News Page
Our hedge planting days in November were extremely well supported. 195 volunteers aged between 6 and 90 signed in on Saturday and 58 more arrived on Tuesday. Some 3,000 new mixed hedge seedlings were planted along the north side of the Ashford Road opposite Tudor Park Hotel, and round the corner into Roundwell. Many thanks to everyone who helped! Not only was the job finished more quickly than expected, the hedge has ended up longer than planned. More pictures of the planting can be found at the bottom of our 2011 photos page.
Planting of the Ashford Road boundary began at 10.00 on 26th November.
550 hours of work had already been done in preparation!
In April 2011 BWT were inspected for a Green Flag Community Award which recognises work that volunteer groups do to protect open spaces. About 13,000 sites applied for awards this year, and we are delighted to report that in July 2011 we got ours! BWT can now display a green flag for one year, and will of course aim to keep the flag every year in future.
In November 2010 Peter Willson and Bernard Head gave a presentation at the 2010 Biffaward ceremony at the Black Country Museum, Dudley. They explained that the BWT prize money of £7,000 which BWT won in 2009 was spent on the Barn Project, new tree planting by volunteers, and tools and training for the volunteers who carried out that work. They also passed on the "Overall Best in Britain" trophy to BWT's 2010 successors.
More than 80 people attended the 2010 Annual General Meeting. Deputy Chairman Peter Willson reported on the 2009 Biffa Awards and the finishing of the Tractor Barn, and mentioned the new BWT mobility scooter (featured on our visitors page) and announced that he was standing down from the post of Deputy, although he remains a Trustee and Life President. Peter was heartily thanked for his sterling work for BWT from its beginning. The meeting them confirmed his successor, John Wale, a maintenance volunteer since 2008, who said that he loved the "can do" spirit in BWT. John was wished every success in his new role, and Chris Street, Dave Johnson and Dave Ward were co-opted to the Committee.
Conservation Adviser Sharon Bayne then gave her environmental report, mentioning the Woodland and the Wildflower projects (featured on our land pages).
Treasurer Bernard Head reported that the Tractor Barn was completed for £48,000 which was well below original budgets, thanks to volunteer work. BWT's finances were in a healthy state with a surplus for the year of £19,000 and current reserves of £18,000. Gift Aid had enabled tax recovery of £5,339 over the year and he asked more Friends to "tick the Gift Aid box" on the Friends membership form.
Maintenance Organiser Dave Johnson also thanked the volunteers who had worked so hard on the tractor barn. The 2010 season had begun with training sessions in Health and Safety, and he thanked the 16 regular work party members for their dedication. He outlined volunteer work planned for winter 2010/2011, which included replacement of dead trees, better drainage on the path at the Landway entrance gate and a path at the entrance to the Parish Council's playground. New volunteers were always welcome.
Membership Secretary Chris Street reported Annual Family Memberships of 1,073 and Life Memberships of 307, and paid tribute to her growing delivery team who save BWT about £1,000 a year in postage.
Sponsorship Organiser Dave Ward reported that 36 trees and 5 benches had been sponsored in the last year, and mentioned the good feedback he receives from families who enjoy their trees and benches.
The Tractor Barn was officially opened in April 2010 by Lt Col Simon Hulme, MBE, RE, Commanding Officer of 36 Engineer Regiment, Invicta Park, Maidstone, and County Councillor Paul Carter. In glorious sunshine everyone enjoyed refreshments and an excellent display of photographs put together by Chris Street.
Here are printable PDF versions of some past newsletters.
