The bats of Bute Park are feeling very much at home thanks to a Cardiff charity.
Vision 21 has provided Cardiff Council with bat boxes for the park giving them a safe place to take shelter from the weather and providing a secure home for them to live.
Vision 21 is a registered charity based in Cardiff that provides work experience and training for people with learning difficulties. Vision 21 is a partner organisation in the Bute Park Restoration Project and students from the organisation created the bat boxes as part of their community garden training project.
The bat boxes are part of landscaping and planting works taking place in the park. The recently appointed apprentices have been assisting with the landscaping as part of their training programme.
The apprentices Maggie Szczerbnska and Anthony Davies are based in Bute Park and are funded through the £3.1 million Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant, which is supporting the £5.6 million Bute Park restoration project.
The aim of the Council’s apprenticeship scheme is to enable the apprentices to learn and develop their skills in order to undertake a wide range of grounds maintenance and horticultural operations through an in-house programme of practical training supplemented by study towards a professional qualification in amenity horticulture.
Executive Member for Sport, Leisure and Culture, Cllr Nigel Howells, said: “I’m delighted that our apprentices part funded by the HLF as part of the Bute Park Restoration Project have been able to assist with the landscaping work. I’m also pleased that Vision 21 students from the Fairwater Community Garden have been commissioned to supply the bat boxes. Vision 21 are one of our partner organisations in the Bute Park Restoration Project and I welcome their involvement. Bats play an important part in the park’s wildlife and these boxes are going to be really important improving their life in the park.”
Barry Shiers MBE Director from Vision 21 said: “We have always appreciated an excellent working partnership with Cardiff Council’s Parks and this is another example of joint working that involved our students in the making of the bat boxes for this exciting initiative.”
Bute Park is one of the six green spaces within the city (the others being Roath Park, Victoria Park, Grange Gardens, Cathays Cemetery and Cardiff Bay Barrage) to hold the prestigious Green Flag Award, which is the national standard for quality parks and green spaces in England and Wales. Bute Park also successfully retained the ‘Best Park in Wales’ award for the second year running which recognises the Council’s investment in and its management of the park. The apprentices will ensure that there is a continuation of skilled gardeners which will enable the park to be maintained to the highest standards possible for current and future generations.
