SORRY TO SEE END OF INSPIRING PLACE

This letter appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Sorry to see end of inspiring place

I was sorry to learn of the demise of Groundwork based at Western Park.

I worked there when it was known as Environ about 10 years ago.

I worked on the organic garden at Eco-House and also created a small wildlife pond in another part of the area at the back of the main office.

I also went on a beekeeping course at Brooksby College, near Melton, which was funded by Environ, where I learned about the fascinating life of bees.

I hope the enterprise remaining at Western Park can still be used as an environmental concern so it can educating the public on ecology and the natural environment.

It was an inspirational place for me as I love working with nature and organic gardening and the use of a sustainable way of life by recycling in all aspects of my life.

Phil Dews, Anstey

TREE OF LIFE IS PEOPLE'S CHOICE

I'm pleasantly surprised (that's putting it mildly) to see Charlotte Jones post this on her Facebook page:

Waiting 5 years, rescuing it from near skipping and lugging this tree across Leicester on my back, was all worth it - it won the prestigious "People's Choice Award" at the Green Light Festival!! (Voted by a small but obviously well refined group of voters.) I'm glad it got this final outing before it goes/gets lugged to it's final resting place at Folville Primary. Well done all 150 children (now teenagers!) who made it!

Some choice quotes from the kids (they're written all over the tree, inspired by a 500 year old tree we visited):

• In the future I would like to stop terrorism.

• There will be a new Skittles flavour.

• I hope I don't get shot.

• Will the BMX track be bigger?

• Artists should invent more animals.

Tree of Life was an educational project in which I took part, with Clare Bull, Clare Carr, Charlotte Jones and Claire Plumb for a week in the summer of 2008. It was based at Leicester's EcoHouse and used the ancient oak tree in Western Park. This involved several local schools in day-long sessions of storytelling, handicrafts, honing their thinking and speaking skills, music and movement - and new ways of seeing, thinking about and expressing their relationship to the natural world. It was one of the highlights of my post and stands out as a beautiful, enjoyable and fulfilling experience on a number of levels. The sun shone the whole week long and it all left a lovely memory.

The Tree of Life itself (made by Clare Bull, its leaves populated by the words of the schoolchildren who took part in the project) hung on the wall of the Eco House for several months, then  ... vanished. I'm glad to see that it has risen like a phoenix - if that's not too mixed a metaphor!