NCV
The Newham Conservation Volunteers
About the Newham Conservation Volunteers
The Newham Conservation Volunteers (NCV) was set up in 1993. Newham was the borough with the least amount of trees in London and, along with the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers (BTCV), we applied for a grant from the London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC) to build a tree nursery in Newham. This was obtained and we finally found a good site in Beckton. The purpose of the tree nursery is to collect and grow local seeds, and anybody who requires a tree or trees can acquire them for a small donation.
We manage three other sites belonging to the London Borough Newham, which we manage as wildflower meadows for birds, insects and other wildlife. These are by the Alders Brook in Manor Park, at Folkestone Road in East Ham and in Miers Close in East Ham. For Miers Close we have a list of the wild plants that have been found there. If you would like to view this list Click Here. We have built a garden pond for the residents of Terry Waite House, an old people’s home in Canning Town. At Newham City Farm we have built a footbridge over a pond for local schoolchildren to do pond dipping and we have joint access with BTCV to the tool store at the farm. We also work at the East Ham Nature Reserve, where the WREN Conservation and Wildlife Group has worked in the past. We have also worked with the WREN Group clearing invasive plants in an area known as The Bund in Wanstead Park and digging up invasive birch trees on Wanstead Flats to try to maintain it as grassland. Both of these tasks have been with the permission of the Conservators of Epping Forest. We also help out in the grounds of the Quaker Meeting House in Wanstead and work in conjunction with Newham Council in Forest Lane Park and Little Ilford Park, planting trees and doing general maintenance of these areas. A new site that we have been working on is at the North Woolwich Station Museum.
If you require further information on the sites mentioned or would like to know more about NCV, please contact:
Leslie Rice, 58 Buxton Road, Stratford, London, E15 1QU Tel. (020) 8519 2439
