Following the business of the AGM Rob McGibbon, Project Manager for the Surrey Heathland Project, gave an inspiring and informative talk accompanied by slides detailing the work of the Project since its inception. If you missed his talk or would like to learn more about the work of the project, follow this link:
2007 has been a year of very positive activity, highlights have been:
As can be seen from the above, the Association has benefited from financial support from several quarters and we are particularly grateful to Pirbright Parish Council who have continued to include the Wildflower Meadow in their Paths and Greens contract - an invaluable contribution. To that we add the excellent practical support from the small band of volunteers who keep the green path network mown and the site tidy and also undertake various small projects. As ever this has been overseen most assiduously by Roy Johnson and Nigel Emmerson.
On the social front, we held another sunny BBQ in July which was enjoyed by approximately 40 members, their friends and families. This has now become a regular Fox Corner event. In June, we again entered Pirbright Church's Scarecrow Competition in their Open Day with a very convincing David Bellamy - designed and constructed by Ann Mountjoy. We will remember his visit in real life to the Wildlife Area several years ago when he spent a precious couple of hours entertaining us and giving us the benefit of his advice.
The Wildlife Area continues to be a popular place to visit - from the regular local visitors to a wider range of groups who find us from our website. We also often receive appreciative emails and letters which give great encouragement. The only negative event has been the vandalism of the leaflet dispenser which reminds us that nowhere escapes these days...
On the membership front, there are 173 members plus 36 U16s. Once again, almost every member has indicated a willingness to donate either time or money, the great proportion of which is gift-aided and has added a further 28% through reclaim from the Inland Revenue. More details on this later from Doreen Tonkin.
Looking into 2008, we have made an application for a grant from BBC Breathing Spaces to undertake much-needed work on the hedges and trees at the front of the site and on the stretch of hedge to the west of the kissing gate which was layed 7 years ago by Merrist Wood students. We expect to hear the outcome in June. If not successful, we will need to use money from our reserves. We are also negotiating with Guildford Borough Council, the Heathland Project and Natural England to be able to create a path from the western access to the Wildlife Area to link in with Bullswater Common and create a circular nature trail across Bullswater and Pirbright Commons. The outcome will depend on finding a route which avoids disturbing protected ground-nesting birds such as the Dartford Warbler and Nightjar.
As always, I would like to finish by thanking the hard-working Management Committee, all those who have contributed by helping with maintenance jobs around t he site and all our members who give us generous donations to keep up afloat and encourage us with their positive comments.
And finally I would like to say a big 'thank you' to our Treasurer, Doreen for all her dedication and hard work for the last 5 years. She has been an outstanding Treasurer and she will be very much missed.
Catherine Cobley
April 2008