COLLEGE conservationists are hoping to attract a colony of swifts to their town centre building.

Students at Colchester Sixth Form College have installed 14 nesting boxes on their college’s mid-site building.

Gemma Polley, 18, was one of the students who sponsored a nest box for £35 at the North Hill college.

Other sponsors included members of staff and the Essex Wildlife Trust.

Gemma said: “I got involved with the project because of my passion for the environment and because of my conviction that we need to do more to save threatened species.

“Many students are becoming more environmentally conscious and more aware of what we must do to save our local wildlife and the entire planet.

“Swifts don’t only need somewhere to nest; they also need insects and spiders to feed on.”

Swifts are naturally cliff-nesting birds which have adapted to thrive in the roof spaces of houses and churches.

However, in the past 20 years numbers have declined by 50 per cent, due, in part, to changes in the construction of buildings.

Liam Monahan, of Richard Fordham Tree Surgeons in Bures, heard about the college’s nesting box appeal and wanted to help out.

He took a cherry-picker to the college or the day so the boxes could be fitted high up under the eaves.

A generous contribution was also made by the Essex Wildlife Trust’s Colchester group.

Acting chairman of the group Diane Cattermole said: “The installation of the Colchester Sixth Form College swift nest boxes is exactly the sort of local wildlife initiative we like to support.”

The swift nest box appeal is the latest conservation project at the sixth form college reflecting the widespread concern among young people about mass extinctions and climate change.

Later this spring, the college will be running the Peregrine Watch Point for the second year, inviting members of the public to enjoy views of the falcons which have chosen to nest on Jumbo, Colchester’s landmark water tower.