Family Swift Challenge with RSPB

In February 2025, the RSPB and Birmingham Settlement trialled ‘Swift Family Challenge,’ a nature-themed
event hosted at our Kingstanding Sports & Community Centre, with funding provided by Natural England.

The aim of the session was to raise awareness of local wildlife through Swifts and explore alternative ways of
learning through physical activity and art.

 

How did it work?

The RSPB met with Birmingham Settlement’s activity facilitators in January 2025 to provide training on Swifts,
their ecology and conservation needs using a ‘train the trainer’ model.

Birmingham Settlement’s activity facilitators used this information to design an activity plan based around the
challenges faced by Swifts on their annual migration from their nest sites in Birmingham to Africa and back, which incuded:

• Learning about Swifts whilst drawing and colouring them in

• Working in teams to embark on an obstacle course following Swift migration whilst collecting hidden insect food items
and answers to quiz questions on their way

• Returning to find original nest sites disrupted and rebuilding them, answering quiz questions and
counting insect food items to find winners

RSPB volunteers provided additional information, answered questions about Swifts and manned a
stand with materials to encourage people to get involved with Swift conservation in their communities.

The results

The event had fantastic participation from local families with positive feedback demonstrating both learning and fun. Some comments from children included:

o “Thank you for running this session! It’s a great way to learn!”
o “It was fun and the building was good”
o “I loved all the facts”
o “It was exciting and fun”
o “It was really enjoyable”
o “I couldn’t believe what swifts do, like sleeping in the air!”

The RSPB will be looking to secure funding to scale up this approach, involving other community
organisations across the West Midlands and potentially broadening the scope to include other red-listed bird species.