Becoming a Friend of Church Field Nature Reserve
Everything you need to know about being a Friend.
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The purpose of the Friends Group and What Friends will contribute
The purpose of the group is to make it possible to create and sustain a community nature reserve in Slad. The intention is that the Friends Group will collectively provide sufficient funds to ensure the Church Field nature reserve continues to thrive in the future as a place where nature has priority.
Friends donate an annual sum (current minimum is £20 but we hope many will give more) which will go towards the ongoing costs of maintaining Church Field as a nature reserve putting wildlife first. Those costs may include, but are not limited to, the rental that has to be paid to the landowner, maintenance costs (e.g. fence repairs, dealing with dangerous trees) and insurance.
We hope that Friends who are able and willing will also join our occasional work parties in the field.
What will Friends Receive?
The knowledge that they are helping to support a special place for nature in Slad – a place which is already rich in biodiversity and can be made more so, a vital part of the wildlife corridor in Slad Valley.
Early notice of any nature discovery events run in the field such as butterfly walks or bat detection evenings.
The ability to go into the nature reserve and experience its wildlife with their immediate family. This access is subject to signing up to a simple code of conduct and risk assessment (see here) designed to protect wildlife and grazing animals, keep people safe and secure the privacy of the field’s neighbours. The aspiration is that this access will be allowed for at least 6 months in the year, but it may be temporarily suspended by the Management Group if there are good reasons. For example, access is unlikely to be allowed during the periods when grazing animals are in the field.
The Small Print – all the details about the Friends Group
.1. Anyone who wants to support nature and biodiversity in Church Field can apply to be a Friend. However, we expect the vast majority of members will be local people.
2. Friends’ membership:
- is per household, covering two adults and any children under 18 who are also part of the household. Children entering the field must always be accompanied by an adult member.
- covers a calendar year (1 April to 31 March), but we hope people will want to stay supporters for many years.
3. The minimum annual contribution is £20 for the year 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024. To ensure we have sufficient funds for ad-hoc maintenance we will need some Friends to contribute more and would ask you to consider this. Future minimum levels will be set by the Management Group in advance.
4. Friends’ access to the field is subject to confirming agreement to the Code of Conduct/Risk assessment set out here.
- Access will be allowed for specific dates as agreed by the Management Group. We expect this to be for at least 6 months of the year. Times when access will not be allowed are most likely to be when grazing animals are in the field, but the Management Group reserves the right to restrict access for other reasons linked to the needs of wildlife or the safety of people.
- Access will be through a key code to a numbered padlock on the main gate (which will only work at times of the year when Friends’ access is permitted). Friends must not give the key code to anyone else.
- The right of access requires positive signing up to the Church Field Code of Conduct which includes a Risk Assessment. Failure to comply with the Code of Conduct may result in loss of the right to access the field. These documents may occasionally be updated. The definitive versions will always be available online and the website should be checked for the latest version. If there are any problems accessing these, the up to date version can be obtained by email from churchfield@thevatch.co.uk.
- Access is limited to the hours of 8am to 8pm (unless specific permission has been given in advance by the Management Group, e.g. for dawn/dusk wildlife surveying).
5. The Management Group
The management group includes the founders of the project (Amanda Lawrence and Andy Dickinson) and a small group of enthusiastic supporters from the local area. It has the benefit of expert conservation advice from Alan Sumnall. Details of current Management Group members will be given to Friends of the reserve. The Management Group may change this document, and, if it does so, will notify all Friends.
6. Management of the funding provided by Friends
The Management Group will place all funds provided by Friends in a dedicated Church Field Reserve Bank account. Funds in that account will only be used for the purposes of developing and sustaining Church Field as a community nature reserve. Those purposes include, but are not limited to, the costs of annual rental, maintenance and insurance. The Management Group will maintain financial records of all expenditure from the Friends’ funds and will report to Friends on income and expenditure on an annual basis.
7. Communication between the Management Group and the Friends.
Friends who would like to communicate with the Management Group to ask questions, raise concerns or share experiences/photographs from their visits to the nature reserve are encouraged to email churchfield@thevatch.co.uk. In an emergency, Friends can contact us on 07770-476962. If Friends experience problems or health and safety incidents while in the reserve they should alert the management group on the above email and provide the details of what the incident was and when it occurred.
The Management Group aims to send out regular email newsletters to Friends with news of progress and advance information about events in the field, including an annual financial report.