By Ruth Boyle, Nature Recovery Ranger at Dorset County Hospital
As we approach the autumn equinox, I have been spending some time reflecting on a busy summer of rangering! Lots of exciting things have happened on the hospital site over the past few months. After more than 12 months in post as ranger, it feels like things are really starting to grow and take off. In some ways we are only just getting started…
June
In June we did a botanical survey of the hospital site with Dorset Flora Group. They were really surprised at the diversity of plant life on the hospital site, so much so that we spent nearly an hour and a half just surveying a small corner of a car park! We have set up a project on Living Record, the platform used to record wildlife locally within Dorset. All the plants recorded as part of the survey were added to the project and database and will contribute to biological recording and conservation locally, as well as giving us a better understanding of the biodiversity we have on the hospital grounds. We even have quite a rare plant in the meadow on site – the corky-fruited water dropwort! It’s part of the Apiaceae, or carrot family, and some members of this family are notoriously tricky to tell apart, so we were very grateful to have the botanical expertise of the Flora Group on hand.
July
July’s activities included a cyanotype workshop for staff and volunteers, run in collaboration with Arts in Hospital to support staff wellbeing. Cyanotype is one of the earliest forms of photography. It’s also quick and easy to do, so it was ideal for staff on short breaks to be able to join in. We gathered foliage from on and around the hospital site for staff to arrange, and let the sun do the rest.
I also attended some local youth council meetings to try and engage young people locally with greenspace, health and wellbeing and to scope out the potential for working together on some projects on the hospital site. Activities included seed potting and making miniature bug hotels.
Another big milestone was creating a new volunteer role and recruiting 9 new nature recovery volunteers who we met for the first time in July (more to come on this).
July was also the Big Butterfly Count, so it was a good opportunity for engaging staff, volunteers and patients with getting involved in the counts.
August
In August we collaborated with Transition Town Dorchester on some mutual scything sessions. They had volunteered previously to help with our sensory garden, and we wanted to continue to work together to support nature recovery! Scything is an ancient technique dating back to before Roman times, but still in use today. It’s used traditionally to cut meadows, harvest crops and clear bramble. It’s great to be able to keep traditional crafts and techniques like this alive. The first session was at the community farm site, a hidden permaculture oasis about 20 minutes’ walk from the hospital site, then a couple of weeks later we scythed our small meadow at the hospital too.
In August we launched the Summer edition of the nature connection for wellbeing booklet, developed primarily to support staff wellbeing through seasonal nature connection, but relevant to any visitors to the hospital site. We tried to make this edition relevant to other NHS trusts in Dorset as well. The booklet was gratefully received and shared by local networks. August rounded off with the induction of our new team of nature recovery volunteers. I’d been saying for a while that it often feels like we could do with another few rangers on site, so I’m excited to work together and to see the impact we create!
Looking forward to seeing what autumn has in store…