Annual Report
Annual Report from Fulbourn Forum for community action
Year ending 7 April 2011
Although this is our first AGM since the adoption of the constitution and the election of the first executive committee at the meeting on 23 March 2010, this report effectively covers just six months of activities, from the beginning of last October. The preceding months were necessary to plan and initiate the ideas that we are now implementing. Fulbourn Forum was set up as a result of actions identified in the Parish Plan, and for those who were not at the inaugural meeting last year it is worth highlighting here the objectives of the organization:
i) To inspire action to benefit the village and its community,
ii) To be active in the conservation and improvement of the area of benefit,
iii) To monitor and engage with the implications arising from development and other proposals, and their potential effect on the natural and built environment in the area of benefit,
iv) To promote a resilient and sustainable village and community, including consideration of its social, economic and environmental well-being,
v) To encourage and coordinate volunteer activities by residents,
vi) To improve communications within the area of benefit to help ensure inclusivity, especially the involvement of all age groups.
We hope that we have been successful in starting to fulfil these objectives.
First, we must thank everyone for your help and enthusiasm in getting Fulbourn Forum so quickly established. This was helped when, in perfect early October weather, almost 100 people enjoyed the Community Orchard Project launch in the Nature Reserve old estate orchard. This is a long term project and it is hoped that a grant application will be successful later this year. Encouragement of local food growing, both commercial and individual, is one of our main aims and the Grow Your Own Group, The Garden Share Scheme, and the Making the Most of Food event have all contributed to this end. Community raised beds are also under way.
To explore the idea of a sustainable and resilient village we screened the inspiring film The Power of Community in October, while the talk in November by Dr Alison Cooke further developed the issue of local and national energy plans. The promotion of sustainable energy use is now being furthered in partnership with the Parish Council through SCDC's Sustainable Parish Energy Partnership (S-PEP) with the first actions being the loan of energy monitors through the library and the event in March entitled How to Reduce Your Home Energy Costs about the retrofitting of energy saving measures in the home. Two volunteers have also been on a workshop to learn how to us thermal imaging cameras.
To help the appreciation of waste reduction and recycling measures, three interesting visits for groups of 16 have now been undertaken to the Donarbon Waste Management and Recycling Centre at Waterbeach, and recycling was the at the forefront of our fund raising Alternative Coffee Morning at Fulbourn Manor with a sale of new and used donated items and a Morsbag Workshop (new bags from unwanted material). Unwanted waste, of course, also ends up as litter, and successful village litter picks took place in October and March. The aim is to continue this as a twice yearly event in an effort to maintain the appearance of the village and its approach roads.
Fulbourn is lucky to have access to areas of excellent natural environment and we wish to play our part in protecting the flora and fauna. The talk in January by Rod Mungovan, the SCDC Ecology Officer, Saving the Fulbourn swifts and more was well attended, and to augment the professional monitoring of the swift colony during the Windmill Estate re-development we are planning a survey in the summer to identify other colonies in the village. We are also keen to help publicise the work parties that take place on the Fulbourn Fen Nature Reserve, Fleam Dyke and The Roman Road, and hope that this will encourage an increase in the numbers who get involved.
Finally, many will remember the farewell party for Richard and Jean Butcher to mark their service to the village at the Post Office. This was organised as part of our 'community support' role and attracted over 90 people with entertainment provided free by village groups and individuals. An enjoyable evening.
Many of the above projects will continue to grow, new ones are in development, and we shall endeavour to help promote other organizations and events with complementary aims. We would like to produce further Newsletters and to finalise the website design, but for this we shall need more time, volunteers and financial resources. As we become more established, we look forward to more of you getting involved in projects that interest and enthuse you. We now have 146 addresses on our email contact list which probably equates to over 200 people who see our regular News from Fulbourn Forum emails. We need to increase that number to try to reach as many of you as possible, but shall continue to advertise events and activities through the display of posters, adverts in The Mill and the placing of hard copies of the email News in the library. Funding for our work remains an issue and will need to be addressed in the near future, but in the meantime we shall continue to rely on the generosity of the individuals who give their time, donate resources, or contribut donations at our events. Thank you.
We hope that you will join us during the forthcoming year.
Richard Townley
Chair, Fulbourn Forum for community action