Taking action for nature in Ambleside with help from a flexible friend | Case study

Who is it?

Ambleside Action for a Future (AAFAF) is a network of local volunteers taking action for nature and aiming to make Ambleside carbon neutral.

What did they want to achieve?

AAFAF wanted to find out what local people thought about green spaces in and around the town, and how they should be developed for wildlife. The purpose of this was to plan future projects and work.

How did they do it?

The group decided to run a consultation, both in person and online, that would help them to learn more about where they should focus their attention and action to make a difference to nature. They also worked with local experts to understand what data and information was available about local nature.

What help did our Community Team provide?

To help plan and carry out their consultation, AAFAF called on Cumbria Wildlife Trust’s Head of Community Development, Simon Whalley, for support. Simon worked with the group to plan a consultation day and online survey, and joined them on the day at Ambleside Parish Centre, where his experience of community development work soon came in handy.

“It was a sunny day, and I thought very few people would come inside,” he said. “So I said ‘let’s go outside – take everything outdoors, go and base ourselves on the path’. It’s a popular route where people go from the town centre to the park.”

Liam McAleese of AAFAF said: “We really valued working with Simon – he provided us with a lot of advice and suggestions. The real value was having a friendly sounding board and source of advice, which gave us confidence in what we were doing. At all times, Simon was clear that it was us, the community, who were leading things, but he was flexible to offer support where we needed it. That flexibility was key. 

“Having Simon at our engagement events was very helpful as well – not only because it enabled us to speak to more people, but also to have someone who has expertise and knowledge of what is happening around Cumbria. Being associated with Cumbria Wildlife Trust also lent us extra credibility.”

To make sure they also heard from children, AAFAF brought in Jamie Normington, Learning and Development Manager, who went into two local schools to find out what was valuable to the children and where they liked to go when they weren’t at school.

Jamie supported the children to record audio clips of themselves interviewing each other, which he could then transcribe and provide to AAFAF as testimonials.

What was the outcome?

The consultation was a great success.

The consultation process  gathered over 400  responses from locals and visitors over a few weeks.

“AAFAF achieved far more than they thought they would in the time – more opinions and of a higher quality, which gives them hope for the work they’re doing,” said Simon.

They have since produced a booklet, reflecting what they learned from the consultation and featuring people’s top ten favourite natural places, along with facts and figures about climate change, and some simple ways to take action, supported by the team at Cumbria Wildlife Trust.

Were there any surprises? “Community work is about someone’s local space but it was interesting to see people visiting Ambleside had the same passion for this place,” said Simon. “A lot of visitors come back year after year and have as strong an affinity with Ambleside as the locals. We met one couple who got married there and have been back every year for 40 years.”