Page background images and galleries: Scenes from the Woodland Ways circular walk by a WW volunteer

Voulunteer Tree image on front page by Sarah White: Creative Commons image

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Woodland Ways mission:

Education for sustainable development through local action and global awareness.

Discover our educational policy and vision here

Check out our volunteer page, you can

help change the landscape too!

June 2020

Newsletter

View, print or download

a  copy here

(.pdf file)

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This month's Tree Quotation

"Except during the nine months before he draws his first breath, no man manages his affairs as well as a tree does".

(...or woman! Ed.)

George Bernard Shaw
 
Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist

See more on Wikipedia

Members working in the NHS

We have always appreciated our members who work in the NHS but in these times we thank you again for the effort you are making to keep our community healthy.

Administrative matters 

 Our membership of The Conservation Volunteers, which gives us access to good insurance and sources of support, has been free of charge this year. 

Zurich Insurance, our insurance company, has given us 3 months free insurance at the end of our policy, for Coronavirus related reasons. I suspect they can afford it because claims are likely to be minimal during lockdown. 

One or two members of the public have asked us about their issues with trees on Council land. Whilst we have not been able to help except with very general advice and a referral to the Council, we are pleased that Woodland Ways is perceived as being local experts. 

 We have been contacted twice by West Suffolk Council, offering us access to apply for a business grant to reduce the financial costs of Coronavirus.

We have not lost financially as of yet, for example we have not had a membership renewal cycle so we have not lost members and we have not had to pay contractors to do the work which our work parties couldn't do.

We therefore turned down the opportunity to apply for such a grant

Work parties may resume soon...

With the relaxation from lockdown on 1st June allowing up to 6 people to meet outside, we may well be able to resume work parties although not in our normal way. At the current time, the July work party is likely to be our first work party, to rake hay from Woodland Ways Pond and from the Pond Covert Orchard, with five attendees plus the leader.

We will need to maintain two metres between us at all times, and sanitise hands and tools. Please book in advance to attend, and do not book if you are in one of the higher risk groups e.g. with existing health conditions. Do not attend with Coronavirus symptoms, even if you have booked.

To book, contact Nick Sibbett (details here) on a first come first served basis to find the meeting point. For subsequent work parties, the situation may be very different so we will be in touch nearer the time.

Our work calendar - changing as circumstances evolve is here...

Have you visited

Natterer's Wood

lately?

Page background images and galleries: Scenes from the Woodland Ways circular walk by a WW volunteer

Voulunteer Tree image on front page by Sarah White: Creative Commons image

Web site design, hosting and content by Thirdsectorweb | Part of SmithMartin LLP Graphic Design by Radha Clelland | Code development by Natasha Smith

This newsletter was generously sponsored by Whiting and Partners Chartered Accountants

Update June 2020

News from our woods

There is little news from our woods, as we have not been active, but there are a few snippets... 

 The path at Home Covert was getting overgrown a tone end, in April, and Nick Sibbett cleared it for his daily exercise. Do let us know if any other paths need to be kept open. 

We have not been able to keep weeded the trees which were planted in Natterer's Wood last winter. If you are passing by, you are welcome to pull up a few weeds from the base of a tree tube as part of your exercise, as long as you can maintain social distancing.

This would not be a Woodland Ways activity but a personal choice at your own risk.

AGM is postponed

We have considered holding the July AGM online on a video meeting, but some of our members might not be able or willing to participate in that way. Instead, we will delay the AGM until such time as we are able to find away to hold it in a more normal way.

Charity Commission has advised that delays will be readily tolerated this year. In the meantime, Mike has already completed the accounts and they are with our independent reviewer. If you want to see the accounts before the AGM just ask.

 Existing trustees have indicated their willingness to continue in this role. We have capacity to expand our trustee base and if you are interested in helping us in this way, do get in touch. There are four meetings each year where the business of running Woodland Ways is agreed.

Pond Covert and trenching

In the last few weeks there has been a programme of installing broadband fibre cables in Moreton Hall by contractors on behalf of CityFibre.

Trenching work along Symonds Road was very close to trees along the edge of Pond Covert, leading to concerns that a large proportion of tree roots had been cut.

Nick Sibbett reported it to West Suffolk Council's tree officer, who has investigated. Look out for dead or dying trees along the Symonds Road boundary of Pond Covert this summer and tell us if you see any of these.