CHESTER Tree Festival has scooped a grant of £24,000 from the Local Heritage Initiative (LHI) to regenerate Blacon Nature Park over the next three years.

Working with Chester City Council and the Blacon community, the festival will be undertaking a series of projects including work on the pond, botanical surveys, planting and managing trees.

There will be special training days and a host of hands-on activities for people to get involved with. The grant will also buy tools and equipment that will be available to use in the park in the future.

Cllr Reggie Jones said: 'The award of £24,000 for the park will give it a new lease of life and help to bring wildlife closer to local people.'

You can help launch the LHI project on Saturday, November 29, at 1.30pm, with the Great Seed Plant and Hedge-Laying Experience - and join Deputy Lord Mayor Terry Ralph as he plants trees for the future.

Bring a seed from a local indigenous tree - an acorn, a conker or a seed from other British trees such as ash and hazel - to be planted into pots to take home and look after until they are big enough to be placed in the park.

You can learn the ancient art of hedge-laying with the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers along the park entrance from Clifton Drive.

Hedge-laying is a method of managing and tidying hedges, creating a safe wildlife habitat and an effective barrier to large animals and the wind.

For more information, call 01244 320368.