2014 has been another relatively quiet year. It has seen the completion of the side kissing-gate project but unfortunately not the finalisation of the grant for the replacement mower. It is hard to believe that we have been waiting so long for the agreement of the deed of dedication between Guildford Borough Council and Fields in Trust to establish the Wildlife Area as a QEII site which is a pre-requisite for our receipt of the grant of £5495. We are indebted to Roy and Nigel for their skill and devotion in managing to keep our old mower going in the interim. It will indeed be a joy to have the services of a rather heavier duty sit-on mower with a 50 inch cutting deck to keep our green path network beautifully cut.
On site we have been undertaking various projects:-
Digging out the leat from the Hodge Brook to the pond. We are also
engaging with the Guildford Flood Forum to increase the size of the pipe from the Hodge Brook
Shoring up the path areas adjacent to the Hodge Brook and Winter Bridge
with the help of local volunteers from Network Rail using the Wildlife Area as their chosen
charity
Clearing the invasive 'water soldiers' (Stratiotes Aloides) from the pond
with the help of local volunteers and guided by Glen Skelton from Surrey Wildlife Trust
Investigation of future strategies and voluntary manpower to tackle the ongoing
invasion of Himalayan Balsam in the wetland area adjacent to the Hodge and Stanford Brooks again in
consultation with Glen Skelton from the Surrey Wildlife Trust. (We look forward to our expert talk
from Jim Jones from SWT about these 'Alien Invaders' later in the meeting)
Replacement of the fox sign at the western entrance to the Wildlife Area with the
expert skills of Roy Coverly. We hope that this has now been securely installed as it is a precious
addition to the site ...
Assistance to a local landowner to remove the collapsed oak tree by the Stanford Brook
Off site we have been thrilled to receive sponsorship for our new leaflet from the Pirbright Institute. We have therefore been able to order 5000 which should keep us going for several years! Last year at the AGM I made an appeal for someone with PR experience to join our team and we were delighted that Heather Coverly stepped forward to fulfil this role so expertly. Not only did she help me to bring the leaflet up to date but she is also embarking on a publicity campaign to local primary schools and local groups such as brownies and cub scouts. We are very aware that we need to keep everyone informed about the delights to be enjoyed on the Wildlife Area so that it continues to be a popular place to visit. Apart from being available on site and sent to local organisations, the leaflets are stocked in local libraries and used to impress potential funders. The other vehicle to put us into the public domain is of course the website and we are so grateful to Carolyn and Chris Guest and their son Jon for undertaking an important revamp of this vital part of our communications network
Off site also in a different, and wonderful, sort of way, was the wedding of our Secretary Barbara to her long term partner Steve last May. Both Barbara and Steve have given so much of their time to this Association and just to cap it all they were extremely generous in donating to us some of the money given to them for their wedding by their friends. Our thanks go to them both!
Our membership tally during 2013 was 169 members plus 27 U16s. Once again, most members have indicated a willingness to donate either time or money, the great proportion of which is gift-aided. More detail on this later from Julie Harland.
I need hardly say that we are always open to suggestions for improvements or projects from our members. Last year there was a much reduced number of members coming to our summer BBQ so we are going to give it a natural break this year. The Management Cttee would like to know if you will miss it ?!
As always I would like to finish by thanking the hard-working Management
Committee, all those who have contributed by helping with maintenance jobs around the site and
all our members who give us generous donations to keep us going and encourage us with their
positive comments.
Catherine Cobley
April 2015