Appeal for volunteers to help clear vegetation - Welsh Harp Centre, Birchen Grove, March 8th 10am-2pm

 

Welsh Harp Education Centre Vegetation Management

Saturday 8^th March, 10am – 2pm

 

Come and volunteer at the Welsh Harp Environmental Education Centre for vegetation clearance. Help us clear along the fence line where brambles and shrubs are taking over and pushing the fence. This will greatly benefit the biodiversity of our site and the allotment holders on the other side. Dramatic and satisfying results guaranteed!

 

Stay for an hour or the whole event, but please come from the beginning so we can kit you out with wellington safety boots, gloves and tools. Tea, coffee and a warm room provided, bring your lunch if you like.

 

How to Book:

Sign up for this event on Plinth here

·        Register or login on Plinth to book ticket/s.

·        To book multiple tickets, book your first one, then add a person.

·        No need to print your ticket, we have your details once you book.

·        If you need to cancel your booking, log into Plinth, go to My Account, My Bookings and cancel.

 

Location:

Meet at Welsh Harp Environmental Education Centre (Google Maps link)

Birchen Grove, NW9 8RY. Follow the signs towards the Birchen Grove Garden Centre.

The postcode covers a large area so please use the Google Maps link (not Apple Maps) or the What3Words link below.

What3Words location: ///woof.charm.visits

 

Any Questions?

Deb Frankiewicz

Welsh Harp Environmental Education Centre

Email: welshharpcentre@thames21.org.uk

Ph: 07711 701 694

 

Further info:

·        We will be walking on uneven ground and you may have to bend and duck under branches.

·        Places are limited and booking is essential, please cancel your Plinth booking if you can no longer attend.

·        Please wear comfortable outdoor clothing in layers and a spare pair of socks if it’s cold for wellington safety boots. Please bring a waterproof jacket if it is forecast to rain. 

·        All tools and gardening gloves provided.

 

Debra Frankiewicz

Environmental Educator, Welsh Harp Environmental Education Centre

BREAKING: Thames21 to end lease at Welsh Harp Environmental Education Centre

A previous fight to save the Welsh Harp Environmental Education Centre

I have just received this sad information.  There have been several battles over the years to save the Welsh Harp Environmental Education Centre and its closure in the Year of COP26 and in a borough that has declared a Climate Emergency awould be a disaster.

26 May 2021 Thames21, London’s leading waterways charity, is sad to announce that it will give up its lease at the Welsh Harp Environmental Education Centre in Brent when it ends in July. Since taking on the 5.5 hectare site in Brent in 2016, the charity has delivered curriculum-linked environmental sessions for thousands of school pupils, mostly in Early Years to Key Stage 2 year groups. In a typical year, 3,500 visitors took part in learning sessions, which were either organised school sessions or similar ones for families, held in school holidays. Thames21’s statement reads: “With huge regret the Trustees of Thames21 have reached the conclusion that the charity can no longer afford to absorb the annual financial loss of delivering activities at the Education Centre.  Despite best endeavours, we have been unable to identify the additional funding support that is required to ensure that the Centre pays for itself. As a result, we are forced to give up our lease when it ends in July 2021. Thames21 is extremely sad to be in this position.  The Centre is a much-loved local facility, and it has introduced many local children to their natural environment for the first time.  The benefits to health and well-being of activities in outdoor green space are well documented, and it has been such a privilege to serve the community in Brent. The Education Centre has maintained a thriving programme of activities for around three thousand children a year at the Centre. Volunteering groups from the local community have supported the running of the Centre helping with gardening, site maintenance and supporting the education sessions. We have also managed to raise some funds to start improving and developing the Centre site, including refurbishing the popular nature pond and building a new raised pond that is accessible for wheelchair users, improving the pathways and installing a gate to the adjacent Welsh Harp Open Space.  However, the issue of annual general running costs has remained a challenge that we have not been able to address successfully, and so we have arrived at this point. We would like to thank the volunteers, Brent Council and the many children and young people who have come to the Centre over the years that Thames21 has been running activities.” The staff member who delivered the educational programme for Thames21 will be diverted to other projects within its educational portfolio across London. In the 2018-19 acadenic year the Centre delivered 69 sessions to 41 different schools involving 2,790 pupils and 669 accompanying adults. 93 children and 48 adults  took part in school holiday activities.   EDITOR'S NOTE: Brent Council has been asked for a comment.

Summer nature activities at the Welsh Harp Centre

Upcoming Welsh Harp events starting on Sunday

Sunday October 23rd Conservation Day

 

Sunday November 20th Canoe clean up on the Welsh Harp.

This is going ahead. A detail in the last notice LINK  was incorrect. Only if you have a ‘one star level’ award and bring it with you on the day, will you be able to collect little from a canoe. Apologies for this. A team of volunteers will be needed on the bank as well  if you are not of a ‘one star level’.  Final infromation next week.

London Wildlife Trust Brent Reservoir walk, 6th November

LWT are hosting a Bird walk on the Brent Reservoir on Sunday 6th of November. Attendees will have an informative walk led by WHCG officer Roy Beddard and also get to visit the hides on the eastern marsh. After the walk there will be a tea/snack break followed by an arranged litter pick to help conserve the area.

We will be meeting by the Barnet information board by the Cool Oak Lane Bridge entrance at 11am, running to approx 2pm,  limited to 12 people due to space in the hides/equipment. More information on where/what to bring will be provided on booking.
              
Please direct any bookings/queries to myself on welshharp@wildlondon.org.uk  or to Rosie on rchambers@wildlondon.org.uk.


LINK
 

Brent Council environment cuts break 'cleaner and greener' pledge

I reproduce below Brent Friends of the Earth's comprehensive response to the current Budget Consultation. I am sure that similar responses could be written on other areas of the proposed cuts making it clear that the level of cuts  now required is unacceptable and making no long-term economic or social sense.

Response to Brent Council Budget Consultation from Brent Friends of the Earth

Our members are concerned about the cuts to Council services overall, in particular cuts to vital front line services.  Whilst we recognise that Brent's income has been severely reduced, we do not wish to see vital welfare services axed, especially those for children. The vision of what will remain is stark and in some cases unrecognisable from the provision residents have come to know and expect as Council services.  However our comments as a group focus on the impact of proposed cuts to environmental services. We also question whether some of the cuts proposed will actually save money in the long run: