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Where do we get our money from?.
People often ask how we are funded. Our income last year (2007-8)
- Grants (43%) including the Heritage Lottery Fund
- Contracts for the Pottery Studio (Birmingham & Solihull Mental
Health Trust) and the REALiSE Microcluster (31%)
- Donations (14%) including contributions to the lease
- Sales (11%) including plants, produce, firewood & venue hire
We were delighted that our first approach to the Eveson Charitable Trust
has secured £8000 towards Therapeutic Horticulture. This will ‘match
fund’ the REALiSE Microcluster who have agreed to carry on funding 36%
of the costs of developing a number of our projects, including
Therapeutic Horticulture until December 2008.
The Ratcliff Foundation have been a regular source of small grants for
us. This year they have given us £2000 towards equipment and other
purposes.
Obituary: Susan Halliday
I have just heard the sad news that Susan has died of a stroke. I have known
her for over 30 years and owe a great deal to her energy, creative and
critical thinking. I always appreciated her willingness to speak out for
ideas which were different, which she did with intelligence and much
laughter.
Her professional career included lots of work in Adult Education. She ran
‘the Spiral Centre’ from her house in College Road. Recently, she worked for
peace in Israel and Palestine.
It was due to the encouragement of both Noreen Lopez and Susan that I am
here, managing this organisation. It was Susan who invited Roy LittleSun to
create the One Heart Medicine Wheel that formed a focus for various
spiritual groups.
Susan brought many of her considerable network of friends and colleagues to
visit the Gardens, and I still come across people who tell me that she was
their first contact with the place
Susan leaves three sons, Alec, Robert and Edward.
Caroline Hutton
Drains
Those of you with long memories will remember that we have had problems with
the drains for years. Regular rodding and jetting has kept them running but
we knew that there were tree roots growing into the system. This winter, the
problem was getting worse, and when there was an accident with the rod set,
we had to act. Luckily that February was a very dry month.
The section of pipe that goes into our neighbour’s garden has been re-lined
and with rodding tubes installed for dealing with any future blockages.
Thanks to a generous personal donation, we were able to afford the costs of
this work. Thank you to our neighbours, for letting our contractor, Dave,
work at the inspection chamber in their garden.
Forest Schools
Lillian de Lissa Nursery school brings a small group of children to
the ‘Forest’ (Wildlife area) every week for activities. We hope that this is
just the beginning of Forest Schools at Martineau Gardens |
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For Sale
Wanted
For further details about items for sale or
wanted, please contact Caroline on 0121 440 7430 |
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Dates for your diary
Open Days
28 September, 11 - 3pm
5 October 2pm - Annual General Meeting |
Wildlife at the Gardens
Many of you
will have met Morgan Hughes, who was the Biodiversity Co-ordinator for 17 months
for the project which was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. Now that the
funding has ended, Morgan is working as an Education Ranger at Kingsbury Water
Park. We’ve had to think about how to carry on what she started, without someone
as knowledgeable as her on site. We have applied for funding for more family
education events and for conservation work parties at weekends.
Bats on the boundary?
A dead tree in the wildlife area (actually in a neighbour’s garden) has been
dropping branches. It looks like classic bat habitat, so we can’t just get it
felled or even lopped. Bats are a protected species, so we have to find out for
certain if it’s a bat roost, and if it is, get a licence from Natural England.
Until we have secured funding for all of this, we have cordoned off the part of
the wildlife area where the tree is, for everyone’s safety.
Biodiversity group
If you are interested in monitoring the wildlife and habitat at the Gardens,
would you like to attend the meeting on 24 May at 11am?
The group will ensure that the SLINC management plan is used to maintain and
improve the habitat of the Wildlife area. |
