Devon Libraries Lockdown Bunting Project

One day this will all be over. When it is, we at Devon Libraries want to celebrate... and what community event would be complete without swathes of colourful bunting!? 

So, we are asking our locked-down library friends to help us create bunting flags for the library.

Whilst the libraries have been closed to the public during the Coronavirus lockdown it has been easy enough for us to engage with some of our service users online. We are currently running book groups, Lego clubs and creative challenges via library social media accounts. We are also offering free e-books and audio books, online magazines and access to music, Ancestry Library Edition, Medici.TV and online reference resources for all library members via the Devon Libraries website.

Many people rely on libraries for social interaction. For many older and isolated customers we have been a friendly voice at the end of the telephone in recent weeks. Our staff have been in regularly contact with our most vulnerable customers providing information, support and calling for a friendly chat.

However, apart from ‘phone calls to our customers; we are finding it difficult to interact with those who are not internet users. Our bunting project is a way of helping everyone feel a part of the community under lockdown and for us all to look forward to a brighter (bunting decorated) future.

How to make your bunting:We are asking contributors to make triangular flag bunting with dimensions of 5” across the top and 6” from the top to bottom. You can use any fabric, single or double layered, in any colour and sew, glue or staple depending on your level of skill!

Once the lockdown is lifted and we reopen you can deliver your bunting flags to your local library. If you are housebound just give your library a call and they will arrange for a volunteer to come and collect the flags from you.

Your local library in Devon is managed by Libraries Unlimited, the charity responsiblefor running Devon and Torbay Libraries. The Bunting Project is just one of the activities in the wide Libraries Unlimited cultural offering.For further information and full contact details for your local library please visit our web page https://www.devonlibraries.org.uk/web/arena/northamlibrary

"Taking Action for Insects". New guide encourages us all to take urgent action for insects

A local conservation charity is launching a new initiative which urges us all to play a part in reversing the failing fortunes of some of our most easily overlooked wildlife: insects.

Devon Wildlife Trust is launching a new practical pack, Your Guide to Taking Action for Insects, which will help everyone do their bit in reversing decades of decline for the UK’s struggling bees, butterflies, moths, bugs and beetles.

The colourful, 20-page, illustrated guide is available as a free download via https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/take-action-insects. It’s packed full of tips, useful info, and links to finding out more, all aimed at helping individuals and families make simple yet crucial changes to helping insects through the ways we shop, garden and run our homes.

The guide has been authored by The Wildlife Trusts working with partner organisations including Buglife, Pesticide Action Network (PAN) and Garden Organic. It has been launched as part of a wider campaign called Action for Insects, which looks to reverse recent drastic population declines among insects.

A recent report published by the campaign, authored by Professor David Goulson, concluded that 41% of insect species now faced extinction around the world, while population declines were widespread across other insect species. The report also highlighted the vital part played by insects in human food production and in their support of countless other birds, mammals and plants.

Your Guide to Taking Action for Insects recognises that some insects aren’t always popular with the public when it comes to wildlife, and that this is especially true when applied to gardeners. However, it highlights the crucial roles they play in pollinating flowers and crops, controlling pests and natural recycling, plus the beauty and joy that they bring to our lives.

In a range of top tips for helping insects in people’s gardens, it gives guidance on going chemical- and peat-free, along with advice on which plants are best at combining colour, scent and attraction to bees and butterflies across the seasons. The guide stresses that all outdoor spaces, whatever their size and location, from tower block balconies to cottage gardens, can make a real difference to restoring insect numbers.

Steve Hussey, spokesperson for Devon Wildlife Trust, says:
“We’re delighted to be launching Your Guide to Taking Action for Insects. The warmer weather of spring combined with the current restrictions placed upon everyone in response to the Covid-19 virus means that people are spending more time in their gardens, yards and on their balconies. This guide provides people with advice on how to make positive changes to help insects, which will not only help mini-beasts but boost morale too! We’re asking people to make whatever outdoor space they have into a better place for insects, be it a window box, a garden or an allotment.

Our guide gives them the inspiration and the practical know-how to take a few simple steps to making a big difference to their local wildlife. Insects are one of the key building blocks of life on which we and countless other familiar species from hedgehogs to garden birds rely. If we follow the guide’s advice as gardeners, shoppers and homeowners we can turn the tide on insect declines.”

James Campbell, Garden Organic CEO says:
“Garden Organic is pleased to be supporting the Action for Insects campaign. All gardeners and growers should celebrate insects who are part of the natural chain of life. Organic gardeners also help by creating habitats and shelter, as well as providing plants to feed and support insect life”

Josie Cohen, CEO Pesticide Action Network UK (PAN UK) says:
“Everyone has a role to play in making the world less toxic so insects can flourish. By stopping using pesticides in your home and garden, and supporting businesses working to reduce chemicals in their supply chains, you can contribute towards building a healthier and more sustainable planet for both us and our six-legged friends.”

Your Guide to Taking Action for Insects 

is available now as a free download 

via the Devon Wildlife Trust website www.devonwildlifetrust.org or www.wildlifetrusts.org/take-action-insects

 A privet hawkmoth being held by unnamed person. Photo credit Jane McIntosh

A peacock butterfly settled on a bluebell. Photo credit Janet Packham

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Action for Insects is a national campaign coordinated by The Wildlife Trusts. Its aim is to reverse insect declines.  go to Tap here for more on the campaign The figure of 41% of insect species being threatened with extinction I taken from Insect Declines And Why They Matter, authored by Prof David Goulson (University of Sussex), 2019.  The report can be downloaded here

What a gift - 'Postman Poet' author sends books set in Devon by post, without leaving home

At this difficult time when most of the shops are shut, one Devon author is offering to post copies of her books to readers – without leaving her home!

Liz Shakespeare says ‘I have a post box in my front garden, so I can post a book to you or to one of your friends or relatives, while obeying the Stay At Home order!’

Liz lives at The Old Post Office in Littleham. Although there is no longer a post office in her front room, the Royal Mail post box is still there.

She says, ‘If you need to send a birthday present, a get well present, or just want to escape into another world for a while, choose a book set in Devon from my website www.lizshakespeare.co.uk or give me a ring on 01237 471165.’

Liz Shakespeare has become well known throughout the south-west for the five books she has written, all of which are set in Devon. Liz says ‘My inspiration is the people, the history and the landscapes of Devon. The most topical of my books is Fever: A Story from a Devon Churchyard which tells the true story of a Devon village struggling to cope during an epidemic 150 years ago.’

Also available is The Turning of the Tide, a novel based on the true story of a young Clovelly mother confined in Bideford Workhouse, The Postman Poet which tells the story of Devon man Edward Capern, The Memory Be Green: An Oral History of a Devon Village and All Around The Year, a book of short stories set in Devon.

Postage is free - Liz can sign books and inscribe them for a special present on request. '
Contact Liz through her website for book titles and prices www.lizshakespeare.co.uk 

Tel: 01237 471165