BUGS have found a home at Kingsland Pre-school at the Coronation Hall in Leominster.

Children from the village have been travelling down to learn more about conserving their ecosystems with equipment provided with help from the Kingspan Insulation Community Trust.

The pre-school wanted to nurture the young children’s enthusiasm for outdoor learning and encourage them discover more about the insects and plant life around them.

The £655 funding provided by the Kingspan Insulation Community Trust helped to purchase brightly-coloured magnifying glasses, collection tubes, butterfly nets, feeders, and a bug hotel.

Juliet Pudge, Manager of Kingsland Pre-school, said: "Children learn best when they’re enjoying themselves and the grant has enabled us to offer more opportunities for our pre-schoolers to explore the wonders of the local environment through play.

"By studying the wider lifecycle changes of insects and other wildlife, we hope to develop a deep appreciation of the natural world in the children which will continue for the rest of their lives.”

With the help of these bug kits and planned activities, Kingsland Pre-school’s children have been managing and maintaining real-life habitats and can complete tasks such as watering plants, feeding ants and releasing butterflies. The children will also see how frogspawn turns into frogs, in addition to creating their own art based on what they have learned about the environment.

Chairman of the Kingspan Insulation Community Trust, John Garbutt, commented on the project:

“Children love getting hands-on experience and projects like this allow them to keep active and connect with nature on a daily basis. The Trust is glad it could help support the pre-school’s aim of fostering a greater awareness of, and excitement for, the importance of protecting biodiversity.”

Anyone within the catchment areas of Wigmore High School, Lady Hawkins’ School, Earl Mortimer College in Herefordshire and Tenbury High Ormiston Academy in Worcestershire, and the Parish of Sherburn-in-Elmet in North Yorkshire is able to apply for funding from the Kingspan Insulation Community Trust. Projects requiring funding must meet at least one of the Trust’s four objectives which cover conservation, encouraging biodiversity, health and fitness of young people, and road safety. There is no limit to the number of applications that can be submitted.