A report published today reveals the results of the National Lottery Heritage Fund £5 million Nextdoor Nature programme, which enabled Wildlife Trusts across the country to collaborate with communities for two years, including many across Derby’s Arboretum and Normanton areas. 

Nextdoor Nature has given people the skills, tools and opportunity to take action for nature. Using a community organising approach - where you work with the people and have the community be the driver of change in their area - Community Organiser, Adam Dosunmu Slater, has supported local groups, schools and Derby City Council to deliver local initiatives to bring about big changes.   

The initiative has empowered communities to take ownership of local green spaces, facilitated the creation of a Green Corridor between Normanton and Arboretum Parks, and improved pockets of green space for urban wildlife.      

Extraordinary transformations have taken place over the last two years in communities that have often been traditionally or historically excluded from making decisions about nature and the environment in their local areas. 

• Society Place, a walkway in Arboretum, has been transformed into a wildlife garden. Arboretum Primary School’s Eco Council designed and created the new site, with the children continuing to litter pick and add to the walkway as part of their studies.   

• Normanton Road’s planters saw a much-needed community renovation. Working alongside Derby City Council’s Neighbourhood’s Team and local artist Todd Jerm, Derbyshire Wildlife Trust facilitated the design  for the mural from young people at the Pakistan Community Centre. Their artwork of local wildlife formed the basis of the design that features across the tiered planters on the high street.   

• There are plans for a wildlife area at Normanton Park, designed and built by Dale Primary School and the local Friends of community group with funding from East Midlands Airport Eco Schools Fund. Work has started on the site, with Dale students creating a bug hotel and plans to plant trees in the coming weeks.   

• Early community development work is underway with partners at the Indian Workers Association to develop Church Street Park in Normanton into a space for local people to enjoy and change current practices around bird feeding. 

Speaking about the project, Derbyshire Wildlife Trust Community Organiser Adam Dosunmu Slater said: 

“Working with communities and bringing their ideas to life is the best way to create space for nature. It brings lasting results and it’s amazing what can happen if organisations have someone helping to facilitate the community into action. 

“The Nextdoor Nature project has been a great opportunity and I feel very proud of the changes we have achieved in the local area. Working with community groups to create community gardens, educating local people on the wildlife around them and giving more people chances to access green space has been incredibly rewarding.  

“I will be continuing my community organising work in the Derby city area and I hope we can make more community spaces and initiatives that benefit both the people and wildlife in Derby.”   

Eilish McGuinness, Chief Executive, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, added:  

“We were delighted to support this transformative project as it so strongly supports our vision for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone.  This project delivers on our ambition to connect people and communities to heritage and the natural environment. I am delighted so many people are taking an active role in caring for nature and it has ignited a passion and commitment which will have positive impact for people and our environment into the future.” 

Councillor Sarah Chambers, Derby City Council Cabinet Member for Cost of Living, Equalities and Communities, said:

“Bringing nature into this bustling community close to the city centre has brought the community together to transform overlooked spaces into pleasant places for everyone to enjoy.” 

At a time when a recent UK Government evaluation of green prescribing showed that connections to nature can bring about big reductions in anxiety and depression symptoms and impressive improvements in well-being*, the benefits of the Nextdoor Nature programme for people are significant.  

Nextdoor Nature’s legacy will live on beyond the end of the funding so that local communities can continue the work using their new skills and contacts. 95% of the participants in the Nextdoor Nature programme said that as a direct result of the project, there is now greater collaborative working between residents, local organisations and groups, and 82% feel there is now greater decision-making about wildlife in the hands of local people. 

Find more information on community organising and the support available through Derbyshire Wildlife Trust

Read Power to the People: Nextdoor Nature's legacy for communities and wildlife here, along with films, maps and further case studies and stories.