The Great Farndon Hut Vote
Friday 30th September
With the click of your mouse, help us rebuild our children’s wildlife club hut!
We need your help!
Last year, one of our Wildlife Watch children's club huts was shockingly burnt to the ground by vandals!
Now, Farndon Watch Group have been shortlisted in a competition run by Natwest. They created a YouTube video all about their plight, and now it is featured on the Natwest Community Fund website.
All we need now is for everyone to click and vote for this as their favourite proposal in our local area, and they could win £6000 to pay for a brand new vandal-proof hut, which could be used by the local community!
Simply visit the Natwest website, register and vote for the Farndon video! It's free and takes 30 seconds. Then please ask your friends and family to do the same (sharing on facebook or twitter would really help too!).
The voting closes on Monday 24th October
Further info...the story of Farndon Watch Group's hut
Farndon Watch Group is a long running (and award-winning!) branch of Wildlife Watch, the junior section of The Wildlife Trusts..JPG)
The group, aimed at ages 5-15, is based at Farndon Willow Holt Nature Reserve, at Farndon near Newark. For many years, the group has used a simple wooden 'Watch Hut' on the reserve as a base for their meetings, somewhere to shelter in bad weather, and a place to store equipment, craft materials and displays.
Arson attack...burnt to the ground
However the close-knit community of Farndon was shocked last year by an arson attack on the reserve which completely destroyed the Watch Hut and everything in it! The Watch Hut has been sorely missed, as the group now have no indoor space on the reserve, with meetings having to be cancelled in bad weather or rearranged to other venues. This has meant the group has also had to spend valuable funds on renting alternative accommodation.
The proposal – a cabin for the future
Farndon Watch Group needs a brand new vandal-proof cabin on the reserve, to replace the old hut. A bigger hut, with water and electricity, could be used not just by the Watch Group, but for other Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust activities such as volunteering sessions, educational workshops and local members meetings. The hut would also be available for booking by everyone in the local area, including schools, clubs and other community groups.
Celebrating local heritage
Within the hut, Farndon Watch Group also plan to create a 'Willow Archive' with an audio and visual display of information, artefacts and memories collected from local people, relating to the history of the willow industry in the local area.
Please help
As mentioned above, Farndon Watch Group have now entered the NatWest Community Fund to raise funds for the new hut. The winning project in the local area will receive £6000, with the winner decided by public vote. To vote for Farndon Watch Group's project, please click here to view their video, register on the site and submit your vote! Alternatively you can call 08002100246 and ask to vote for project 3688 - Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust under postcode NG1 1EA.
Thank you!
