Volunteers with the BTCV-managed vinvolved Team in Cumbria have produced a film as part of their challenge to tell other young people about the benefits of volunteering. Their film will get a public premiere at Zeffirelli’s cinema, Ambleside on Monday 6 July at 5.15pm.
Meanwhile, here’s a sneak preview:
Jack Cain, from Workington, one of the film’s stars said: “I would definitely recommend volunteering to others. It gives people something constructive to do, and it can help you make decisions about your future… You get to do things that you’ve never dreamed of doing before."
Geraldine Page, v’s project support officer for Cumbria said: “…This new film is a fantastic way for young people to talk to other young people about a new way of doing favours for strangers and a different culture of volunteering”.
Win an iPod!
Spot how many purple Vs appear in the film. An iPod and iTunes voucher will go to the first correct entry drawn. Closing date for entries is midday on 1 December 2009. E-mail your answer with your name and contact details.
Hywel from the BTCV team in Wrexham writes: we revisited the Boughton site in Chester last month. We applied mulch to the trees and were surprised at how quickly the wild flower meadow had become established. In February the site was uninteresting grassland. As you can see, this is no longer the case. We will be very happy if Brynteg Meadow is half as successful as Boughton. Wild flowers thrive in poor soil conditions, and in Brynteg the soil is very rich, which makes for a greater challenge as the surrounding grasses tend to out compete the newly introduced wildflowers.
BTCV has now established an annual contract with Dee Valley Water and will visit every year to manage the meadow, and establish a second phase meadow.
This Green Heroes Award winning group in Derby was initially established by BTCV but is now run entirely by volunteers. They have just lost over £3000 in tools and catering equipment due to an arson attack - this follows on form an attack on their polytunnel just a few months ago.
You can help the group get back on its feet with any unwanted gardening tools etc. Contributions of ANY kind can be made via the BTCV field office in Derby.
Derwent Green Gym and the organic polytunnel [1m 38s]
BTCV’s climate change challenge
Tuesday, 30 June 2009
Part of BTCV’s climate change commitment is to steadily increase the amount of ‘climate change’ volunteer workdays that we achieve.
The diagram above shows that, of the volunteer workdays between April 2008 and April 2009, a staggering 67% fell within the climate change criteria which we have adopted – an impressive achievement which we aim to build on, with your help.
For simplicity, three broad categories of voluntary work are used:
Climate change practical work:activities with a direct impact on climate change. For example, hedge laying, tree planting, woodland management, heathland and moorland conservation, vegetation control and food growing.
Non-climate change practical work: environmentally important conservation work, but not directly connected to climate change. For example, footpath work, fencing, walling, heritage conservation, community gardening and litter picking.
Non-practical: not all volunteers do hands-on practical conservation work all the time. For example, surveys, helping in the office, participating in health walks, attending educational events and community development work.
Bourne Green Gym in Lincolnshire has been up and running since May 2009 and already has nine regular and dedicated volunteers.
Project Manager, Rosemary Blakesley, who has a background in landscape and garden design, saw a Green Gym in action on the BBC and thought, "What a brilliant idea!" Almost immediately she contacted BTCV about setting up a Green Gym in her community.
A year and a bit down the line and with strong support from the local health centre, Hereward Group Practice, and Bourne Green Gym is helping people in the town to improve their fitness and well-being whilst sorting out some neglected corners of local parks, improving paths in woodland and hopefully starting work on a school outdoor classroom in the not too distant future. Plenty to keep the eager volunteers busy!
For more information, contact Rosemary on 01778 393 399 or by e-mail.
As part of the run-up to December's UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, the Department of Energy and Climate Change has produced a manifesto offering a good overview of the current situation and what the key priorities for Copenhagen are.
Vicky, from BTCV’s employment training team in Swindon writes: We recently held an award ceremony to recognise some of the great achievements made by our customers. We were fortunate to welcome local MP Anne Snelgrove, who presented the following two awards:
Getting Back in to Work Award
Winner - Matthew Wale
This award is for customers who have been nominated because of their superb attitude, determination and positivity through the course they undertook. Because of this they secured employment and are doing very well.
Best Achievement Award
Winner - Robert Agg
This award is for the clients who have had the most nominations from their training providers due to the outstanding achievements they have made and the barriers they have broken down.
BTCV hosted a Family Food celebration at Hollybush Conservation Cente, Leeds, this Saturday. Over 150 people visited the event to find out about food growing, making honey, getting an allotment or to take part in food linked children's activities. The event was the first of a series of five across Leeds and Wakefield with support from the Co-operative Membership Northern Region. The volunteers' cake stall and local sourced hot dogs from the Pop Shop were very popular.
Other events:
BTCV Green Gym Open Allotment, Wakefield: Thursday 23 July, 2.30-4.30pm
Jonathan Shaw, Minister for the South East, visited The Singleton Environment Centre in Ashford, run by BTCV, for lunch on Wednesday 17 June as part of a tour of developments in the town. Ashford is one of the four key growth areas in the South East, alongside the Thames Gateway, Milton Keynes and Stansted/M11 corridor.
Having been given a tour of key town centre developments, the Minister called in on The Singleton Environment Centre for lunch where he was greeted by BTCV Operations Director Kate MacKenzie and BTCV's Centre Manager Daniel Jones.
Mr Shaw was interested to hear about the partnership between BTCV and Ashford Borough Council in running the centre, the ecological design and operation of the centre and the wide range of business and community events being held there. Representatives from Ashford Borough Council and Ashford’s Future joined Mr Shaw in enjoying a Kentish lunch freshly prepared from local produce by the centre’s Footprints restaurant.
Cycle safely at Skelton Grange
Friday, 19 June 2009
Skelton Grange Environment Centre has been playing host to a range of activities as part of Bike Week 2009. Most of the staff and volunteers at the environmental education centre in South Leeds cycle to work regularly, and have been rewarded for their efforts with a slap up breakfast!
A cycle maintenance workshop helped everyone to learn how to fix their bikes and keep them safe, while a group cycle along the Transpennine Trail led hungry cyclists to a tasty breakfast at the centre. Cycling is encouraged as a healthy and speedy way to get to work by providing free cycle safety equipment such as hi-vis jackets, cycle mileage for volunteers, and a bike shed to keep bikes dry and secure.
"It's been great to learn how to keep my bike properly maintained, I feel a lot safer knowing how it all works and how to fix it," said staff member Liz Sargeant. "I cycle to work regularly - it's a great way of keeping fit, saving money on bus fares and helping the environment too!"
Experience an amazing sense of achievement – pedal 300 miles to Paris – and raise funds to support BTCV’s 50th Anniversary Appeal.
The challenge is run by Discover Adventure Ltd for BTCV. Registration fee, sponsorship pledge and tour costs apply. Register before 10 July 2009 and receive a free cotton shopping bag.
Debra Nixon writes: In mid-May BTCV was invited to have a feature at BBC Gardeners World Live at Birmingham NEC, 10-15 June 2009. We designed a garden to reflect different elements of BTCV’s volunteer work and achievements in a space just 19ft x 12.5 ft. It was aptly named From 50 years to 15 days as BTCV celebrates its 50th anniversary and we had approximately 15 days to design, source and construct it.
With limited resources, Rolawn came to the rescue donating and delivering all the turf, topsoil and bark chippings needed for the garden and DJM Nursery of Congleton provided all of the plants for the feature.
Our garden featured a small allotment, drystone wall, pond, woodland area, hedge, fruit orchard, footpath, insect hotel, log pile and bee and butterfly border. There was an interactive bug hunt for children, where they had to find the bugs that were hidden in the garden.
Visitors were extremely interested in the insect hotel - we’ll soon be hosting courses in the West Midlands on how to make them. It was hard work but we all really enjoyed it. Thanks to the RHS for all their support and the volunteers who made insect houses and helped build the garden.
Finally, we won joint 1st prize with the RSPB for our display – not bad for something created in 2 weeks!
BTCV has launched a new alliance with tour operator Discover Adventure, organisers of worldwide fundraising challenges for charity groups, enabling challenge participants to reduce the impact of their trip in a practical way by volunteering with BTCV after completing a challenge.
BTCV believes getting people interested in the environment through volunteering, and then encouraging longer term adoption of pro-environmental behaviours such as saving resources, consuming less and travelling wisely, has potential to make a greater impact in addressing climate change than offsetting.
Discover Adventure has just received a 4 Star accolade from the Association of Independent Tour Operators for the work they do supporting communities they travel to, the responsible methods used to conduct their tours and the environmental practices of the business more generally. The new alliance with BTCV should mean that Discover Adventure will achieve the highest 5 Star award, in the coming 12 months.
Marya from BTCV in Norfolk writes: “In Norfolk we started our 50th Birthday celebrations in typical BTCV style - tea and cake with our special partners, many of whom have been supporting us since we started here in Norwich. The cake was specially made for us with our BTCV birthday graphics by a local firm and inside was the most delicious chocolate cake.
“Guests of Honour were Bob Cronk - BTCV's first Project Officer in Norwich and Kate Mackenzie our second. They were presented with special golden wellies. Bob is now head of Community Services for Norwich City Council and Kate is BTCV's Operations Director for Eastern, London and the South East.
“We also made presentations to two special volunteers. Phil Jenkins who had completed an amazing 225 action team task days and Kevin who had just completed his 50th Green Gym session.”
Highbury College helps Havant haven
Saturday, 13 June 2009
A volunteering project has seen students from Highbury College Portsmouth chip in to help restore a Havant wildlife haven.
As part of a 12-month project funded by GreenPrints, the Southmoor Hill area, owned and managed by Havant Borough Council, is being given a conservation makeover.
Highbury College Multi Crafts students teamed up with BTCV to help clear the steps of Southmoor Hill and install benches for walkers to enjoy the beautiful views of Langstone Harbour.
BTCV's Rachel Moroney said: "This is a 12-month project aimed at getting 16-25 year olds volunteering in the outside. We’ll be pulling up poisonous ragwort and planting more meadow flowers to help butterflies, insects and other wildlife."
All 24 Highbury College students will be presented with badges and certificates from the Highbury Leadership Academy, set up to help students develop their leadership skills and enhance their employability.
Louise Mayall, Work Related Learning Officer at Highbury College, said: "They did this task really well and quickly too. What impressed me was the speed they actually got the task done in which was fantastic. They really engaged themselves and that was important - they made it their own."
Highbury College has a continuing working relationship with BTCV and more volunteering sessions have already been scheduled in the next academic year for the students to install information boards and complete further habitat management on Southmoor Hill. Call (023) 9231 3373 for more info.
BTCV wins Charity Award
Friday, 12 June 2009
BTCV has won a 2009 Charity Award in acknowledgement of its achievements over 50 years.
The Charity Awards recognise excellence in the voluntary sector. BTCV’s award, in the Animals and Environment category, marks its dedication to conservation volunteering over five decades.
BTCV is now the world’s largest team of green volunteers, operating throughout the UK and in 26 countries. It makes a significant impact on the UK and International environment by inspiring 300,000 people to look after more than 50,000 places.
BTCV Chief Executive Tom Flood said: “What BTCV does for people and the environment has evolved significantly over our 50 year history. We have developed projects that have a positive impact on how people think, feel and behave towards their environment and their community. We have led the way in bringing together environmental, social and economic aims, transforming them into practical activity. Financially, research shows that £1 invested in our work can yield a measurable social return on investment of around £4 – sometimes more.
“This award recognises the work and achievements of all our volunteers, their communities, and the partner organisations we have worked with since 1959. It rewards their dedication to BTCV and the environment. We all owe each and every volunteer a big thank you.”
New Deal partnership in Cardiff
Thursday, 11 June 2009
The University of Wales Institute, Cardiff (UWIC) is working with BTCV to provide training for New Deal participants in Cardiff.
Throughout the Spring and Summer months courses will be held on a range of topics including "Finding your Future Direction", "Confidence Building", "IT for beginners" and "Healthy Eating on a Budget" – with the latest sessions at Trade Street being very well attended.
Kay Howells, UWIC's Widening Access Manager, said: "I am excited about the development of this new partnership between UWIC’s Centre for Personal and Professional Development and BTCV. It is great to be able to raise awareness of Higher Education and the range of courses that UWIC offer amongst a wide and diverse range of adults."
On 5 June there was a celebration event at Skelton Grange Environment Centre for Going Wild - a project run by BTCV which offered 80 young people the chance to volunteer full-time for six months at one of six National Grid Environmental Education Centres across England.
The volunteers, all aged 16-25, were taught a range of educational and environmental skills. They ran activities designed to boost the environmental awareness of thousands of schoolchildren and adults visiting the centres. The volunteers also took part in projects which benefitted the local communities by improving the environment.
Three-quarters of the volunteers were inspired to enter further education or successfully sought employment in the environmental and educational sectors. The remaining 25 per cent continue to volunteer.
BTCV manages the scheme with support from National Grid, youth volunteering charity v, the Lancashire Wildife Trust, Groundwork and other community groups. It has been such a success that v and National Grid will continue funding for 72 more places over 18 months.
Going Wild volunteer Claire Drake said, "I would definitely encourage someone to join Going Wild - volunteering is difficult without any income, but this scheme makes it possible. The skills you gain are invaluable, and you will have the time of your life!"
On Friday 5 June - World Environment Day - BTCV celebrated its fiftieth anniversary with a special event at The Lost Gardens of Heligan, Cornwall. Over one hundred volunteers and staff from Cornwall and Devon attended the event with garden visitors joining volunteers in a variety of creative workshops. The focus of the hands-on workshops got people involved with bat and bird Box making, willow weaving and green woodwork workshops.
Throughout the day a Willow Family sculpture was also created to communicate the BTCV message, promoting the vital connections between nature and people. This will remain at Heligan as a commemoration of the great involvement BTCV had during the early restoration of the gardens in 1991 and 1992.
Isle of Wight Green Gym has been announced as one of 95 volunteering groups from across the UK winning this year's Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, recognising the outstanding contributions made to local communities by groups voluntarily devoting their time for the benefit of others.
The prestigious National Honour, which is equivalent to the MBE, sets the national benchmark for excellence in volunteering, and the activities of those awarded have been judged of the highest standard.
The Isle of Wight Green Gym has received this Award for its work to improve the health of the Island’s environment and at the same time improve the health and well being of those who volunteer.
Winners of this year’s Award were selected from 406 groups nominated by members of the public who have been helped personally or witnessed the benefits of a group’s work in their community.
The Isle of Wight Green Gym will receive a certificate signed by the Queen and an exclusive commemorative crystal.
Diplomat praises local action
Sunday, 7 June 2009
Willibroad B. Nformi writes in The Post Newspaper, Cameroon: As part of efforts to fight climate change, a British diplomat has strongly recommended a holistic approach that involves both local and international initiatives. Giles Montagnon, Second Secretary at the British High Commission in Yaounde, made the recommendation in Kumbo, Northwest Region, Monday, May 18 2009, while presiding at a BTCV Green Heroes Award ceremony.
The diplomat said the only way to tackle climate change was by working together both locally and internationally. He said any action in a particular part of the world, affects another parts of the world, reason why there must be sensitisation and education on activities that affects the environment.
He lauded Green Care's initiative of trying to take care of their local environment.
Montagnon later told the press that his government through the British High Commission in Yaounde has been doing much in terms of awareness creation on environmental issues.
He said the Kumbo Council had adopted a “one child one tree” policy as it's little and humble contributions towards fighting environmental problems. Njodzeka Gilbert, Green Care (right) coordinator said, "Green Care's spectrum includes tree planting, bird watching, community forestry, sustainable agriculture and general environmental awareness."
Njodzeka said the Green Heroes Award was in tacit recognition of the successes achieved by Green care. Emmanuel Yong and Emmanuel Tumi, Kumbo DO's representative and Bui delegate of Environment and Nature Protection respectively witnessed the award ceremony which included a certificate of recognition and a laptop.
BTCV Green Gym in Camden
Saturday, 6 June 2009
Thanks to Barbara Ana Gomez for sharing the BTCV Green Gym experience!
BSkyB mucks in
Friday, 5 June 2009
A team from BskyB recently took part in one of BTCV’s Employee Action Days at Herschel Park in Slough.
The Marketing Strategy team got stuck into cutting back large areas of vegetation in a neglected area of the park, as well as resurfacing and realigning a flight of steps to create a clear route allowing visitors to pass.
This was a fantastic bonding experience for the team, who received praise for the quality of work from BTCV’s Paul Forrest-Jamieson: "It was an excellent day. A new path was cut through the vegetation, a flight of steps totally renovated and many of the existing paths were opened up. We achieved everything we’d hoped to do and more. The group from BSkyB were great; they worked hard, what they did was done to a high standard and they seemed to enjoy themselves too. I hope they can come back again!"
Danny Russell, Director of Marketing Strategy: "The volunteer day provided an ideal opportunity for all members of Marketing Strategy to work together as a team on a range of different tasks and challenges. It was extremely rewarding see our achievements at the end of the day and to know that we contributed to the conservation of Herschel Park. Everyone bonded together and turned their hand to whatever was required - it was great to see such camaraderie and the pride in what was achieved throughout the day."
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Registered Office: BTCV, Sedum House, Mallard Way, Doncaster DN4 8DB
