Here I am once again to let you know about the Association’s activities for the last year and to invite you to renew your membership into 2016.
The enclosed membership form shows details of any members listed at your address. As you may recall, our membership arrangements assume that you wish to continue to be a member unless you indicate otherwise. If you wish to discontinue your membership, if the information shown is incorrect or if you wish to add other residents at your address, please make any necessary amendments and send it back to the Secretary at the address shown below. She can also supply standing order forms if you wish to set up a regular donation. We continue to be very keen to have a record of your email address so that we can communicate with you more easily and a space is included for this. Please look on it as a way you can help your hard-working Committee – to have all our membership on an email distribution list would really help us to keep you informed and involved! We do of course undertake to keep this information purely for the use of the Association.
There have been several ‘happenings’ which have been pleasing this year. First of all, we were delighted to finally receive funding (£5.5k) from the London Marathon Charitable Trust for QE2 sites to buy our much needed new mower and to contribute towards the new kissing gate along the green lane in early summer. It was nothing short of a miracle that Nigel and Roy, our trusty site managers, had somehow managed to work their magic with the old mower and keep it struggling on until our new more robust and wider mower arrived. It is proving to be excellent and has been man enough to help to keep the new space by the kissing gate clear as well as the network of green paths around the site.
Secondly, we have begun to tackle the ever-burgeoning Himalayan Balsam which has slowly been taking over the wetland areas and were very grateful to Glen Skelton from the Surrey Wildlife Trust and his team of volunteers who joined with our own local volunteers during Invasive Species Week last July. The main focus of effort was close to the margins of the Hodge Brook and Stanford Brook in an attempt to reduce the onward transmission of the balsam seeds before they burst forth in late July. A lot of good work was done but it felt dispiriting to finish a day’s hard labour with little evidence of making any impact on this flourishing beast…! We are resolved to try to tackle it every year and hopefully starting in early May when the plants first begin to appear.
Thirdly, we are delighted to have 5000 new leaflets – a slightly remodelled version of our first one and generously sponsored by the Pirbright Institute. We are grateful to Heather Coverley whose PR skills have been so useful both for the leaflet and for various local publicity advertisements. She has also been using the new leaflets to spread the word about the delights of the Wildlife Area to local libraries, primary schools and brownies/cub scouts.
Finally, and most significantly, we have been establishing a new joint working arrangement with the Pirbright Institute which is one of the most exciting developments in the life of the Wildlife Area. Members will know that we are only a pint-sized charity and with 14 acres to manage it is sometimes a big challenge for our small team of volunteers and limited financial resources. A partnership with the Institute works well in so many ways as they have very useful large equipment on their site just round the corner which is lying idle some of the time; they are interested in finding local outreach projects; they have good wildlife expertise from managing their sites and they have staff who are keen to get stuck in to help on their charity days. And we have already been enjoying the benefits with a very productive morning in September when about 20 staff and local volunteers donned waders and had a happy and wet morning pulling out the invasive ‘Water Soldiers’ from the pond and clearing the willow between the pond and the Stanford Brook to let in more light. We have also had the wildflower meadow mown in the autumn, trees felled and paths widened and levelled all using Institute machinery and manpower. So it is a ‘win-win’ for the Wildlife Area!
Every year, we are very encouraged to receive donations of all sizes from Association members, the vast majority of which is gift-aided which adds 20% through tax reclamation. I am delighted to be able to report that through grants and donations, we managed to cover our outgoings in 2015. Thank you! Needless to say your continued support and generosity is still very much needed as it costs around £1000 pa to run our Wildlife Area… If you are a UK taxpayer, you only need to sign the Gift Aid declaration when sending your donation – we will process the rest.
Another very straightforward way in which you can help us to increase our income is by shopping online through easyfundraising.org.uk. Each time you shop, you can raise money for your chosen charity at no cost to yourself. Participating retailers include Amazon, Sainsbury’s, John Lewis, M&S, Ebay etc. All you need do is to register at easyfundraising.org.uk and then log in each time you shop. Search for the Fox Corner Community Wildlife Area in the listing and then shop in the usual way by clicking on the link to access the retailer’s site and make your purchases as normal. The retailers then give us a percentage donation which would soon mount up and transform our finances! Our Treasurer, Julie Harland, would be delighted to advise you further – her contact details are at the bottom of this letter.
With all good wishes and thanks for your support.
Yours sincerely
Catherine Cobley
Chairman
NB: Tuesday, 5th April – AGM at 8p.m. in the Church Room, St Michael’s Church. We hope to have a speaker and details and an agenda will follow nearer the time.