Muddy and happy after de-silting a watercourse on a Capability Brown landscape at Barton Blount Hall in Derbyshire

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1 Muddy and happy after de-silting a watercourse on a Capability Brown landscape at Barton Blount Hall in Derbyshire Burton Conservation Volunteers Annual Report

2 Another busy year with lots achieved despite government cut backs and though this meant travelling further for work, the use of the PHAB bus has kept our carbon footprint down and it has given an added bonus through discovering new sites and challenges. We again encouraged young people to join in, inc. 2 spending 6 working days, taking their Duke of Edinburgh Award and encouraging local children to respect and take an interest in their local nature areas. We carried out a total of 563 volunteer days on 56 different task days, comprising of 482 work days by BCV plus 81 days by others, like local Lichfield, South Derbyshire, and Burton residents, Parish Councils, various Corporate Volunteers, Trent Rivers Trust, Canal & Rivers Trust, Staffordshire Wildlife Trust and staff at Beaumont College in Lancaster. We have led educational walks for Burton & District Wildlife Group, Lichfield Wildlife Group, three walks for the National Forest Walking Festival, as well as organising several other walks for BCV. Lunch break at Broome Farm, so no cider until we finish for the day Of the above, 249 volunteer days were within the National Forest, 299 in Staffordshire inc. 139 in the Lichfield area (47 for SCC at Norton Bog), 174 in E. Staffs and 24 in the Tamworth Borough, 98 days in S. Derbyshire and 59 in Leicestershire. We kept the traditional working weekend at Broome Farm in Herefordshire (26 volunteer days, re- 2

3 pollarding a number of overgrown crack willow pollards and of course, sampling the cider) plus 12 days in Lancashire at Beaumont College, run by Scope, and 4 building a secure play area at a special needs school in Derbys. so, another diverse and interesting year of community and environmental work. As in previous years we have not counted in time for committee meetings, admin work, site surveys, and general organisation like tool collection or sorting out car share. The many hours of work on the allotment have not been included, not because it is not highly valued, but because we do not have a proper record of volunteer numbers. Nor have we included team-building socials and group walks, etc. so the basic figures do not reflect the total amount of commitment given to the group by volunteers. We did include the educational walks and talks, as education and raising awareness of local environmental issues is an important part of what we do. Also included were the National Forest Walking Festival walks, as they were organised for others, but not the risk assessment walks as these were largely social events. We have worked with adult learners with social problems, Schools, South Derbyshire District Council, Lichfield District Council, Parish Councils, a Scope run college and of course Broome Cider Farm. Staffordshire County Council and Hinckley & Bosworth DC BCV have also worked with and provided support for local and national orgs. like Staffordshire Wildlife Trust, Trent Rivers Trust, Canal & Rivers Trust, National Forest, Burton & District Wildlife Group, Duke of Edinburgh Awards, Burton Civic Soc. local Rotarians as well as private landlords. The orchard project at Paget school in Burton is continuing to flourish and the orchard produced a bumper crop this year and visitors to the autumn apple day were very impressed, we visited the orchard as part of our 12 mile National Forest Walking Festival walk, to show a successful local environmental project, involving many young people. We have also assisted with events organised by East Staffs Fairtrade Group and One World Week (Burton) as they are in keeping with our overall ethos and also linked up with Burton Inclusive Performing Arts, supporting a couple of projects. We have affiliated with Friends of the Earth and 3 of us attended their camping Base Camp weekend in Castleton and hope to link up with like-minded people and projects, in 3

4 the future. BCV have always been keen to work with others, to learn as well as teach and also to make our work more effective and sustainable and this has led to a variety of organisations contacting us, even a request for advice on organising conservation volunteers from Australia! The itrees project in Burton was undertaken to assess the tree cover in Burton and its monetary value to the town and its residents. It was funded by the National Forest Co. and largely organised by Staffs Wildlife Trust with assistance from BCV and Staffs CC. Using local volunteers the quantity and quality of trees in Burton were assessed and valued, we hope the data will be used to value and enhance Burtons treescape Vicki Liu from Staffs Wildlife Trust working with BCV s Lawrence Oates, estimating tree height as part of itrees survey checks. Thanks also go to the volunteers who help to organise walks, camping trips, theatre visits, quizzes, meals website etc. these help to make working with BCV an enjoyable and social experience, helping us to retain regular volunteers and the skills that they have built up. Although we are not a carers type group we do care and over the years volunteers with learning disabilities, social or drink/drug related problems have been able to gain a lot from working with BCV. The confidence, acquired skills and improved CV they have gained, has helped a number to find jobs and careers. This is also proving useful to some students, either looking for projects, or gaining practical skills, to help them with widening their experience and through that their employability, by gaining practical experience. 4

5 Highlights Always a difficult section of the report, as there are so many great moments to pick from. Working in places not general accessible to the public, like sections of the River Mease SAC or Barton Blount Hall, with its Capability Brown landscape. Hearing from Tamara, who worked for Lichfield DC before moving back to Australia and the positive response to the assistance and advice given, was a treat. Being part of helping to plant trees and bluebells at Branston Leas and also help to survey the existing flora, at Staffs Wildlife Trusts newest Nature Reserve and also being included on the trips to secure Heritage Lottery Funding, for the Transforming the Trent Valley, Living Landscapes Project. Involvement with the i-trees project and the hope that the results will encourage more tree planting/care within Burton and East Staffordshire. However, a personal highpoint for me was the Friends of the Earth (FoE) Base Camp weekend, surrounded by people who were so thoughtful for the comfort and needs of other campers, quite apart from the inspirational workshops. A small part of the workshop and relaxing area at the Base Camp 5

6 Sustainability Affiliating with FoE will help both our orgs. to learn from and support each other on local and wider ranging sustainability issues. As with previous years we continue to source/recycle material from sites, like hedgelaying stakes and binders, fence posts and rails, pea and bean sticks for the allotment and even making some basic tools. The continued use of the PHAB minibus and car share, reduces our vehicle journeys and thus carbon footprint, as well as avoiding upsetting locals living adjacent to urban sites. This will help to keep local support for projects. Encouraging young people through offering placements for orgs. like Duke of Edinburgh Award, only 2 this year, though one completed his Gold Award, so congratulations to him. Awards BCV has won so many awards over the years, that we do not normally apply for them, however the long-running urban project at Horninglow Brook did merit a commendation from the Civic Soc. Socials The social side of BCV has always been an important factor in its success and a way of keeping some volunteers coming back over long periods. Theatre trips to the Globe in London along with group visits to more local arts venues, camping trips, like our week in Lancaster and annual working weekend at Broome Cider Farm, although we had to cancel our New Year walk this year, due to bad weather, we did have other walks throughout the year, including a number for the National Forest Walking Festival. Our Xmas party always falls in the following year as we tend to have it late Jan. early Feb. so that venues are easier 6

7 to find and more volunteers can attend as it is unlikely to clash with works Xmas parties. I sometimes feel that most of the work is so enjoyable and there is such a positive attitude, that most days together could be considered socials. Training & education Education is fundamental to all our work whether it is welcoming new volunteers, helping to set up new local groups, providing training in hedgelaying for other orgs. like Canal & Rivers Trust volunteers, or keeping ourselves up-to-date attending courses on Woody Debris and Stream Rehab. or scythe maintenance and use plus attending the official launch of the SWT State of Staffordshire s Nature Report. Advice given to clients and others, like the advice and help given to Tamara in Australia, SWT at Branston Leas, or short practical demonstrations at FoE base camp on safe tool use and assisting with training itrees volunteers taking part in the Burton urban tree survey. New projects like being part of the Little Forest project, setting up an all abilities outdoor teaching area, on the outskirts of Burton and advising on the Muddy Boots a new project, helping with people of all abilities on a gardening and plant growing initiative. As usual we entered a number of walks in The National Forest Walking Festival and these also gave us an opportunity to point out many BCV projects and explain some of the management and the environmental advantages the work done and the talks by BCV members, not always attributed to BCV, we hope spread the message Working with corporate groups from Molson Coors and Kerry foods, on practical projects, again helps us to pass respect for the environment, onto a different section of society, who without doing this work, might not be involved in the environment Summary Another busy year and a further widening of our customer base with work for Hinckley & Bosworth DC helping them to build up a local group for Burbage Common and working at Barton Blount Hall helping to create an area suitable for people with mental welfare problems, to have a secure and relaxing area to work or just chillout. 7

8 It may be cut backs causing staff shortages, or a greater recognition of the professionalism of Burton Conservation Volunteers, but we are being used as advisors on a wide variety of environmental projects in the Burton and National Forest Area. This is also reflected in the number of SAC s, SSSI s and SBI s on the task list! These sites often rely on volunteer input to stay viable. The main thing is that we still, after 23 years, are a friendly, sociable and happy group making a positive impact on the environment. Lawrence Oates Chair and Project Officer Dragonflies mating at Branston Leas Looking forward to a successful