A wildlife paradise has been created at Bridgehead Business Park with artwork by Hessle school children installed along the woodland nature trail.
To involve the local community in East Yorkshire’s most sustainable business park, leading commercial developer Wykeland Group invited Hessle High and All Saints Primary School to take part in an innovative arts project titled A Home for Nature.
Pupils were tasked with creating and decorating bug hotels and bird nest boxes to provide a safe haven for creatures along the woodland nature trail that leads around the business park. The project liaised closely with Yorkshire Wildlife Trust to design homes which would help wildlife flourish.
Working with local artist Liz Dorton, the children have also created a giant bird’s nest measuring 10ft across using a dead hedge technique; weaving twigs and branches around branch ‘pillars’ in two concentric circles and filling with wood. They finished the installation with large mosaic eggs.
Now completed, the schools were invited to see their work on permanent display along the woodland trail, and each pupil was thanked and presented with a certificate by Wykeland Group managing director, Dominic Gibbons.
He said: “To arrive at the culmination of this fascinating project and seeing the enthusiasm of all the children involved first hand is a great privilege. The talent and obvious care that has been put into this project is phenomenal, and more than anyone could have expected when it begun.
“The quality of the Bridgehead development has already attracted impressive businesses, including John Good Group, Beal Homes and Victoria Plumb, and interest remains strong. A Home for Nature not only reflects our commitment to biodiversity and environmental technology in the development, but embraces the need for improved working environments, providing an inspiring space for staff moving into Bridgehead. My thanks go to all involved in this successful project.”
All Saints pupils Joshua Chappell, 10, and Chloe Layden, 9, had enjoyed taking part and were hoping to bring their family to see the nature trail soon.
Chloe said: “I’ve done gardening before, but this was really different. Being outside of the school made it more fun.”
Joshua added: “It has all been fun and exciting, from designing to helping collect all the wood for the giant nest. I can’t wait to bring my dad up to see.”
As well as learning new skills and team building activities, the children visited the site to learn why Bridgehead is known as the north’s most sustainable business park.
Miss Sue Lewis, art teacher at Hessle High, was glad to get involved with the project: “A Home For Nature is an interesting project and a great idea for working with the community. As soon as we heard about it we wanted to get involved. The outdoor aspect has been refreshing for the kids, and has tied in well with our Year 10’s natural forms lesson.”
Elaine Burke, Arts Consultant for Wykeland, is glad to see the impact A Home for Nature has had for both the schools and Bridgehead.
She said: “Wykeland really understands the powerful impacts that arts projects can have. The project is all about inspiring the next generation of young people to have confidence in themselves and their creations, raise their aspirations, be entrepreneurial and extend into their community. Everybody that comes here, everybody that works here, will see these amazing projects the children have made.
“Teachers are seeing pupils make great strides in all of these areas, and the project has proven a huge success. Wykeland has an enviable track record over the years as a supporter of the arts, and is now leading the field in developing ever more imaginative and innovative ways to use the arts to connect with communities and make a difference.”
Bridgehead Business Park is strategically situated to offer comprehensive transport links to Lincolnshire and the East Midlands via the Humber Bridge, and to the rest of the UK via the M62 corridor. The landscape and biodiversity strategy was designed through a unique partnership with the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. During the creation of the park, Wykeland Group has planted over 8,000 shrubs and hedgerows, 4,500 herbs and bulbs and more than 200 trees.
