Butterflies and Bikes at Ridgegrove Park Celebration of Nature

On Saturday July 23^rd The Making Space for Nature team hosted a celebration of nature and completion of the new footbridge at Ridgegrove Park in Launceston. We were joined at the event by many members of the community which included, Launceston Wildlife group, Sustrans, Laura Francis Martin a local artist, Bumblebee Conservation Trust, University of Exeter, and Launceston Town Council.

It was a slightly gray and windy day but luckily the weather held and lots of people joined us in the park. There were lots of craft activities at our gazebo which were enjoyed by the children coming out for the day. There was also plenty of informative displays at stalls through the park and we had many great conversations with lots of people as they stopped to talk about the park, wildlife, and the local area.

We even had food at this event and a wonderful completely vegan buffet was provided by JP's Fresh Hot Food. The food was enjoyed by all especially the great range of vegan pizza slices that were cooked up. But by far the biggest draw to the event was the bike procession. Kids could bring their bikes to the park and give them a tune up at the Sustrans stall before then covering them in decorations including bamboo butterflies and ribbons under the guidance of Laura Martin.

Overall it was another great and successful event with the MS4N team and members of the local community. We were lucky that the weather held for us and everyone who came to the park had a wonderful time.