Why Troon’s Church in the Woods is getting hedgehog homes

Hedgehog homes, bat boxes and insect hotels are on their way to a churchyard tucked into the trees on the edge of a Cornish village. And the toddlers are getting something too.

St John the Evangelist Church in Treslothan, on the outskirts of Troon village, is known locally as the Church in the Woods. The grade II listed building sits in temperate Atlantic rainforest, and its churchyard is now being developed as a wildlife haven and an interactive event space.

The Camborne Cluster of Churches, part of the Diocese of Truro, is running the nature-based project with a grant from National Grid Electricity Distribution (NGED).

What is changing in the churchyard

The money came from NGED’s Community Matters Fund, through a strand aimed at developing green spaces.

Nanette Newton-Hinge, project manager for the Camborne Cluster of Churches, said: “Our project will remove invasive species from the space and provide homes and protection for wildlife and eventually encourage greater biodiversity in the churchyard. This will include bat and bird boxes, insect hotels and hedgehog homes.”

Play equipment and a lunch club

The grant reaches beyond the wildlife. Nanette said: “Funding has also provided outdoor play equipment to allow toddler and after-school clubs to take place, and some kitchen equipment to allow a lunch club to be established.

“This grant allowed us to purchase equipment that we would not have been able to afford, so a big thank you to National Grid for the Community Matters Fund. It makes a big difference to the events and support we can offer our community, and the wildlife and nature within the churchyard.”

Andlyn White, NGED’s Social Impact Partner, said: “It’s gratifying to see how the community will be enriched by the use of the churchyard and how this project is encouraging people to promote and protect nature.”

About the Community Matters Fund

The fund provides individual grants of up to £5,000 for charities and community groups. Over the past year it has supported initiatives helping people overcome barriers to finding work and tackling fuel poverty.

Since launching in 2021, it has awarded more than £12 million to 2,200 grassroots organisations, benefiting more than one million people across the South West, the Midlands and South Wales.