138 pupils from Years 1 and 6 at Heyford Park School have been helping to create new swift boxes and swift sculptures, as part of a major community project at Heyford Park.
Dorchester Living, the developer of Heyford Park, has teamed up with the school and artist Kerry Lemon to design new swift boxes, which once complete will be attached to homes around Heyford Park.
Following their epic migration from Africa, swifts love to nest in the eaves and roofs of houses, but their numbers in Britain have dropped by 60% compared to 25 years ago, and they are officially on the “red” list of threatened species.
This alarming decline inspired Kerry to encourage Dorchester Living and Heyford Park School to embark on a major community project that will help provide up to 80 new swift boxes.
The first stage of the project was completed this month, with the pupils teaming up to create the artwork for the swift boxes under Kerry’s helpful instruction and with additional support from Chris Mason of the Cherwell Swifts Conservation Project, a grassroots organisation helping to conserve Britain’s swift population.
Sculpture boxes and instructions for home-educated children were also provided, as well as specific kits for children with special educational needs, ensuring that the project was open and accessible to all.
With the designs complete, the pupils then encouraged local parents to support the project, with more than 20 households signing up for a swift box to be attached to the side of their homes later this year.
The project now moves on to its second stage – the construction of the boxes – and Dorchester Living has teamed up with Heyford Makers’ Shed, a local community group which combats social isolation, to carry out the work, with the boxes set to be fully installed by the summer.
Discussing the project, Paul Silver, Chief Executive of Dorchester Living, said:
“We passionately believe that arts projects like this one can have a real benefit on the local community. This is a wonderful cross-generational project that we’re really proud of – the school pupils from Years 1 and 6 worked together and now their artwork will be handed over to the team at Heyford Makers’ Shed, many of whom are over the age of 60, who will turn the artworks into the swift boxes. The guidance from Kerry and the commitment from the school has been outstanding and we can’t wait to see the results this summer, when hopefully Heyford Park will be home to many new swifts thanks to the efforts of everyone involved.”
Rob Marchant, Head of Primary at Heyford Park School, commented:
“This was a great cross-community activity. The Swift project has enabled all our pupils to discover more about their environment, create some fantastic pieces of artwork and take part in a range of other activities. Our Year 1 and Year 6 pupils loved working with Kerry and were greatly inspired to work alongside a professional artist.”
Kerry Lemon added:
“This has been such a wonderful project to be a part of and already so many different people from all ages and backgrounds have come together to make it happen and we are so excited to welcome families of swifts to live in Heyford Park.”
