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March 2024 - Newsletter

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Spring work-parties Sheep Noakes Grove Government support Becoming a shareholder

Noakes Grove

Barn painting

Our barn, used for equipment storage and as a school-room, needs the exterior painted with wood-preservative. We have the painting equipment and enough wood preservative liquid. All we need is someone to do the painting. Once the weather warms up in Spring would be a good time to start. Volunteer(s) can choose the times convenient for their work – it need not be on one of our work-party days.

Please contact info@walden-countryside.co.uk if you might be able to help. 

Money for nothing

Over the last year Walden Countryside has received £320 in donations which cost the donors nothing. This is because the donations came from Easyfundraising who collect a percentage donation from a huge range of online traders each time our registered supporters make a purchase.

The £320 was the donation we received from purchases made by just 12 supporters. Think how much more we could receive, at no cost to them, if a few more of our 200 supporters signed up.

Just visit https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/organiccountrysidecic

Ponds

After all the recent rain, the pond in the scrub area is now full, possibly for the first time ever. It probably won't stay full for long as the water soaks into the ground but it's good start for the pond in spring. This pond has no liner and we are leaving it for plants to colonise naturally around the edges.

Stable owl-box
Snowdrops in the ancient woodland Scrub area pond

Spring work-parties Sheep Noakes Grove Government support Becoming a shareholder

Sheep

All nine of last year's lambs have now been sold. All ten of our breeding flock of ewes are still with the ram and all appear to be pregnant. The 2024 crop of lambs are due at the very end of April or first week of May.

Lambs

Spring work-parties Sheep Noakes Grove Government support Becoming a shareholder

Government support for Walden Countryside

Noakes Grove, Kings Field and Scotch Patch together count as a single farm eligible for Governmenent agricultural support grants.

During the year ended 31 Jan 2024 we received a total of £3,518 under a combination of Countryside Stewardship and Basic Payments Scheme funding but a lot of this was for one-off capital projects and we will be lucky to get as much in future.

On 20th February we received an email letter from Rishi Sunak addressed to all farmers and identified as probably junk by our email program. In fact it outlined the latest government changes to the government's agricultural support system and how much better it will be because of Brexit.

The next day there was a very good Zoom meeting presented by DEFRA staff outlining the new system and all its different headings under which farm managers can apply. It looks like we shall get a few hundred without even applying for it. More interesting are the SFI (Sustainable Farming Incentive) options several of which will apply to how we manage our fields, hedgerows and ponds. The existing options under Countryside Stewardship (CS) will continue but SFI offers new options that would be additional to our CS ones.

Spring work-parties Sheep Noakes Grove Government support Becoming a shareholder

Work parties

Work parties will be on
Sunday 17th March
Sunday 21st April
Sunday 19th May
Come any time after 10am and before 3pm.

We are still working on the hedge on the west side of the reserve. It has been slow progress getting through all the brambles, but the length completed grows after each visit. Thanks to our guests from Harlow Conservation Volunteers on the December work party.

We are cutting the scrub and brambles back to the existing hedge line so that we can get access to regenerate the hedge, using all the cuttings to create a barrier that will fill the gaps while a hedge gets established.

There is still much to do, hopefully a bit easier as the remaining length has more scrub and less bramble, but so we appreciate your help!

hedge

 

Spring work-parties Sheep Noakes Grove Government support Becoming a shareholder

Want to be a shareholder in Noakes Grove?

Walden Countryside is a community interest company

That means it is a normal limited company, the only difference is that CICs exist to benefit the community rather than pay dividends to their shareholders.

While we depend on the donations and voluntary work of over 200 "friends" it is the 45 shareholders who have provided the capital that has bought Noakes Grove for the CIC.

Although generous shareholders provided much of the cost of Noakes Grove, we still have a loan that enabled the purchase to be completed and which we need to repay.

If you would like to become a shareholder (minimum "investment" £100 which will pay for 25 sq metres of Noakes Grove), please contact info@walden-countryside.co.uk for all the information you need.

Being a shareholder is like being a life-member of Walden Countryside except that your membership can live on if you leave or give your shares to someone else.

PS our reserves at Kings Field and Scotch Patch are not owned by us: we have a tenancy agreement for Kings Field while Scotch Patch is managed by us in an agreement with the owners
Spring work-parties Sheep Noakes Grove Government support Becoming a shareholder

Copyright 2024
Organic Countryside Community Interest Company
Trading as Walden Countryside
Company number 06794848 - registered in England
VAT No: 947 3003 31

23 Tye Green, Wimbish CB10 2XE

01799 599 643

Updated 12 February 2024

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