bedgebury volunteer newsletter...dog medals and treats at the finish line! help out, or even take...
TRANSCRIPT
As I come to the end of my first year
as volunteer co-ordinator I have
been re-thinking how I communicate
to you. The newsletter is very time-
consuming to produce and I am plan-
ning to change the format to a blog
style. This way I will be able to com-
municate news to you in a much
more immediate way rather than
saving it up for a bi-monthly newslet-
ter. Details will be coming out to you
soon!
Introduction by Liz Randall Volunteers, Sunday Group, Visitor
Experience Volunteers, Tree Label-
lers, Forest Live volunteers, Trus-
tees, Conservation Volunteers,
Parkrun, Florilegium and the group
that gave nearly half of the hours
(4236 ) the BOARS!
Lastly I just want to let you know that
I am starting a new role at Bedge-
bury soon, alongside my Volunteer
role, as Tree Database Officer one
day a week, which I will do instead of
my role at the Visitor Centre.
I have recently finished compiling
volunteer hours for 2016/17 which
have been now been submitted to the
Forestry Commission Volunteer
Manager for inclusion in her annual
report. The hours are significantly
higher than the previous year, possi-
bly due to better recording, but
definitely due to all of your hard
work.
So, a huge Thank You goes to you for
the nearly 8927 hours across the
many different groups including
Wednesday Wild Crew, Learning
Canicross by Clare Grint
Inside this issue:
Volunteers Week 1
Volunteer Away Day 2
Bedgebury Cafe 2
Tree of the month—
Western Hemlock
2
Wednesday Wild Crew
and Sunday Dates
3
Starfish Malawi 3
Bedgebury Bright Sparks
Summer Camp
3
Ticks and Lyme Disease 4
Wildlife Walks and Family
Discovery Days
4
Rick Astley 4
The Lost World 4
dog medals and treats at the finish
line!
We would love to hold another
Canicross at Bedgebury in the au-
On Sunday 21st May Bedgebury played
host to its first ever Canicross event,
cross country running w ith
dogs. Local running company, Nice
Work, organised the 5k and 10k race
and the event was hugely successful.
It was great to see so many dogs
(and their owners!) racing their way
through the forest trails on a beauti-
ful sunny morning and being awarded
Bedgebury Volunteer Newsletter
April May 2017
Volunteers’ Week
To celebrate National Volunteers’
Week (an annual event organised by
The National Council for Voluntary
Organisations NCVO), we have organ-
ised a guided walk and picnic on
Wednesday 7th June.
Please come along and celebrate the
contribution made by millions of
volunteers across the UK, and in
particular your contribution to the
success of Bedgebury.
Meet at the Visitor Centre at 10:30,
or just pop in for a piece of cake and
a drink by Marshal’s Lake from
12:00—13:00.
tumn so if you think you’d like to
help out, or even take part in the
race, keep an eye on the Bedgebury
website!
We have recently completed the build
of an outlet for Bedgebury Café in
the Play Area, adjacent to the Ship-
wreck.
They are hoping to open it within the
next week or two, selling ice creams,
hot and cold drinks and snacks.
Wednesday 28th June 09:30
Plots—meet at Area Office
If there are any changes we will
email or call you.
If you need to contact us on the day
of volunteering for any reason
please call -
Dylan (Wednesdays) 0300 067 4480
Visitor centre (Sundays) 01580
879820.
Wednesday 7th June 09:30
Volunteer Week Picnic
Sunday 11th June 10:00
Plots—meet at Area Office
Wednesday 14th June 09:30
Plots—meet at Area Office
Wednesday 21st June 09:30
Plots—meet at Area Office
Wednesday Wild Crew and Sunday Volunteers
Tree of the Month - Tsuga heterophylla Western Hemlock
You can see from the picture that,
despite their size, they have tiny
cones (around 1-2cm long) which are
a lovely shade of red at this time of
the year, turning to brown as the
season develops.
Looking closely at the needles you
will see they vary in length, hence
the species name— heterophylla,
meaning different leaves.
If you wander along Hill’s Avenue
from the top of the sunken track
towards the forest the view is beau-
tifully framed by the sweeping
branches of the Western Hemlock
trees.
These evergreen conifers, native to
the West Coast of North America,
can grow to a massive 70—80 me-
tres tall.
Bedgebury Cafe
Page 2 Bedgebury Volunteer Newsletter
Volunteer Away Day
All Bedgebury volunteers are invited
to an away day to RHS Wisley, details
as follows -
Wednesday 5th July
Coach departing Bedgebury 08:15
Guided Tour of Wisley and time to
look around
Returning to Bedgebury by 17:00
Spaces are limited. Please let Liz
know if you would like to come and
haven’t already confirmed.
Following on from Dan Luscombe’s trip to
Malawi last year, Bedgebury recently
invited children from four local primary
schools to learn about a project to help
save the critically endangered Mulanje
Cedar.
Working with Botanic Gardens Conserva-
tion International, local charity, Starfish
Malawi, and members of our tree and
learning teams, we hosted a two-day
event in the Pinetum in which 66 children
from Goudhurst, Sandhurst, Bodiam and
Etchingham primary schools came togeth-
er to learn about the plight of the Mulanje
Cedar. Their day included a visit to our
nursery where they planted wild-collected
seeds from the critically endangered trees.
The seedlings will form part of the propa-
gation trials for the “Save Our Cedar”
project, which we are supporting.
Dan Luscombe, Bedgebury Pinetum curator,
said, “having already been to Malawi as
part of the project, and seen the critically
endangered Mulanje Cedar in its native
habitat, it’s been great to work with BGCI,
Starfish Malawi and some of our local
school children to sow some of the wild-
collected seeds in our nursery. We hope to
Starfish Malawi
Page 3 Bedgebury Volunteer Newsletter
Bedgebury Bright Sparks Summer Camp
Kent High Weald are running summer
camps for children this July and August.
Please see their website if you would like to
find out more.
I recently attended an induction session to
find out a bit about what goes on, I could
have stayed all day around the fire, enjoy-
ing hot drinks, making wooden name tags,
cooking marshmallows on the stick I’d just
prepared, popping corn over the fire and
playing hide and seek games.
A few of you have volunteered to help with
these sessions, I look forward to hearing all
about it.
The Learning Volunteers
Once a month the learning volunteers
meet to undertake various tasks for the
school visits.
This picture shows the learning team in
the plots, behind the Area Office, having
cut hazel sticks. The sticks are used by
children to attach fallen leaves, cones etc.
to whilst walking round the pinetum.
be able to continue this work with school
children in Malawi in the future too as part
of the “Save Our Cedar” project.”
Park Lane
Goudhurst
Kent
TN17 2SL
Phone: 0300 067 4476 / 4480
07585 402103
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.forestry.gov.uk/bedgebury
Bedgebury Pinetum and Forest
Coming up . . .
There are still tickets available for Rick Astley, supported by
Rumer on Friday 16th June…
Also, if you have young children or know someone that might be
interested, we have a childrens’ theatre company coming to us
on Saturday 15th July
Tickets for both events are available from the Box Office.
Wildlife Walks and
Family Discovery Days
The Friends of Bedgebury offer volun-
teers a 10% discount on their -
Birdwatching for Beginnners
Saturday 3rd June
Family Wildlife Discovery Days
Saturday 24th June
Saturday 15th July
Saturday 5th August
Bat Walks
Tuesday 11th July
Friday 14th July
Tuesday 1st August
Saturday 2nd September
Wildflower Walk
Saturday 12th August
Pop in to the Visitor Centre or call
01580 879842 to book your place.
See here for a list of future work-
shops and events.
Ticks and Lyme Disease
Remember at this time of year to be aware of the potential
risks of tick bites and lyme disease.
Click here for more information.