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Please note our new address Environment Trust for Richmond upon Thames 6 Phoenix Wharf (upper deck) Eel Pie Island Twickenham TW1 3DY 020 8891 5455 WE CAN’T DO IT WITHOUT YOU!We are always looking for people who can help us in any way... Make money for the Environment Trust while you search the Web – use Everyclick |
Autumn Newsletter 2008Download the full newsletter as a PDF document (485kb) I’d like to start this newsletter by saying how nice it is to be producing it in the lovely new office on Eel Pie Island. But I’m actually working at home right now, so that would be untrue! However, the new office is lovely and it’s great to be sharing the space with Colin and the Richmond Environment Network team, as well as BTCV Richmond and ArtsRichmond. One immediate benefit of this shared space is that we have access to ArtsRichmond’s colour photocopier/printer, and we are taking full advantage of that by printing several hundred copies of this newsletter on it! If you’d like a printed copy (or more than one), just get in touch. If you’d like a chance to see the office for yourself, then just pop in one morning and have a chat over a cup of tea and a biscuit. Jenny or I are usually in every day from 9.30 am until at least 2.30 pm. One day, it would be nice to leave on time, but with all of the activities going on in the Trust at the moment, our ‘to do’ lists never get any shorter! Have a read of the newsletter to find out what the Trust is up to and do come along to our Members Meeting on 15th September if you’re free. AUTUMN MEMBERS MEETINGMONDAY 15th SEPTEMBER 2008 from 7pm Come along to find out about our projects and meet the project coordinators, over a glass of wine or juice. PENNY WADEWe are very sad to report that Penny Wade passed away a few weeks ago. Penny was a great supporter of the Trust, providing donations for our Art Auction and coming to many of our events, and she will be greatly missed. Our sympathies go to her husband Robin, who is one of our trustees, and their family. COME AND GET MUDDY WITH US!The Environment Trust is blessed with several groups of outdoor enthusiasts who take care of various open spaces around the borough. This is a great way to get out of the house, de-stress after a week in the office, meet new people and learn new skills or share your own skills with others. New volunteers are always welcome, and any appropriate training and tools are provided, so why not come along to one of the following and help keep the borough beautiful! EVERY MONDAY LUNCHTIME, KILMOREY MAUSOLEUM GARDEN, ST MARGARETS ROADVolunteers have been working over the past few years to turn a neglected plot into a flourishing wildlife garden. If you’d like to find out more, call the Trust office on 020 8891 5455 or come along to the next Kilmorey Open Day on 20th September (1–5 pm, as part of Open House weekend). FIRST SATURDAY OF THE MONTH, VINEYARD PASSAGE BURIAL GROUND, RICHMONDA group of volunteers meets once a month to keep the burial ground tidy (weeding, litter picking) and find ways to keep this special site behind Vestry Hall a haven for wildlife and humans. For more information, call Jack Felt on 020 8332 2947 or Martin Edgar on 020 8948 1577. SATURDAY DATES VARY (see below), VARIOUS LOCATIONS AROUND THE BOROUGHA range of practical work around the borough, in association with the council and London’s Arcadia. If you would like to come along to any of these events, please call the office on 020 8891 5455 a few days in advance so that we can be sure to have enough tools, gloves and biscuits!
CORPORATE VOLUNTEERING OPPORTUNITIESThis summer, we were delighted to link with Garnier as part of their corporate ‘Take Care’ programme; with generous support from BTCV and the National Trust at Ham House, nearly 70 volunteers from Garnier cleared vast swathes of the highly invasive Himalayan balsam from the riverside between Ham and Kingston, leaving native plants room to breath and grow. If you’re looking for a way for your company to do its bit for the environment, then get in touch with Patrick on 020 8401 6037.
GROVE GARDENS CHAPELWe are delighted that the Children’s Garden nursery school is renting the Chapel on a long lease, as exclusive users during term time. This means that, while the Chapel is sadly no longer available to a few groups who book it each week or month, it is going to be in regular use during the traditionally quieter winter months. The Children’s Garden will use the Chapel every weekday, bringing energy and enthusiasm to a place that can sometimes seem too quiet. During the holidays, and in particular over the summer, we will continue to encourage local groups to use the excellent space and facilities that the Chapel provides for their events and projects. The Children’s GardenThe Children’s Garden is a Steiner Waldorf kindergarten that offers up to 20 places for children from the ages of 3 and under 7. It follows the educational philosophy of the late Dr Rudolf Steiner and aims to provide a warm and unhurried setting where children can develop at their own pace. The teachers and their assistants lead by example and provide an environment that respects individual differences. Activities include ring games, singing, storytelling, French, eurythmy, painting, drawing and baking. All equipment used is made from natural materials and freshly prepared organic food is served. Each kindergarten morning follows a certain rhythm where free creative play alternates with teacher-led activities. This helps the children to know what to expect and fosters a sense of security. A strong emphasis is also placed on providing harmonious surroundings without sharp edges or loud colours, which change periodically in tune with the seasons. A sense of the changing seasons is further instilled by choosing appropriate songs and craft activities for the time of year and by celebrating the major festivals. Outdoor play is part of every kindergarten morning where the children are brought in close contact with nature. They have an opportunity to play in natural surroundings, explore and get involved in gardening activities, such as planting, sowing and weeding. The kindergarten hours are 09.30 am to 1 pm. The Children’s Garden also runs a weekly parent & toddler group, which takes place every Wednesday between 2 and 3.30 pm. The Children’s Garden has still got a few places left for the current school year. To find out more or to obtain an application form, please contact Régine on 020 8968 4605. LONDON OPEN HOUSE WEEKEND, 20th AND 21st SEPTEMBERKILMOREY MAUSOLEUM, SATURDAY 20th, 1–5 pmSee inside the Victorian mausoleum (and yes, the coffins are still in there!), explore the wildlife garden created by Trust volunteers, and try out the composting toilet formally opened earlier in the year by inventor and Eel Pie Island neighbour Trevor Baylis. GROVE GARDENS CHAPEL, SUNDAY 21st, 1–5 pmCome along and see the Chapel, including its stunning mosaic, which survived undamaged while the Chapel crumbled around it before the Trust took charge in the 1990s. KILMOREY MAUSOLEUM‘We had a great day on August 20th at the Kilmorey site. Your volunteers were wonderful and the site was much appreciated by all the visitors, many of whom had entered it for the first time.… Thank you for working in partnership with us again.’ It’s always good to get positive feedback after an event and the above comment, from Joss Green, Young People’s Library Services Manager, is clear proof that the story-telling sessions at Kilmorey continue to be a success, with around 110 visitors taking part in stories, crafts, wildlife chats and visits to the mausoleum. We are also delighted that the hard work and dedication of the volunteers who care for the garden has once again been recognised by the Richmond Borough in Bloom judges, who awarded the site a gold Serco Award for Best Environmental Garden or Project. Earlier in the summer, we had a very successful Open Day at Kilmorey, with 236 visitors, including children. Trevor Baylis did an excellent job in officially opening the composting toilet, which continues to be very popular with visitors. We are now getting ready for the autumn Open Day as part of London Open House weekend on 20th September. ST HELENA BOATHOUSEWe are sorry to lose one of our stalwart sharers of the boathouse, but are delighted that their share has been taken over by another Trust family, who have bought a boat for £50, have carefully restored and painted it, and are now enjoying the river in it. Thanks to our new noticeboard, we have also been successful in finding another family to rent a dinghy space, and now have a waiting list of people interested when other spaces become free. We continue to try to exclude all water from the boathouse at high tides, but at present water is coming through the wall of the boathouse next door, which is not protected by a flood door. The photograph below shows some of the members who recently stayed in the boathouse during a high tide to check the working of the newly replaced seals on the flood doors. VINEYARD PASSAGE BURIAL GROUNDCAKE SALEDespite inclement weather on the day, our annual summer fundraiser was a great success, during which we raised over £400 with many passage-goers donating some exceptional home-baked specialities as well as cash contributions. Gratify ingly, they also expressed their appreci ation for the work that the group does in maintaining the ‘wild woodland garden’ atmosphere of the burial ground. PLAQUE PROJECTThis project was completed with the installation of a plaque at the upper end of the Vineyard Passage for the benefit of passers-by. The project was partially funded by Richmond council’s Initiatives Fund. The plaque communicates:
Public feedback on the plaque has been quite favourable. ART PICNICSWe are nearly two-thirds of the way through this year’s programme of art picnics, which continue to be as popular as ever. So far this year, we have been to Kempton Steam Museum, Strawberry Hill House, Kew Gardens, North Sheen Allotments, Eel Pie Island, and Crane Park Island. Our programme for the rest of the year is as follows:
All art picnics start at 11 am and finish at 4 pm. Tickets cost £15 for individuals (£10 for Environment Trust members) and £30 for families (£20 for Trust members) and advance booking is essential to be sure of a place. You don’t need to be a talented artist, just enthusiastic! So why not come along to one of these days, meet new people and develop your latent creative talents! We will soon be planning the 2009 season so, if you have any favourite locations around the borough (or even further afield) that you think would make a good artistic subject, then do let us know. We are also looking for people to help manage the programme of art picnics next year. For the past two years, we have relied on a team of willing but overworked volunteers, so any help with identifying and booking venues, arranging artist tutors and promoting the season would be gratefully received. If you think you can help, then do get in touch with the office on 020 8891 5455.
RIVER DIP AND DRAW!A Big Draw event for all ages at Twickenham Riverside Drawing what is over, on and in the river 5th October from 11 am to 4 pm Materials provided, but bring a picnic and wellies! For more information, contact the office on 020 8891 5455 ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATIONWILDLIFE GARDEN COMPETITION WINNERSThe pupils of St Edmund’s School, Whitton, will have a lovely surprise when they return from their summer break. In April 2008, they won a new wildlife garden for their school after producing wonderful designs in a competition run by Richmond Environment Network in partnership with Mears Ltd. Mears have been working hard to make the winning design a reality for the start of the new school year. We hope that both the wildlife and the pupils will get great benefit for many years to come in their new garden.TREE OF LIFENext year will mark 200 years since the birth of Charles Darwin, so it seems appropriate that, thanks to generous funding from the Hampton Fuel Allotment Charity, the Environment Trust will be embarking on a project to celebrate the diversity of life, all life, humans too! The Environment Trust will team up with the Hampton and Hampton Hill voluntary care group at the Greenwood Centre on the project. We will run workshops with the children at Hampton Hill Junior School. The theme will be the lives of trees, the lives of people and wildlife. In the children’s workshops we will use great slices of tree trunk to work out the age of the trees and think about how much the world has changed since the trees were planted. Some of the elderly people who attend the regular craft group at the Greenwood Centre will be invited to talk to the children about their life stories in relation to the age of the tree. The children will be encouraged to think about why we need trees and how much wildlife a tree such as an oak can support. They will then draw some of the animals that live in oak trees. A professional artist will then work with the group of elderly people at the Greenwood Centre to design a ‘Tree of Life’ mosaic. The group will work on the large tree mosaic at the Greenwood Centre. Once the background is done, the children and Greenwood craft group will work together adding the mosaic animals to the Tree of Life. The resulting mosaic will be installed at the Greenwood Centre in spring 2009. PARTNERSHIP WITH RICHMOND ADULT COMMUNITY COLLEGEThis summer saw the start of a project that we hope will become a regular part of the Environment Trust’s work. We teamed up with the Richmond Adult Community College to offer a series of guided walks for adults with special educational needs. The programme has been a great success and we are talking with the college about how we can work together more in the future. GREAT RIVER RACE – SATURDAY 13th SEPTEMBER FROM 2 pmYes, it’s that time of year again, when we ask you to dip into your pockets to support our intrepid rowers as they take part in the annual rowing marathon from Ham to Docklands – 22 miles in total. This year, we have not one, not two, but THREE boats – one is an old favourite, the ship’s tender Lillan, rowed by Scott and Hilary Pereira and Bamber and Christina Gascoigne; the other two have been very generously supplied by the Lensbury club in Teddington and will be rowed by some of last year’s team (Patrick Kidner, Andrew Darby, Claire McCormack) along with the actress Jane Horrocks and several other Trust supporters. They’re doing the hard bit, so please be generous. All sponsorship money raised will help the Trust continue to run the many projects to make sure that current and future generations can enjoy this beautiful borough. You can send us your sponsorship money by post or use our online donation facilities. AGM 2008In addition to the excitement of electing a new chairman and five new trustees at this year’s AGM (see below), we were delightfully entertained by Sir David Attenborough (patron of our River Centre) and Bamber Gascoigne (one of the patrons of the Trust), who regaled the audience with anecdotes about their experiences of living in the borough, their passion for the environment and their hopes for the proposed River Centre at Twickenham. VIDEO HIGHLIGHTSIf you want to see highlights of the conversation, Yvonne Hewett has very kindly provided a video clip on www.rivercentre.org.uk. Thanks to Yvonne and to Toby Stanier for filming the event, to LinkVision for donating the video facilities and to Graham Skelton for volunteering the editing. Thanks also to Raj Gedhu for the photography.
NEW FACES AT THE TRUSTJOHN CLARKEThanks to funding from the Arts & Humanities Research Council, the Trust is delighted to be collaborating with Kingston University on a research project looking at using the Twickenham River Centre as a teaching tool for sustainable develop ment. The research will be undertaken as a 3-year PhD thesis by John Clarke. John has worked on a number of low environmental impact buildings in the UK and the Far East and has undertaken research in construction waste minimisation and alternative building methods. John says ‘in these uncertain times for the local, national and global environment this is a great opportunity to have an exemplar sustainable building in the local community to inform, educate and inspire about the ecology and heritage of our environment and to encourage both young and old to lead more sustainable lifestyles for all our futures’. He will be working in the Trust’s office for one day each week. KERRY SPURRYWe are delighted to welcome Kerry Spurry to the Trust office. Kerry saw our advertisement for someone to help with organising events and managing our membership and has generously offered to spend a day each week helping out in the office. So if you currently pay your membership subscription by cheque, you may well be getting a letter from Kerry in due course reminding you to renew when the time comes. She will also be planning a list of events for next year, including some interesting house visits and other activities. NEW TRUSTEESWe are delighted to announce that, at this year’s AGM, Jenny Pearce was elected to take over from Paul Chamberlain as the Trust’s chairman and five new trustees were elected: Ann Callaway, Carole Ritchie, Claire Fifield, John Anderson, and Nick Thompson, who bring their expertise in private and public sector management, education, horticulture and architecture to the Trust. One of our new trustees, Ann Callaway, has already been providing us with invaluable support by managing our application to renew our Investor in People accreditation. Not only is this qualification valued by funders but it provides the impetus for us to make sure that we are giving as much back as we get from everyone who helps make the Trust the continuing success that it is. Thanks, Ann, for making sure that we are ready in time. REMEMBER!Use EveryClick to raise money for the Trust when you search the Web – just go to www.everyclick.com/the-environment-trust-for-richmond-upon-thames/136110/0, start searching and watch the money roll in! A DATE FOR YOUR DIARYThursday 16th October, from 7.30 pm FOUR THAMES BRIDGES AND A FOOTBRIDGE: Reflections on the river crossings between Richmond and Twickenham A talk by Paul Velluet at the Old Ship, 3 King Street, Richmond Joint event with the River Thames Society (Upper Tideway Branch). For more information, call the Trust office on 020 8891 5455 |
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