A year of Supported Steps in the Great Fen

We've had the pleasure of welcoming two hardworking volunteers from Supported Steps and they've made a terrific impact!

Following on from their fantastic work earlier in the year, Tansy and Lewis from Supported Steps in Ramsey have continued to support the Wildlife Trust at our wonderful Ramsey Heights Nature Reserve.

As the summer began to draw to a close, Lewis and Tansy carried out the annual tasks to help keep the paths maintained across the site. Around the main pond they cut back comfrey, dug up encroaching reeds and pulled nettles which had started to fall into the path. This important activity ensures that the paths remain clear and accessible for visitors. Tansy and Lewis were full of smiles and enjoyed spotting the spiders amongst the vegetation... despite the very damp conditions on the day!

Tansy and Lewis in rain jackets cutting vegetation around a path

Clearing path vegetation

Following the pond management work which took place over the autumn, Tansy was delighted to discover more woodchip had appeared on site. They loaded the wheelbarrows and headed off to the Forest School area and mud kitchen where the ground had become very muddy following a busy few weeks of events. They hoped the Forest School children would be pleased when they returned after half-term, but in the meantime, they were happy to see a visiting family already benefiting from their hard work.

More woodchip was also added to the extended garden area, to reduce the prevalence of nettles and hemlock, ready for an additional pond in the future. Lewis and Tansy were pleased to see the transformation of this area which they helped to construct last winter. We are also grateful for the additional volunteer support received from staff at Cambridgeshire County Council and RAF Wyton when they each joined us for a half-day in September.

Lewis digging and Tansy using loppers to clear vegetation in the garden

Working in the raised pond garden

Tansey stands in front of a large pile of woodchip, holding a spade

Moving a mountain of wood chip around the reserve

Lewis in t-shirt and face mask tipping a wheelbarrow of woodchip onto a path

Re-chipping a path to the mud kitchen

A path through woodland, part mud, part woodchip

Great progress re-chipping the path

We were delighted to be joined by Willow, another Supported Steps Service User, for the final session of 2024 with a morning of festive crafts. Lewis practiced his woodwork skills by making a Christmas tree, Tansy showed off her artistic talent by drawing a fantastic robin on skates and Willow impressed the team with her sawing skills! After some crafting, they enjoyed a wintery walk with Willow filming videos for her social media channel. It was great to see Tansy become a ‘Ramsey Heights Wildlife Presenter’ as she highlighted their work this year for the social media videos (watch this space for more videos in 2025!).

No session is ever complete without hot chocolate, and for this festive session they made s’mores over the fire too! The each tried fire striking before Lewis lit the main fire ready for marshmallow toasting.

A BIG Thank You to Lewis and Tansy for their fantastic work at Ramsey Heights Nature Reserve throughout 2024. It has been great and I look forward to seeing them both return in 2025.