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| NOAH'S
ARK CHILDREN'S VENTURE
NEWS IN 2010 |
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The Wood Yard Development Project In early 2009 we were given the use of an extra piece of woodland to use in Macaroni Wood. This is a large area and we have plans to develop it as a natural habitat for wildlife. This will involve clearing some of the scrub and undergrowth, laying trails, creating a clearing and roundhouse and planting new native trees and shrubs to enhance the woodland for the wildlife and native plants.
In March 2009 we began work on renovating the old wood yard buildings that were made available to us by the Ernest Cook Trust in 2008. We are aiming to turn them into an indoor play area, classroom, bike sheds, a workshop and a general storage area. To date we have used the charity's own restricted funds to replace the asbestos roof with an insulated roof, repair and re-glaze all the windows, re-render all the external brickwork and the building has been repainted. It is now secure, water tight and externally looks great! However, there is still a lot of work to be done internally to complete the work. Now for the next stage! We intend to lay a proper games surface to the floor of the play area and fit polycarbonate window liners and lighting. The classroom area will have a renewable energy source for heating and water. It will be insulated and dry lined and a small kitchen and toilet block will be added. To date we have spent over £60,000 and the additional work will cost a further £110,000 and when completed we will have two extremely useful new areas for our groups to use, enhancing the quality of the woodland learning sessions we can offer and providing a fantastic indoor play area for cold, wet, rainy days. The fundraising programme for this work has just been launched - we will keep you posted!
Woodland Learning We are now offering Woodland Learning sessions at Macaroni Wood using the services of Ruth Parsons, a local trainer who provides full day and half day sessions based in the wood. She is an excellent trainer who provides sessions based on woodland learning in a friendly, fun and informative way. Quite a number of groups have taken advantage of the sessions and all have reported positively on the experience that the children/young people have gained. Thanks to the support of the The Jack Lane Charitable Trust we can at the moment offer financial help by paying 50% of the costs of a woodland learning session.
For further information see the flyer from Ruth. If you would like to book a session with Ruth then please look at her website www.woodland-learning.co.uk and get in touch with her personally. Lady Bazley In October 2009 we sadly learnt of the death of Lady Bazley, who had been our patron for many years. Without her the centre would not exist, as it was her kindness and generosity that allowed the charity the use of the woodland when we first started in the early 1970's. From this Noah's Ark Children's Venture has continued to grow and develop into the wonderful resource it is today. However, we are delighted to say that Camilla Woodward has recently agreed to act as our patron and we are happy to welcome her to the charity in her new role as she has been a valuable supporter of Macaroni Wood for many years. |
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Winter 2009-10
We had another very cold winter this year - some groups had to cancel and we were snowed in ourselves for a nearly a week in January. It was very quiet, very cold but also very pretty! The animals survived and it all seems like a long time ago now that Spring finally appears to have arrived!
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Wildlife Cameras
The cameras are working well at the moment and we have a family of nuthatches in one of the next boxes that are very entertaining to watch
Baby nuthatches - hatched 7th May 2010
If you want to see the live link to the cameras follow the instructions below:
In your internet browser address line type: 81.149.83.198 ...... you will be asked for a security name and a password, both are noah. If the cameras do not load immediately you will be asked to download a piece of software – it is safe – so proceed and the cameras will appear.
Ring us if you have any problems - 01367 850356.
Open Day & Fete - Saturday 11th September 2010
We are having another Open Day & Fete this year with all the usual stalls, refreshments, music and raffle prizes. Everyone is welcome and we will be providing a coach from Lewisham for those of you with further to travel. Watch this space for further details later in the summer.
Mrs Penelope Hughes-Hallett
We heard today that Mrs Penelope Hughes-Hallett, who had been our patron for the past 15 years, had recently passed away. We would like to express our sincere condolences to her family. Mrs Hughes-Hallett was a valued supporter of our work who contributed in many ways, particularly in helping us to track down sources of funding from around the county and elsewhere. Her generosity and kindness will be sorely missed by all those involved with Macaroni Wood.