WE are a group of young people undertaking the John Muir Award with the Lancashire Wild Life Trust.

We have been working at River Darwen Park during the half term to help and conserve the area for the general public to enjoy.

We started by protecting the heather, which we are lucky to have in the middle of Blackburn.

We created habitat piles to encourage small animals into the reserve.

While we were there we unfortunately witnessed several heathland fires, which destroyed large areas and appeared to have been started deliberately.

When we were out in the park we had a picnic lunch which would have been much nicer if there wasn't any dog dirt or litter.

The park would really benefit from dog waste bins and litter bins.

We removed nine sacks full of rubbish in a short period of time in one small area, but there is still a lot left.

As a lot of waste was plastic, glass bottles and cans, recycling bins would be very useful.

It's sad to see so few children playing in the park at half term.

Maybe they have been put off by many burnt-out trial bikes and people riding mini-motos on the public footpaths.

Signs to direct people in the park have been covered in graffiti and pulled down.

The park is a really good place to go bird watching.We spotted magpies, blue tits and coots among others.

We hung bird food to encourage birds into the park. We also planted lilies, dahlias and fuchsias.

We planted them to make the place more beautiful and encourage insect life.

We have all put in a lot of effort this week.

We have really enjoyed improving our local environment, but there is still a lot to do.

SHADSWORTH MOVIN' UP GROUP (Supported by Young Peoples Service and Connexions, Blackburn with Darwen).