BELFAIRS Woodland Centre is celebrating its fifth anniversary this month.

The woodland centre, in Leigh, is run by the Essex Wildlife Trust, and was officially opened by BBC Springwatch presenter Martin Hughes-Games on September 7, 2013.

The centre specialises in educating people of all ages about the joy of nature in beautiful surroundings.

The centre has also become a popular venue for all kinds of events.

In the first full year of the centre being opened, the trust welcomed around 44,000 visitors through the doors of the visitor centre.

Alison Askwith, assistant centre manager, said: “When we look at what Essex Wildlife Trust, with the help of the 100 volunteers who work both in the centre and outside in the woods, has achieved in those five years, it is exciting to think what might be achieved in the next five years.”

Since then it has become a popular place for families, schools and adults to visit.

The Woodland Centre provides a space for schools, groups and families to learn about south Essex’s fantastic ancient woodlands in an interactive way.

In 2018, the trust is expecting more than 100,000 people to visit the centre.

The centre and its education team is a wonderful resource for schools.

In 2017, the team of education volunteers helped 1,500 children learn about nature and science as part of the national curriculum with their schools.Another 4,000 children visited the centre through informal fun activities.

Belfairs Woodland Centre’s rangers have worked hard to conserve and improve the rare and special ecosystem of Belfairs Ancient Woodland.

To see how effective their work is, they monitor the health and number of several species.

This year was a bumper year for the Heath Fritillary Butterfly, one of the rarest butterflies in the UK, partly because of the work done by Essex Wildlife Trust’s rangers and volunteers over the last five years.

They, in conjunction with Southend Dormouse Group, are also working hard to improve the habitat for Belfairs’ other rare inhabitant, the Hazel Dormouse.

As well as surging visitor numbers, the centre and trust are also celebrating the success of the events it has held.

The centre team of staff and volunteers have put on more than 30 events this year for adults and families, including the second free open-air concert and the first performance by Southend Shakespeare Company, which performed A Midsummer Night’s Dream on a perfect evening to 400 people.

Events ranging from kite flying to Christmas wreath making, bat talks and walks, silk painting to quiz evenings have all been popular this year.

The annual Belfairs 5 Run also attracted more than 150 runners.

The profit the Woodland Centre makes goes to wildlife projects in Essex, including projects at Belfairs.

Alison added: “Thanks to all the money members of the public spent in 2017 in the 11 Essex Wildlife Trust Centres, £200,000 was put towards conservation projects.

“A great achievement by the people of Essex.”