May 2013 Liverpool update

Join us for Mab's Magical Fair - a free day out at Mab Lane Community Woodland in Liverpool to help children reconnect with nature.

Families can visit a secret "Forest School" in the woods to create wands, wings and crowns made from natural materials, as well as enjoying enchanted storytelling in a tipi and toasting marshmallows around the campfire.

By harnessing children's interest in fairies, elves and dressing up, the event will attract new audiences to Liverpool's green spaces, boost people's health and help more families to discover outdoor play.

The event is on Saturday 18th May, from 12 to 4pm. You can find out more at mablane.com or join the Facebook event. It is organised as part of The Mersey Forest's Access to Nature project, which last autumn attracted 1,500 people to Sutton Manor in St.Helens for the event's forerunner, the Elf and Fairy Fair.

If you can help spread the word about the event, that would be much appreciated.

As part of the Royal Forestry Society awards, Mab Lane Community Woodland in Liverpool has been shortlisted for the prestigious Urban Forestry Award. The nomination comes less than five years after the planting of the woodland, which transformed an under-used and frequently flooded field into a valued community resource that residents say has "really changed the area".

Another newly created woodland within The Mersey Forest, Northwood Forest Hills in Knowsley, is also on the shortlist, with the winner to be announced this summer.

Meanwhile, The Mersey Forest's Access to Nature project, which holds events at Mab Lane and other nearby woodlands to help more people explore their local green spaces, has been shortlisted in the Be Active category of the Echo Environment Awards.

Mab Lane volunteer Tony Beyga has also been shortlisted in the Give category for his photography documenting the creation of the woodland (including the photo above) and for his ongoing role as an "ears and eyes on the ground" looking after the woodland.

May is national Walk in the Woods month, and in Merseyside and North Cheshire there are more than 120 guided woodland walks for you to enjoy.

Visit our online guide to see the full listings or to search for what's on near you. The walks are organised by a wide range of providers within The Mersey Forest Partnership, from local authority ranger events, to Walking for Health walks to community groups' wildlife rambles.

More than a quarter of people who live in The Mersey Forest area visit their local woods at least once a week. There's no better time to join them.