STROUD VALLEYS PROJECT FACES CLOSURE

Despite 20 years of successfully helping the communities of Stroud and the district to carry out all sorts of projects to care for our local environment and make it a better place for humans and wildlife alike, the organisation is bizarrely facing a severe funding crisis. We have to raise £75,000 by September or we will have to shut down. How crazy is this? Just at the time when most people are very aware of the environmental problems our lifestyles are creating and need our help to ‘do their bit’, that help could vanish.

Are we frustrated? Are we angry? You bet we are.

HOW HAS THIS COME ABOUT?

Funders’ demands have changed over the past few years and these changes actually make it more difficult for organisations like ours to raise money from the traditional grant schemes. On the whole (and, of course, there are some exceptions but not enough), the changes have resulted in the following:

• Funders don't like to pay for more than a year's worth of running costs
• Funders are unwilling to pay for core and staff costs, even though they'll often pay for consultants' costs
• Funders don't want to pay for existing projects, however successful they've been, they want to pay for new and innovative projects

Other factors have also added to our problems:

There have been significant delays in decision-making regarding the continuation of cartain big grant schemes (eg. Countdown 2010, Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund) plus the regular re-organising of the Lottery schemes have resulted in delays in these opening for applications (the Lottery's Environment pot was due to open in November 2006, it now should be opening in April 2008)

Lack of central Government funding for environmental projects plus big cuts in the budgets of the Government’s agencies which may have given out grants, eg. Natural England is having to make 250 people redundant
Money is being diverted from some of the Lottery grant schemes and put into the budget to pay for the Olympics

PLEASE HELP US!

If you want us to continue helping people around Stroud district to make a difference and have a better environment to live in, please either:

Give us a donation (call into the office or put a cheque/cash in an envelope with your name + address through our letterbox)

Become a Friend of Stroud Valleys Project for a year: for £10, £25, £50 or £100 you can help us and gain cheaper entry to our events

Give some of your time to help us run our appeal

If you pay tax and ‘Gift Aid’ any financial help, we can claim back basic rate tax on every pound you give us from the tax man.

WHAT WE’VE ACHIEVED

Stroud Valleys Project’s mission is to:
“inspire the people of Stroud district to cherish, care for, and repair their local environment for all of our benefit. We translate international and national policies into practical action that everyone can join in with, to ensure a healthy environment for humans and wildlife alike.”

Here’s a reminder of some of the achievements we’ve helped to make happen:

• Volunteers and landowners are turning an area of land equivalent to 6 football pitches in size into refuges for wildlife
• Nearly 1000 adults and children learnt about and helped the local environment during 2006 and 2007
• Local people planted or restored 5 miles of hedgerow during 2006 and 2007
• Local people planted over 1,500 trees during 2006 and 2007
  

With our help, SVP volunteers found 2 places in Stroud district where the virtually extinct water vole is living, places which weren’t known to conservationists before. Our work is helping other rare species, such as sparrows, otters, song thrushes, great crested newts, hedgehogs, and glow-worms to cling on to existence

18 farmers in the Severn Vale are creating special wildlife places on their land as part of our ground breaking new project which is helping farmers, schools, parish councils and communities in 12 parishes to protect wildlife

Sites that have been made good for wildlife with our help in the Stroud district are:

Hamwell Leaze, Cashes Green
Finn’s Way, Cashes Green
Lake at the Lawns, Cashes Green
Holywell Orchard, Cam/Dursley
Rackleaze wetland, Cam
Trinity Rooms Pocket Park, Stroud
Stratford Mill greenspace, Stroud
Summer Street greenspace, Stroud
Frome Banks nature reserve, Stroud
Bowbridge canal linear greenspace, Stroud
Stringers Wood, Thrupp
The Leazes, Stroud
Cam Peak Pond, Cam
Upthorpe Pond, Cam
Court View Newt Pond, Stonehouse

In 1999, Clare Gerbrands set up the Stroud Farmers Market

The community radio station Cam FM was set up, which still broadcasting programmes every October to residents of Cam, Dursley and the surrounding parishes getting them involved in their local community and with helping the environment

In 1997, we helped a group of local people to set up Energy 21, a charity which is now a national one campaigning for better use of renewable energy to combat climate change

A wide range of people have been involved in our work including special events for visually impaired people, adults with learning disabilities, people with mental health problems, schoolchildren, scouts, cubs, guides, brownies, Woodcraft Folk, and farmers.