October 20, 2025

Big Boost for Wild Ouseburn’s Nature Restoration

The Wild Ouseburn project has been awarded over £80,000 from the Reece Foundation’s Ouse Burn Way fund, securing the next three years of nature restoration and rewilding in the Lower Ouseburn Valley.

The funding will allow Wild Ouseburn to:
1. Create a dedicated online platform for Wild Ouseburn: news, wildlife insights, reports, events, training and campaigning for nature in the Lower Ouseburn Valley.
2. Supporting micro-projects to boost biodiversity, like the City Stadium wildflower meadow and Sand Martin nest bank.
3. Rewilding the Lower Ouseburn Valley with you, engaging volunteers in hands-on nature restoration.
4. Fund a staff member to support the day-to-day delivery of Wild Ouseburn.

Volunteers, supporters, local organisations and businesses are working together to make Wild Ouseburn thrive – making urban Newcastle wilder and more biodiverse.

“Progress following the funding announcement has been incredible. Over the past few weeks, more than 70 local volunteers have rolled up their sleeves to help transform the site – removing turf, raking soil, and shaping the landscape to prepare for planting. Their collective effort is already paying off, with the meadows beginning to take shape and the area showing the first signs of its wild new life.”

– said Heather Devey, Wild Intrigue Co-Director

 

The funding will support an annual payment of £10,000 for intuitive and dynamic nature restoration.

First-year plans include:

• Grassland restoration and meadow creation at City Stadium in partnership with Newcastle Parks & Allotments.
• Expansion of the Nest Box Scheme in St Lawrence Park to support House Sparrows.
• Installation of Schwegler bat roosting boxes, with licensed monitoring by Northumberland Bat Group.
• Acoustic bat and bird surveys using advanced monitoring equipment.
• Rewilding sessions at St Ann’s Church with Greener Battlefield.
• Launch of the Ouseburn Bird Club.

Alongside these, Winter Ouseburn Wild Talks, promotional materials, and ongoing community engagement will keep the project thriving.

“This funding acknowledges the huge value of the Ouseburn Wildlife Enhancement Corridor, for both wildlife and people, and the importance of working collaboratively at a landscape scale. Whether volunteering, attending events, or simply following our journey online, everyone can help make the Lower Ouseburn Valley wilder and richer for wildlife,”

– said Anne Reece, Chair of the Ouse Burn Way Project Board

The Ouse Burn Way is a seven-mile urban wildlife corridor from the mouth of the Ouseburn to Weetslade Country Park. Its vision goes beyond wildlife, improving water quality, enhancing wellbeing, and creating spaces for communities to connect with nature. The Reece Foundation’s £1 million Ouse Burn Way fund supports local projects that make this vision a reality.