North Norfolk Workout Project

An exciting project which aims to offer opportunities for local people to get active and get access to nature. This is exercise for people who hate the gym. You don’t need any experience or knowledge and there is definitely no Lycra! There will be a mixture of practical work to improve green spaces with learning about the natural world and lots of fun.

The project, aimed at improving people’s health and well-being through undertaking practical conservation tasks, has undertaken work in a wide range of habitats in North Norfolk. Task days are varied and interesting, including woodland, heathland and grassland management, and chances to explore local saltmarshes, farmland and the Broads.

Anyone over 18 years of age can volunteer for the activities which improve people’s physical, social and mental health, as well as develop, sustain and conserve the natural environment. The involvement of people with physical, sensory or learning difficulties, mental health or long-term medical problems is welcomed.

The project always welcomes new volunteers and runs on Monday, Thursday and Friday afternoons from 1.00pm to 4.00pm. Transport is provided from certain pick up points on each of these days.

For more details of the project and how to get involved, please contact Mark Webster our Project Officer (see contact details shown to the right of this page) or check out the BTCV website and follow the link for the North Norfolk Workout Project.

The North Norfolk Workout Project is delivered by BTCV for North Norfolk District Council with additional funding and support from Natural England through Access to Nature as part of the Big Lottery Fund’s Changing Spaces Programme, NHS Norfolk and North Norfolk Community Partnership.

Some exciting upcoming tasks around North Norfolk include meadow management at Pigneys Wood and Roughton Common, pond work at Knapton scrape and a return to the ancient craft of coppicing woodlands at a variety of local sites. We also have some bat and moth nights at various locations and will be continuing with nature walks and identification sessions (please check the programme for details).

During the spring and summer months the North Norfolk Workout Project has been busy helping remove native and non-native invasive species from our local nature reserves. Here our volunteers are removing Ragwort at Holkham National Nature Reserve. Although a native plant, it is poisonous if eaten by horses, so has to be pulled out by hand. We have also removed lots of Himalayan Balsam from local riverbanks as this non-native species prevents the growth of our native flora.

Being very aware of the decline in bee numbers recently, and how vital they are to pollinating flowers, we have started working with the "Bees of God's Acre" project. The project is helping to support the increasing number of new bee keepers by setting up community Apiaries in churchyards where they can learn from an experienced beekeeper. For some of us, this has meant getting dressed up in full protective clothing to work around the hives whilst others, have been manufacturing nucleus boxes in the shed.

We organised a Fun Day for all ages at Pigneys Wood (near Knapton) on Sunday 15th May. Admission was completely free, and over 360 local people attended the event! The day was packed with activities, including Storyteller John Row, who captivated young and old alike with entertaining tales. Over 100 people made bird and bat boxes, many children went pond dipping, whilst others also had the chance to listen to the Trix 'n' Stix drumming group, and have a go on the instruments themselves. A big success!

In June we took part in a fascinating wildflower survey in Gresham and nearby churchyards with local churchyard flora expert Bob Leeny. Our volunteers learnt how to look for and identify the 6 key indicator species associated with ancient grasslands which include Cowslip Primula veris, Lady’s bedstraw Galium verum, Meadow saxifrage Saxifraga granulate, and Burnet-saxifrage Pimpinella saxifrage. Now its just a case of remembering what they all look like!