HUGS

The Hagbournes & Upton Group for Sustainability (HUGS) was set up in 2020 to support local nature and encourage us all to live more sustainable lives.

The group covers the three parishes of East Hagbourne, West Hagbourne and Upton.

Our website, www.hugsustainability.org, contains information on supporting nature locally and ideas and resources on how to live more sustainably as well as a gallery of local wildlife photographs and news on our latest activities.

HUGS has developed a 3 Village Wild Walk which connects all three villages. We have family-friendly guides to use for each season. We also started a Tree Planting Programme in 2020, encouraging ordering and planting of trees and shrubs for our gardens. We had a great take up, 343 trees ordered (the equivalent of one third of all households planting a tree!) Having joined with Hagbourne Environment Group we have gained much more nature and conservation experience and expertise and are working in several existing and new areas to survey and enhance biodiversity (e.g. Butts Piece, Hagbourne wildflower meadow and several footpaths).

In 2021 we received funding from SODC for our Owl Project. This involves working to create better habitat for Tawny, Little and Barn owls in our area. Lu Barton, our owl specialist has been running Facebook Live sessions encouraging us to send in owl sightings / sounds to us so we know where our owls are. We’re using this information across the year to survey different areas and then with permission install the nest boxes.

Owls are the top of the food chain, so supporting owls means supporting the whole food chain. We’ll be planting more trees and hedging plants, plus wildflowers. And to make our parishes more owl-friendly we’ll be running a wildlife garden competition during 2021.

We’d love to hear your ideas and comments, do get in touch.