RESIDENTS at a supported living scheme for homeless young people in Wrexham have been busy providing homes for the wildlife where they live.

The residents at Hurst Newton, which is managed by Clwyd Alyn Housing Association, part of the Pennaf Housing Group, have been building bat boxes.

They have been working with Shane Williams of Keep Wales Tidy on a range of environmental and conservation projects including local litter-picks, creating a vegetable patch, building bird boxes and an insect hotel, and the team has now spent the day building bat boxes to attract Pipistrelle bats to the area. The urban Pipistrelle has been on the decline in recent years due to the decline in natural woodland and the insulation of many properties where the bats would normally roost.

But with large wooded grounds around Hurst Newton the location provides an ideal habitat.

“The residents were really enthusiastic,” said project worker Ben Howarth Booth.

“It was great to hear the young people engage so whole-heartedly, researching the best places to site the boxes and really taking a pride in the local environment.

“A big thank you must go to the two staff from Bushmede, who are maintenance contractors for Clwyd Alyn and helped with the task of putting up the finished boxes,” added Ben.

The Hurst Newton Green Team is hoping to add to their environmental project with a pond, wetland area and flower garden in the area.

Shane Williams, from Keep Wales Tidy said: “The residents are really interested in conservation and wildlife matters and it’s a pleasure to work with them to make a real difference in the area.”

The bat boxes have been located in areas where the Hurst Newton residents can monitor any bat activity and they are now planning a ‘bat-watch’ to look out for any
bats that move into their new homes.