that letter through the door.

Even better knocking on it and bringing people in, if they want to be. I've had some lovely comments, about how pleased they are that I knocked on their door that rainy afternoon... and how our 'in Bloom' and joint efforts for Nature's Friends has poured love into the village. Other places could experience exactly the same as us. When people work together, extraordinary things can be achieved.

A point of contact is also highly important, we were always contactable.

Please don't think you have to be an expert or know lots to take up the challenge. Nature needs lots of people to help and most of us do not know lots! Anything you do will be appreciated by your wildlife. You don't need any grand plans or big ideas, you could try a couple of things and I promise that you will be so encouraged, you will think of more you can do.

Allow your own story to evolve. Don't be afraid to invite neighbours or friends to join you by creating hedgehog highways and byways for instance. In our experience, people are keen to participate in helping nature with hope for a better future and that we can achieve something great together by simple actions. There is a growing awareness (especially strong in young people) who want to avoid what the world may be left without if we continue down our present path.

Absolutely! As follows:

I feel it would be appreciated if there were a list, obviously not a comprehensive one, of ideas on how to incorporate nature into our lives. This list could inspire and make it feel very reachable, even if only 1 or 2 were achieved, it all really does help our wildlife. It needs to be accessible for everyone and for everyone to feel they can do it. Our list to our community was as follows:

Hedgehog Highways. Hedgehog Homes. Hedgehog Feeding Stations. Log Piles. Bird Boxes. Bird Cafes. Bird baths. Sparrow street. Mud mix for Martin Homes. Bat boxes. Creating habitats. Planting to provide food and shelter in the colder months. Ponds. Making Compost. Water Butts. Recycling materials. Planting for Pollinators. Leaving wild areas on lawns. Bee hotels. Bug hotels. Hoverfly lagoons. Organic gardening. Companion planting. Thinking sustainably. No peat compost. Avoiding the use of pesticides and poisons.

What I actually felt we needed in the village at the beginning was a contact of someone who had a knowledge of wildlife to guide us. Which habitats could be created-and would work best-with what we had to offer in the village? Which nest boxes would be better suited to us, which direction should they face for a better success rate...that kind of help.

I contacted the local RSPB and after an initial wait, we did receive a contact. Richard had a few chats with me on the phone and visited the village too. I appreciated Richard's interest in our project very much. He returned to the village with volunteers to make nest boxes with the children in school and taught them about birds they might see in their school field. All in all this was a great success.

When one of our community realised that slug pellets containing metaldehyde was banned (at last!) from 1st April 2022, we decided to do a village clear out.  We actually reached out to the 4 local villages in our parish with this project because we communicated through the parish magazine. It was clear this wasn't getting the coverage it was owed in the media, so we worked with the local press too.

Because of us, the feature ran in the Cumberland News and Ollie, the reporter wanted quotes. It was wonderful to be able to count on Richard's support and he was able to give a quote to Ollie, which came from a more professional and knowledgable position than me! (So being prepared to back people up might be very helpful). In the end we had a full large storage box, people had taken advantage of filling with the destructive pellets. Martin and Jacky took them to the correct place at Boustead Grassing to dispose of it safely.

I contacted Cumbria Wildlife Trust a few times with questions. Unfortunately, at this time, there was no one available to help in our community. A marvellous opportunity came up however with the Big Plant and we successfully applied. Because of our village being in the Britain in Bloom Finals, our Big Plant would be covered by Ollie, the reporter from the Cumberland News, so I invited a representative from Cumbria Wildlife Trust, to be included in our coverage.

A staff member of Cumbria Wildlife Trust came and he was extremely kind in being a contact for us for a while afterwards. Questions were coming up as part of our journey being Nature's Friend and I was very grateful for his help and information. He took the time to find out and passed info back to us. Verges being the main one.

When is it best time to cut them in Cumbria? When are they cut? And what has happened over the past few years?  Thanks to him, we discovered that Cumbria County Council has signed up to Plantlife, best practice for nature on our verges. This info went directly back to our Britain in Bloom judges, and was also being discussed with a Highways Officer, Darren, who had agreed to be our contact and who was interested to hear what the Cumbria Wildlife Trust information was on this.

As it turned out, thanks to Plantlife, this side of things came around full circle in Cumbria and both Highways and Cumbria Wildlife Trust are on the same page. Perhaps other Counties could take their councils to task, if their council haven't already signed up to it? There are still a few councils to go and still work to be done in more than a few areas of the UK.

Danny studied for hours over the best perennials to plant, working out the best plants for wildlife which would provide pollen through from March to October, and some of which offered berries for birds in the Autumn/Winter months. Slightly acidic soil is the norm for this part of Cumbria, one of our community areas was sun and partial shade and the other area was shade, so they had to thrive in these conditions. A list of perennial plants, when they flower and where they thrive best would be a huge help for people who are not as interested in horticulture as much as Danny is and wouldn't choose to go to the lengths he went to, to find out.

Timings for cutting hedges to avoid disturbing birds nesting. Creating ponds, either very small or larger and their maintenance. How to make a hoverfly lagoon...making things seem as easy and as simple as possible. When it feels easy to follow, it will most likely help it to be the most used and successful, and will encourage people to give it a go.  

Our story has not stopped rolling since Danny started it all off. It has continued rolling faster and faster, taking us all with it. We're still rolling and we'll see where it takes us. There is no plan or end game. We will continue to be Nature's friends. We will continue to stay close as a community. This has brought us so much joy. We will continue this journey that has been such an adventure, and which no one wants to end.