One of the aims to the Friends of Chat Moss is to raise awareness of this special bog habitat in the local community and to get as many people as possible out on site enjoying this natural gem.
Over the last couple of years our trusty Treasurer has secured a total of £1750 from City West Housing Trust, Salford CVS and Hamilton Davies Trust. This has been used to run 3 events which benefit both people and the moss.
These events have seen 1000’s of specialist bog plants planted on the moss, with groups from Salford Young Carers and Princes Park Garden Centre (a social enterprise that provides training opportunities for people with disabilities) helping the Friends and Lancs Wildlife Trust staff. This has given people, who normally don’t have much free time to themselves or the means to visit green spaces, the opportunity to have a relaxing break exploring a new (to them) outdoor space, benefiting both their physical and metal health.
In the summer the group put on a public event at Princes Park Garden Centre which saw PPGC clients and members of the public help us to pot up cross-leaved heath plants to be grown on for us by the garden centre. These will later be planted out on the moss, helping to re-vegetate the reserve.
The Garden Centre has also been working with LWT to grow cotton grass, heather, and sphagnum from seed and cuttings taken from Cadishead and Little Woolden Mosses. We recently planted out the first batch of very healthy looking Common Cotton Grass plants, nurtured from seed by the hard working PPGC team, now back on their peatland home.
The Friends of Chat Moss have also secured another £1750 from Salford CCG and The Woodland Trust that will be used for 2 tree planting events in early 2019.
We would welcome enquiries from any groups that would like to visit the moss, whether you are interested in planting, walking, painting, photographing or bird watching, we can help you discover this amazing reserve.
We will continue to do what we can to improve the site and strengthen links between the local community and their wonderful green spaces. To help us keep an eye on the Facebook page and our events page for chances to plant, or for other ways to get involved consider volunteering or joining us.
Friends of Chat Moss 