On the Verge Cambridge was awarded a £560 PEBBLE grant in 2021 for the St Matthew’s Street Estate Biodiversity Project, to create a new wildflower meadow.

On the Verge Cambridge is a community project involving a variety of different collaborators including Cambridge City Council, community groups, schools, businesses and residents and works towards increasing the biodiversity of urban areas. Urbanisation has led to the fragmentation and degradation of habitats that once hosted a range of biodiversity, which is why On the Verge Cambridge works to bring pollinators to the city by promoting the growth of nectar-rich plants in open areas.

Two local residents were concerned about the lack of biodiversity within St Matthew’s Street Estate and formed a community group called Community Action for Nature. The group then approached On the Verge Cambridge and made a proposal for improving the biodiversity of a green space in between rows of flats on St Matthew’s Street Estate. The St Matthew’s Street Estate Biodiversity Project was awarded a £560 PEBBLE grant to create a new wildflower meadow to host a range of biodiversity.


The small area of land on St Matthew’s Street Estate sits between two parks, and the project aimed to provide a stepping stone between these two green spaces for pollinators and other invertebrates. The work included the planting of late winter/early spring flowering bulbs and wildflowers to create a small wildflower meadow which could help to attract different species such as common butterflies, moths, hoverflies and bees.

Hundreds of new flowers bloomed in the Spring and Summer of 2022 and this project has led to the City Council working towards improving biodiversity both in St Matthew’s Street Estate and the nearest park, St Matthew’s Piece.


Posted: April 2023