Grounds Maintenance, Landscape Creation, Arboriculture, Sports Surfacing, Parks management, IOS Managing Safely Training, Ecology & Biodiversity, Grass cutting, Horticulture, Street Cleaning, Soft Landscaping, Hard Landscaping
idverde provides a wide range of green services, including grounds maintenance, landscape creation, and advice services, to both private and public sectors across the UK.
idverde’s Charnwood Depot is based in Loughborough, on a 4-acre site. Their client is Charnwood Borough Council, for whom they are contracted to carry out ground maintenance, looking after sports facilities, play areas, bowling greens and tennis courts, maintaining street signs and removing graffiti. The team also look after Charnwood Borough’s Greenspaces which cover nearly 450 hectares, containing a diverse number of habitats, from woodland to wetland and grassland to heathland.
Contract Administrator, Louise Casey has worked at the depot for 8 years, and had previously worked as a Ranger on the contract before that.
Whilst the role of Contract Administrator brought a new set of opportunities, Lou found that she missed getting out into the community doing her Ranger work. Given that the depot occupies a significant area of green space, with Charnwood brook running through the rear of the site, Lou seized the opportunity to make the most of the location for wildlife and for people.
The team had previously tried setting up small wildflower plots, with varying levels of success, but
She started out small, installing a couple of bird-feeders outside the depot, keeping a trusty bird ID book on hand in the office. Next, she proposed the idea of a larger wildflower bank. Calling on colleagues with machinery, the team were able to create a bigger, permanent space for a wildflower meadow. Lou then floated the idea of bug hotels, and the wider team at the depot really rose to the challenge, bringing in bits and bobs from home to help with construction and getting involved in the creation of the structures.
In its first year, the wildflower meadow is flourishing, with cosmos, cornflower crown daises, campion, and Californian poppies amongst the species. The team also seeded a harvest crop to create some height for the wildflower bank, including wheat, maize, white mustard and buckwheat. With each plant blooming at a different time, there is something new to enjoy every month. This rotating display provides an ideal food source for insects and butterflies, and brambles and nettles provide further vital food sources for wildlife.
The transformation of the site has been a huge success, with staff across the site becoming really invested in the work. Working on and enjoying the site, Lou notes, provides a bit of an escape from the office and is also a real boost for mental health and morale. Staff now take turns bringing in bird food and get excited about ID-ing the birds. They’ve recorded goldfinch, long tailed tits, great tits, robins, blackbirds, woodpeckers and even Kingfishers along the brook (which runs behind the office) Through their partnership with the RSPB, the depot have now had Swift, Starling and House sparrow boxes installed on outbuildings, and a solar-powered Swift caller to entice breeding pairs into boxes.
The change in the site has not gone unnoticed by locals. Dogwalkers and greenspace users have commented on the success of the wildflower bank and the bug hotels, and photography enthusiasts have been using the site for inspiration.
The beauty of the site and the wildflowers in particular have sparked numerous conversations between site staff and passersby, Lou recalls, with the butterflies in particular putting a real smile on peoples’ faces. This connection with the public is incredibly important, and as idverde also manage several football and cricket pitches adjacent to the office, local coaches have also offered to bring kids from the teams to learn about the conservation work idverde are doing in Charnwood.
Lou has also attended several bird surveying trips and bioblitzes in the Borough with Ross Bray, idverde/RSPB Biodiversity Advisor. There are approximately 37 key wildlife areas across the Borough, and as idverde have recently had their contract renewed for another ten years, there is a huge amount of potential for further biodiversity initiatives, particularly through the partnership with the RSPB.
What began at Charnwood as a couple of bird feeders has now become a fully-fledged biodiversity initiative. Moving forward, Lou is keen to continue and expand the work – this year, even harvesting some of the crops to try and make different teas.
