Bat Project

Following a meeting with the Children and Young People Services Manager at Market Harborough Council, contacts were made with youth groups in the area. As a result, the youth worker based at the Methodist Church Centre in Market Harborough requested a meeting regarding possible activities with the group.

The group decided they wanted to do something on bats. Two sessions were organised, one involving Leicestershire and Rutland Bat Group (LRBG). Leaflets on bats and evaluation forms in the shape of a bat were given out to the group at the end of the sessions.

Programme of activities

Indoor session

Jenny Harris from the LRBG gave a talk to a group of twenty two 11-15 year olds. The talk was illustrated with slides and featured two bats that Jenny was looking after.

Outcomes

The session provided the young people with the opportunity to learn about wildlife from an expert in the field.
It highlighted local wildlife, which could be found in the area.
Provided a unique opportunity to see bats close up with one of the young people helping to feed the bat.

Outdoor session – Bat Walk

Ten young people attended the bat walk, which took place at Foxton Locks, Market Harborough.

Outcomes

The walk gave the group the opportunity to see bats in the wild, learn how to use a bat detector and to distinguish the different sounds made by different species.
It was ‘something different’; with the young people and the youth worker not having done this type of activity before.

Bat Mosaic

The group decided that they wanted to do something with art to incorporate what they had learnt about bats. They designed three panels working with a community artist using recycled materials such as tiles, bin bages, wallpaper and bottle tops.The panels were exhibited at Market Harborough Library and the local branch of Caffe Nero in Market Harborough.

Evaluation

Both sessions were very successful with the young people having the opportunity to encounter bats close up.

The project gave the youth workers a new perspective on natural history activities.
The sessions were ‘very different’ from what the youth group normally did and highlighted the need to promote such work with youth organisations.
Having a talk followed by a practical session worked very well with the group who participated in the bat walk remembering what they had learnt.
The bat walk group quickly picked up how to use the detectors and also the different sounds that were being made. By the end of the walk they could tell which species were echolocating.
Some of the young people go camping regularly and have suggested buying bat detectors to listen for bats in the evenings.

Feedback from participants

"I went on the bat walk. It was different and cool."
"The bat walk was a wicked experience. Because of both of these I am saving up for a bat detector myself so I can go anytime."
"I really enjoyed the bat talk because we got to see bats up close."
"I really enjoyed seeing/feeding the bats it was fabulous but I think the talk should be shorter and we should be more involved."
"I enjoyed listening to bats on the bat detector and didn’t realise they were so small."

Youth worker

"The group had a great time and especially liked seeing the bats at the youth club. Those who took part in the bat walk enjoyed the adventure of being out together and the fact that they all got to use detectors. It was particularly good that we saw bats. The project has given the young people the opportunity to do something creative as well as exploring a subject they would not normally have thought about.”

Produced by the Community Heritage Initiative, which was supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Rutland County Council

Bat Project

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