Climate change, encouraging biodiversity and conservation of our natural environment are all community safety concerns and the recently agreed Community Climate Action Plan for Camelon and Tamfourhill represents a local response to the negative impacts and consequences of the climate emergency. Through my ongoing community engagement work especially the environmental improvement work carried out around the canal and involving groups of young people I have been reassured of our sustainable future through the knowledge, enthusiasm, and commitment of the participating young people to tackle climate change, improve the local environment and get involved in various conservation activities. I have in previous blogs written about the legacy of John Muir the Scottish ecologist, environmental campaigner, explorer, and founder of the American National Parks and it is therefore very positive that I am able to share the recent work and experiences of our own Tamfourhill John Muir Discovery Group who are now nearing completion of their local Discovery Awards.
The John Muir Award encourages us all to enjoy and appreciate our wild places, to explore those wild places, conserve or give something back to those wild places and to then share our experiences of being involved with the Award. I am therefore going to use this blog to present and share our Groups experiences of their award and illustrate their journey of discovery around some of the wild places within the local community. https://www.johnmuirtrust.org/john-muir-award
To gain a John Muir Award everyone meets four challenges-Discover, Explore, Conserve & Share.
The wild places that the Group discovered were: The Forth and Clyde Canal and towpath, Easter Carmuirs Park, The woods at Tamfourhill Community Hub and the woods from the canal along the route of the Antonine wall:
The different activities the group carried out to explore these wild places: Exploring the canal on canoes, walking along the towpath, and collecting items for their nature boards, playing group games in the park like predator and prey, having hot drinks in the woods and having marshmallows on an open fire and using a Kelly kettle, filling in tree and leaf identification sheets, walking through the woods and collecting leaves, berries, and nuts and completing a John Muir nature observation alphabet session.
Conserving a wild place and how the Group took responsibility, what they did to make a difference and give something back to wild places: The group carried out paddle pickups and cleared rubbish, litter and plastics from the canal, they took part in litter picks along the canal towpath, planted fruit trees and bulbs in the Easter Carmuirs Park, made wild seed bombs and flung them about the grass area of the Park to create wild flower meadows for birds, bees and butterflies, made bird feeders for the local woods and planted seeds in pots to encourage biodiversity in the hub growing area.
Conserving our wild places
And here they are sharing their experiences: The group produced a big discovery map which described their journey through all the wild places they had explored and illustrates what activities they had carried out at each location; they drew pictures and wrote comments which they shared with the group about the different aspects of the award and what their personal experiences were of being involved. The large discovery map and the photos will be displayed in the community hub and family and friends will be invited along to a sharing and award evening next month. The group also wrote amazing poems about their exploration of the woods and grounds around Tamfourhill Community Hub and shared them with the rest of the Group, the poems will be displayed on posters in the Hub.
The Green leaf fell form the tall tree, now the yellowing leaf is ready to be blown into Autumn
As we walk through the trees I feel a sudden breeze, we see a beautiful oak tree and then we discover a whole new dream that we are all connected to nature like a flowing magical stream.
And into the forest I go to lose my mind and find my soul: John Muir
Open Doors Safer Streets Events:
These events kicked off at Camelon Community Centre on Thursday 3rd November and the next event is on Friday 18th November form 10am -1pm in Tamfourhill Community Hub, and the last event for 2022 takes place on St Andrews day at the Camelon Juniors Social Club, the full programme is detailed below.
If you have an idea that will make your streets safer or you need to resolve a local issue or you are interested in making a positive difference to Camelon and Tamfourhill, then please come along and chat to the staff and volunteers from a range of organisations and groups who will be there to listen to your issues, ideas, and suggestions. All local services will be in attendance, including Falkirk Council Housing and Street Cleansing, the Community Police, Fire and Rescue Service, Forth Valley Recovery Community, Cyrenians, Transform Forth valley, Neighbourhood Watch, Forth Valley Sensory Centre and other local community groups.
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The Twilight Sports Winter Programme
The Programme started on Friday 4th November and was very busy, we had a fabulous night of fun fitba and rollerblading. This Friday 11th November we will have Dr Bike in attendance so please bring your bikes along for a service and essential maintenance, the main sport will be rollerblading and we will be visited by our Community Safety Partners. Free for all 10-16 years old from 6pm-8pm in Tamfourhill Community Hub, a snack and drink are provided and it’s all free. Here is the full programme for November and December.
Safer Communities Youth Action Project 