Our inspirational and growing community
You, our Friends and donors, along with our volunteers, our staff, visitors and those that enjoy our spaces are all part of a community that wants to be part of making change happen. We are proud that together we are guardians of some extremely special places, and that these inspire and influence others. Nature is a powerful solution to climate change, biodiversity loss and human health.
Our Annual Impact report for 2021-22 is now available and I encourage you to take a look and reflect, as we have done, upon the achievements which your generosity have made possible. Throughout what can only be described as a challenging year (for Earth Trust, as for so many individuals and organisations), we are immensely proud that we successfully delivered a number of new and important initiatives which have increased and deepened our impact this year.
Over the coming months, we will be making some exciting developments to refresh and extend our Friends scheme, and bring more people into our community. More information on this will be shared with you shortly.
We are also looking for exceptional people to bring their experiences, ideas, skills and abilities to support the transformation of the Trust, to join our Board of Trustees as we embark on the next exciting chapter in our 40-year history. We are seeking to appoint up to four Trustees. If this is something you would be interested in, we would love to hear from you to explore how you want to get involved and contribute.
Every one of us has a vital role to play in connecting with, and caring for, our green spaces so that people and nature thrive together. Your continued support is so valuable and (as we hope this newsletter will show) impactful in helping us become a strong voice for nature, and champion accessible green spaces, so that together we can take action for people and planet.
Thank you.
Jayne Manley, CEO
Voicing concern for nature and the environment
Over the last few months, we have been more actively connecting to national campaigns that make noise for nature. Read the news story here.Earth Trust education delivery programme
Find out more about some of the exciting plans for development of our environmental education programme.News in brief
What we achieved in 2021-22
Due to the impacts of the global pandemic, April 2021- March 22 was a turbulent year for Earth Trust, as for many organisations and individuals, and yet we are immensely proud that during that time we were still able to deliver a number of significant – and award winning – initiatives around nature based solutions to climate, biodiversity and health. We are steadily growing our community of change makers, in order to influence for greater change and action, and finding our voice – moving from a quiet organisation that does great things to an organisation that speaks out. Our impact has been widespread across all of our core areas and a comprehensive review of the year’s achievements has now been published in our Annual Impact Report.
Learnings from River of Life II
Just months since its completion, the River of Life II is already attracting fish, birds, mammals and… scientists! Now that construction is complete and the habitats are bedding in, the exciting next phase of our River of Life II project is just beginning. A collaboration of the Environment Agency, Land & Water Services and Bangor University, have begun monitoring at the site around Clifton Meadow and Church Farm, to help us explore how the new wetlands we have created along the banks of the River Thames are impacting the wider environment and, importantly, how they sequester carbon. There are currently large gaps in knowledge and understanding of exactly what happens to gas exchange across wetlands, so this research will be greatly valued by the scientific community.
Thank the Earth Season
During October half-term, we welcomed more than 2,000 visitors to our very first Pumpkin Patch event. A dedicated team of 32 volunteers helped sow 4,000 pumpkin seeds by hand and nurtured the pumpkin patch through a season of drought, hand-pulling thistles and weeds. It was a labour of love, culminating in a great sense of achievement as hundreds of visitors each day enjoyed picking and (we hope) appreciating their incredible, edible pumpkins. The event was part of our Thank the Earth season, focussed on encouraging people to reduce food waste and ‘cook, carve, compost’ their pumpkin instead of throwing it in the bin. A dedicated resource page was created on our website, including information on soil health, tips for reducing food waste, pumpkin recipe ideas and topical podcasts.