Students who created bog garden are angels

Children at Old Moat Children's Centre in Withington are benefiting from a project aimed at cleaning up the world.

In a two-day operation, student volunteers turned an overgrown piece of land at the centre into a bog garden.

As part of the Clean up the World Campaign, student volunteers transformed the land - full of brambles and weeds - into a bog garden and wetland habitat.

The area was landscaped with stones placed around the perimeter, and logs that will encourage invertebrates and insects, and eventually rot down into the bog. Wetland plants have been put into the boggy area, and spring-flowering bulbs and primulas added around the drier edges.

Centre Manager, Geri Ross, was delighted with the transformation, and said: "The children will love to look out for the creatures that the bog garden will attract and it will add another dimension to our centre's grounds, for the children and for the local wildlife."

One of the volunteers, Jess Bahn, Vice President Education at Manchester Metropolitan University, said "The council asked our student volunteer organisation if we would like to take part in the bog garden project. MMU Angels were delighted to join the council staff, including the local park warden, in transforming the area. This is exactly the kind of project the Angels want to be involved in "Working with the Community."

The Executive Member for Neighbourhood Services, Councillor Eddy Newman, said: "This projects scores on so many fronts - creating an area where the children can study nature, demonstrating just how the environment can be improved, and showing how voluntary work can enhance an area."

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