We started the ongoing Stafford Morton Way project in 2019, due to concerns about the unkempt overgrown grassed areas in Maghull’s highest footfall area. We crowdfunded £6500 to create an urban wildflower meadow, to promote & inspire wellbeing, community engagement, and raise awareness of endangered wildlife, plastic recycling, and signpost to underused natural local resources.

What we’ve achieved

• 106 backers, plus hundreds more with individual cash donations in collection tins, raising £6,414
• Trees & Design from Mersey Forest. They provided 28m of wildlife-friendly hedging (130 whips), a holly tree, six wildlife-friendly flowering fruit trees, four native ornamental trees, with educational support for the two primary schools and other community volunteers. (November 2019).  Ashworth Hospital Gardeners prepared the borders and supported the planting. A local tree surgeon provided tons of wood chippings.
• Wildflower Turf from Pictorial Meadows, £2500 worth of 102 m² of bespoke Wildflower Turf purchased from crowdfunding, laid in October 2020.
• Bluebell, daffodil and other Bulbs. 1500 bulbs planted by the community and paid from the crowdfunding.
• Nordmann (Christmas tree) Crowd funded and planted.
• Bark Chippings from local Tree Surgeon. Multiple tonnes provided to act as a beautiful weed suppressant and mulch.
• Sign. Community noticeboard will explain the project, educate the community about recycling, endangered wildlife ecology, and signpost the community to local underused nature resources e.g. Jubilee Wood, Roughly Wood, Lunt Meadows.
• Iconic Rhinoceros Recycling Sculpture. A life-sized galvanised mesh steel rhinoceros recycling sculpture has been created by a local foundry for cost price only, which has been paid for by MTC. A local landscaping company undertook the installation landscaping for free. The sculpture is only the second piece of public art in Maghull. It will highlight, in the towns highest footfall area, the constant importance of plastic recycling (housing 100,000 plastic bottle tops regularly collected by the local community, particularly three primary schools), endangered wildlife, and provide a beautiful multi-coloured aesthetic. The plastic bottle tops will be recycled and upcycled into public art by local schools.
• Developed Our New Environmental and Social Charity Group – known as Friends of Maghull and District (FOMD), which has undertaken further projects, and has a remit to continue with projects and provide a resource for supporting other new groups..

• Created community art out of two local dilapidated litter bins, undertaken by children from two high schools, to great community acclaim, fostering the children’s mutual community pride.
• Increased multiple skills in crowdfunding and project management.
• Cherry Trees Boulevard. 9 x 4m standard mixed Cherry trees were planted between Morrisons and the Medical centre car parks, with the support of The Tree Council, The Maghull and Aughton Rotary and Ashworth Hospital Gardeners.
• Essential Path Created. A desperately needed connecting path between Morrisons and the Medical Centre to resolve parking and pedestrian risk, was inspired by FOMD and was generously funded and created for free by Spacecare maintenance company.