The Cambridge Nature Festival is back! We have a whole host of different free events and activities planned in Abbey throughout the Nature Festival from 25th May to 30th June. From a fun family forest picnic to summer gardening at the community allotment – there is something for everyone this Nature Festival, read on to find out more.
Cambridge Nature Festival opening event at Logan’s Meadow
Saturday 25th May 11am – 3pm
The Nature Festival will kick-off with a launch event at Logans Meadow with fun free activities for all the family. Come along for storytelling, a tree walk, nature crafts, green woodworking demonstrations, environmental group stalls and displays including our Abbey People stall, and much more! No booking required.
Nature arts and crafts at Adult Art Group
Every Tuesday in June 9:30am – 11am at Food Hub, East Barnwell Community Centre, Newmarket Road, CB5 8RS
Come along to our new adults only arts and crafts club and join in the fun, no experience is needed. Our art group is free to attend, and refreshments are provided. No need to book, just us on a Tuesday. Please note that no childcare facilities are available.
Nature story times
Every Wednesday in June 2:30pm – 3pm at Barnwell Road Library
Join Barnwell Road Library for 30 minutes of free nature stories! No need to book, just drop in on the day. For children aged 18 months to 5 years old, but everyone is welcome.
This event takes place at Barnwell Road Library, which is wheelchair accessible. For full details of Barnwell Road’s facilities, click here. Children must be accompanied by an adult at all times.
Wildlife crafts at Community Coffee Mornings
Fridays 10am – 12pm at The Hub, 15 Barnwell Road
A warm and friendly space, where everyone is welcome. Pop in for a relaxing chat or try the activity of the day.
Meet the team and make new friends. No strings attached, except to our teabags!
Nature takeover at Barnwell Road Library and Little Free Libraries
Sharing books is a great way to help look after the planet. Head over to Barnwell Road Library and our Little Free Libraries on Wadloes Road, at the Food Hub and The Hub to find something new to read and borrow a nature themed book. There are a whole range of books including picture books, kids books and adult books available for you to borrow.
Family Forest Picnic
Tuesday 28th May 10:30am – 1pm
There is a lot to explore at this outdoor family event – create a place for bugs to live, make a bird feeder for our feathered friends and explore nature. The team from Wellcome Connecting Science will be with us, with some fun science activities for everyone to try. Bring your own picnic and a blanket to relax and enjoy your lunch before heading home.
Book your place here: https://abbeypeople.org.uk/events/
Fox Den Community Allotment session
Wednesday 5th June 5pm – 6pm
Join us for a summer gardening session at the community Fox Den Allotment, no gardening experience is required but enthusiasm is very welcome!
The Fox Den Allotment is located at the Whitehill Allotments. The no.3 bus stops on Whitehill Road and then it’s a short walk to the allotments.
To find out more or get involved, please contact us at greenspaces@abbeypeople.org.uk
Plant swap
Wednesday 12th June 3:30pm – 5:30pm at East Barnwell Community Centre, Newmarket Road, CB5 8RS
Bring along your spare garden and house plants and swap them to grow your range of plants. Pop by even if you don’t have any plants to swap as you can make a donation and find new plants.
Green Week Cambridge Library Challenge
Saturday 15th June
Invite your friends and family to explore the libraries and city with you. Start at Barnwell Road Library (10-11am) to get your challenge tracking card and set off on foot, bikes, roller skates, skateboards, scooters or public transport. Score points by visiting as many libraries as possible, finding clues to answer a puzzle, answering bonus questions and carrying out some activities in the libraries. Participating is free and you can decide to end the challenge at any point in any library during their opening hours. More information is available here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/green-week-cambridge-library-challenge-tickets-887670385017?aff=ebdsoporgprofile
Litter pick along Coldham’s Brook to Cambridge United Cafe
Wednesday 19th June time 9:30am – 11am
Come join Abbey People for a litter pick along Coldham’s Brook – an internationally rare and important habitat right on our doorstep here in Abbey.
Starting where Cut Throat Lane meets Newmarket Road, we will be collecting litter in the surrounding area to help create a cleaner local environment. Then stick around for a well-deserved free hot drink at the Cambridge United Café.
All equipment will be provided, and there will be ‘Nature and Litter Loot’ activity sheets for what litter children might find. Please dress appropriately for the weather, we suggest wearing comfortable sturdy shoes and clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty during the litter pick and brining a hat if it’s sunny. This event is open to adults and children of all ages, all children must be accompanied by an adult.
To find out more or get involved, please contact us at greenspaces@abbeypeople.org.uk
Bat walk around Coldham’s Brook & Coldham’s Common
Saturday 29th June 9:15pm – 10:30pm
Join us for a free guided bat walk around Coldham’s Brook and Coldham’s Common. This is a unique opportunity to hear and see some of the bats in your local environment. We will have special bat detectors to allow us to listen out for the bats as they fly around hunting for insects.
Meet us at 21:15 at the entrance to Coldham’s Brook opposite Just for Pets, 253 Barnwell Road, CB5 8SL (what3words: scale.cloud.sheets)
Book your space here – spaces are limited so book now.
Coldham’s Brook biodiversity event
Sunday 30th June 1pm – 3pm
Find us at the entrance to Coldham’s Brook opposite Just for Pets, 253 Barnwell Road, CB5 8SL (what3words: swan.likes.coherent)
Celebrate the end of the Nature Festival with us at your local chalk stream, Coldham’s Brook!
Chalk streams provide habitats for many significant species, including brown trout and water vole. Did you know that around 85% of the world’s chalk streams are here in the UK, mostly in the south and the southeast of England?
Join Wellcome Connecting Science for a wonderful activity walk along Coldham’s Brook, exploring the natural world around us. From bugs to birds, plants to people, take a deeper dive into the thing that connects us to all living things, DNA! Walk along our nature trail and have a go at some fun activities to find out more about how we can use DNA to help us understand and protect our natural environment.
You can also find out how local volunteers survey riverfly in the brook with a show and tell monitoring session starting at 13:00. Riverflies are invertebrates that spend most of their lifecycle in a river, brook, pond or lake, and monitoring riverfly is a fantastic way to protect river health. So come along and find out how you can get involved.
Book your space here.
This event runs from 13:00 – 15:00 and we have two arrival times to make sure there is enough space for everyone. Please book the time that you will arrive and book a space for each adult and child coming to the event.
Wellcome Connecting Science’s mission is to enable everyone to explore genomic science and its impact on research, health and society. Drawing on the ground-breaking research taking place on the Wellcome Genome Campus, Connecting Science inspires new thinking, sparks conversation, supports learning, and understands global attitudes and perspectives.
You can find the full list of Nature Festival activities happening across Cambridge here: https://cambridgenaturenetwork.org/naturefestival/
The Cambridge Nature Festival is being organised by the River Cam CAN (Climate Action through Nature) project and supported by the National Lottery Community Fund.
We would like to give special thanks to the National Lottery players for their support through the National Lottery Climate Action funding the River Cam CAN (Climate Action through Nature) project.
This 2-year project is involving communities near the River Cam in working on solutions that will benefit them and help to make the city more sustainable and resilient. The main project location is the city’s most disadvantaged ward, Abbey. Communities will transform neglected areas including those around ecologically important chalk-streams, ancient willow trees along 10km of the Cam’s riverbanks, a community urban farm and a roadside verge outside a school. A series of community climate action events and activities are also being delivered, including more Repair Cafes and Climate Cafes.
The main project partners are Cambridge Past, Present & Future, Abbey People, CoFarm, Cambridge City Council, Climate Outreach and Water Sensitive Cambridge but the project will work with a much wider range of organisations.
