FACCG Project Treecycle Timber Building Construction Course

Twenty volunteers braved freezing temperatures (-6) to take part in a two day course run for the Group by Jim Thomson, assisted by Stuart, both of Thomson Timber.  A vital two days to push the building of our traditional post and beam timber building forward.  Everyone had to overcome many problems, 6inches of snow to start with in Falkland, let alone the icy cold and frozen timber. Volunteers learnt many new skills, especially how to mark out and cut the timbers.  See the pictures below.

Christmas Party Weekend - Fordel Firs Saturday 4th & Sunday 5th December 2009

Chris you have been working at McDonalds for far too long now, look at what all those free meals have done for you!  Well Chef Victor we all think you have been nibbling away while cooking ;+)

FACCG ExxonMobil Project - Saturday 21st Nov 2009

Thank you very much to all those keen and hard working volunteers who ignored the dismal weather forecast and turned out to another project at the ExxonMobil Chemical Fife Ethylene Plant at Cowdenbeath yesterday (Saturday 21st November).

As it was we were once again very lucky, as contrary to the forecast, the weather remained dry until after lunch so we were able to achieve many tasks listed for the day.

Everyone worked together to achieve the following:  Approx 600 trees/hedging plants were planted and TLC was carried out to existing trees and hedges. A fungi area was created to enhance the existing fungi habitat and encourage more fungi to grow. More construction was carried out at the compost area to complete the compost storage facility Dead vegetation was cleared around the pond area and dead trees were removed and replaced with healthy young trees A hedgehog box was relocated and frog boxes and insect boxes were installed around the pond area A pile of compost was moved by wheelbarrow to the new compost area Volunteers were provided with lunch courtesy of Exxon Mobil and what a lunch it was! Delicious soup, a large selection of sandwiches, crisps and amazingly scrumptious double chocolate chip muffins! After a hearty lunch volunteers waddled back to the work areas and finished off the above tasks just as the heavy rain started to fall. Everyone departed from the site at approximately 1400 hours.  A THANK YOU must go to Bill Sweenie who always ensures that our ongoing conservation projects at Mossmorran are well organised and run smoothly on the day. And THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH for all your enthusiasm and efforts to make this project a huge success once again. I hope that you also had an enjoyable day and good fun. As always we are all "Working Together for Tomorrows Future", and helping Exxon Mobil to "Protect Tomorrow Today".

News Flash: ExxonMobil Chemical Fife Ethylene Plant are one of our main sponsors and our ongoing partnership has contributed to the Mossmorran plant being awarded the "Corporate Lands for Learning and Rookie of the Year Award from the Wildlife Habitat Council.

http://www.wildlifehc.org/events/symposium_awards.cfm

"The Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC) is a nonprofit, nonlobbying group of corporations, conservation organizations, and individuals dedicated to restoring and enhancing wildlife habitat. Created in 1988, WHC helps large landowners, particularly corporations, manage their unused lands in an ecologically sensitive manner for the benefit of wildlife. More than 2 million acres in 48 states, Puerto Rico, and 16 other countries are managed for wildlife through WHC-assisted projects."

Saturday 14th November 2009

A very small party of volunteers visited Airdrie to collect some surplus fencing posts, wire & off cuts of water pipes.  Kindly organised by our long standing friend, Mr Gerry Harper of Carillion PLC, the fence at been dismantled as it needed to be enhanced due to the new rail line being constructed.  Instead of putting in the skip Gerry put his recycling and community skills into action and contacted the Group once again.  The volunteers loaded the trailer and Group Chairman Mark Pearson thanked Gerry and Carillion PLC for such generosity.  This innovative way of recycling & community support is amazing & our friends at Carillion should be congratulated once again for not only helping the Group but also for taking time to care for the environment.     

Wednesday 11th November 2009

An evening of hard work in the polytunnel making 16 "Ponies". These special trestles will be used during the construction of our A frame timber building

Saturday 31st October 2009

Make a Difference Day at The Colin Burt Reserve for Wildlife Conservation 

Around 30 FACCG volunteers travelled up to the reserve at Glen Dochart on Saturday 31st October to carry out projects for Make a Difference Day.  The weather was dry with occasional showers and reasonably warm. Infact everyone was relieved that we went on the Saturday and not on Sunday 1st November which had horrendous wet weather and much flooding all over the UK!

Numerous tasks were undertaken at the reserve, as follows

• 300 young trees were re-staked and re-tubed as the spiral guards were too small and the deer were nibbling the tops of the trees.
• The remainging boardwalk was completed and now extends further into the woodland.
• Logs that were felled by BT were burnt.
• Tree branches were trimmed along the pathway and the brash was burnt.
• A recycled timber bridge was installed over a wet area in the woodland
• A very clever mechanism to ensure the gate that provides access to the woodland self closes itself was installed.
• Finally the famous "building site yard" is still looking great! 

Overall a lot of work was achieved and everyone worked extremely hard throughout the whole day. THANK YOU to Linda McCallie for all the fantastic cakes, and to everyone for all your enthusiasm and dedication as the reserve would not flourish without your input. There is always so many ongoing tasks to be done and it really is a perfect example of everyone working together.

Friday 23rd October 2009

A number of volunteers from the Group have just returned from the Lake District National Park working for the National Trust.  Drop by to this page later next week to read all about our exploits, but for now just a few pictures. 

Above:

Some of the volunteers enjoying lunch at Tarn Hows, while out on a walk around the National Trust Monk Coniston.

During the week everyone had the chance to discover and explore Lake Windermere on & "Green Boat" that the Group purchased a few months ago.  Three staff have undergone RYA Power Boat training ready for a "Water & Wildlife" project in 2010.  The Lake District National Park kindly sponsored the access onto the Lake. 

Below:

The pond work at Ash Landing undertaken for the National Trust. 

Watch out for the whole story of our trip to Cumbria on a new page coming soon.

Friday 16th October 2009

Another good article in the media this week, promotting the amazing work of all our volunteers.  Thanks to Kate at The Fife Free Press for once again a brilliant write up and picture.

Wednesday 14th Ocober 2009

Congratulations must go to one of our Trustees and long standing volunteers Brian Robins.  On Monday he was presented with a Meritorious Service Certificate by Her Majesty's Lord Lieutenant of Fife, Mrs Margaret C Dean.  Brian's work for young people is famed across not only Fife, but Scotland wide.  Retired from the Royal Air Force he is probably busier now than he was when he was working.  He is away nearly every weekend helping supervise youngsters from the Air Cadets or our Group, let alone all the Duke of Edinburgh Award's participants from other areas of Scotland.  During the week for the Group he is our Chief Engineer ensuring all the moving machinery is correctly serviced and risk assessed on a 6 monthly rotation.  His other roles include overseeing Adventure Training and all the paperwork produced, as well as constructing bridges out of recycled recycled timber for our projects UK wide.  A huge WELL DONE Brian for being there all the time when needed, and for helping so many young people across Scotland!    

Brian being presented with his certificate by Mrs Margaret C Dean, Her Majesty's Lord Lieutenant of Fife. A copy of his citation and Certificate below.

Friday 9th October 09

Above - During the day Ruby worked on getting the largest of the flower beds ready for winter.  A mamouth task as you can see in the picture.

Below - Alistair worked on another bed and also dug up one bed of potatoes so that we can plant up some winter veg plants.

George has worked on the portacabin fixing up an outside light for safety and security during the winter months.  The CCTV system was moved and now covers the whole garden using two cameras.

Thursday 8th Oct 09

Please find below the latest press article on the Group.  Thanks to The Courier for their continued support, and the Heritage Lottery Fund, ExxonMobil, Carillion and Scottish Native Woods for sponsoring the project.

Sunday 4th Oct 09

The last of the basic woodcraft courses was held over the weekend.  We are now entering into the final 6 months of Project Treecycle.  We will concentrate on constructing the post and beam timber building using traditional hand techniques.  At the same time other volunteers were working hard on a variety of tasks.  A more detailed update will appear on the Project Treecyle page later this week.

Brian putting the final screws in on one of the two bridges he has constructed with the help of young volunteers.  These two bridges are heading South to the Lake District National Park to a National Trust local nature reserve on the shores of lake Windermere.  Well Done Brian! 

Wednesday 7th Oct 09

Wow what a day and evening! From 9am a group of volunteers were working hard in the garden and carrying out the annual servicing on two of the three Group trailers.  At the same time the flower beds were being attended to, and the lawns in the orchard were cut.   The usual evening session was buzzing with over 30 young volunteers helping to process a large amount of willow, and then as darkness fell moved inside the polytunnel to construct 5 frog boxes for use on forthcoming projects.  The volunteer numbers were up from the usual 15 due to the monthly visit of Explorer Scouts from Kirkcaldy and Glenrothes.  Overall a fantastic and very productive day.  

Tuesday 29th Sept 09

This morning a small group took time out from their usual busy week to attend the photocall for the Falkland Britain in Bloom Champion of Champions award.  The Chairman of Falkland In Bloom thanks the volunteers for all their work on our two projects in Falkland,  at our HQ site in Sugar Acre and our woodcraft Project Treecycle at Chancefield.  It was good overhear so many adults praise the Group's young volunteers, and their reaction when told of the lack of support to the young volunteers from a government sponsored youth organisation - the Air Cadets Organisation.  Whatever the narrow minded civil servants think every volunteer within the Group is welcome, whether a cadet or not, we will not change this policy.  Each Group volunteer is special for giving their own time up to help their communities.  The UK would be an amazing place if every young person, and adult, has the same dedication and enthuasium as we do in FACCG, and within the other organisations in Falkland.  A huge WELL DONE to all the volunteers across all the groups that helped Falkland achieve its success.  

Volunteers from Falkland in Bloom, Fife Air Cadets Conservation Group, Falkland Primary School and Falkland House School. get together to celebrate the achievement and success of the Royal Horticultural Society Britain in Bloom award Champion of Champions.

Sunday 26th Sept 09

A small group visited our wildlife reserve at Glen Dochart today, the Colin Burt Reserve for Wildlife Conservation.  Even with the late decision this week, to use our weekend off, we managed to muster 12 eager volunteers.  It was made due to the good weather that was expected, and the knowledge that our 18ft bridge needed to be fixed in position before winter arrives and the flooding begins.  Throughout the day the weather was brilliant, just the right mix of sun, blue sky and a cool breeze.  The area where the bridge was sited, had obviously already been subjected to flooding as the bridge had moved 20ft.  The team worked together to push it back into place, level it, and fix it permanently (we hope) into place using 10ft posts and wire.  Other tasks included digging of ditches and tree care.  Over 100 tree tubes were used to replace canes and spirals that have not worked as effectively as we had hoped.  It amazed everyone how well the trees are growing.  After nearly 7 hours of hard work we all headed home, via the chip shop in Comrie!   Special thanks must go to Brian Robins for working so hard on the bridge, he has continued for many months to work on the bridge to ensure it was fit for purpose.  Not only has he constructed this one, but with help from many volunteers we now have another 2 completed for our pending visit to the Lake District where they will be used on a small National Trust nature reserve.  Thanks to everyone who turned out a short notice to help. 

Young volunteers working together on a ditch on the reserve. 

Wednesday 23rd Sept 09

Falkland is the new 2009 Champion of Champions in the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Britain in Bloom Awards – one of the largest horticultural campaigns in Europe. The village was presented with a Gold medal for ‘outstanding’ achievement and also won the RHS Britain in Bloom Young People’s Award.  The awards were presented at a ceremony this evening in the Riviera International Conference Centre in Torbay, hosted by BBC Gardeners’ World presenter Toby Buckland. The Group was mentioned as a main player working with Falkland In Bloom. Well done to every Group member that has been so involved over the last year on projects at our "Grow your Own" Garden at Sugar Acre in Falkland and also the "Project Treecycle" woodcraft project at Chancefield on Falkland Estate. An amazing feat for the village to achieve this, the overall means best in the whole of Great Britain. Thank you to you all, once again you should be so proud of yourselves, not only are you involved in Air Cadets and Scouts, but also you give up even more of your time as volunteers helping many communities across Fife! Well done!!!!

Monday 21st Sept 09

Another frustrating month on the admin front!

We are trying to work with the Air Cadet Organisation (ACO) to provide their cadets still with opportunities to help volunteer in their communities. It was agreed that the ACO Health and Safety team would undertake a full audit on the Group and this took place over 4 weeks ago. We are still awaiting a copy of the health and safety report on the Group from the ACO. We have been informed the final report is "internal and confidential" and therefore we can not have a copy. After much deliberation on the subject, we have decided that if it is that secret then we obviously do not need a copy. We are must doing everything correct, and perhaps have even highlighted aspects that the ACO is failing to do. We have been informed that there has been a flurry of visits to all the local Squadrons by the ACO Health and Safety Team in the past few weeks. For our own peace of mind our solicitor is working on the submission of a freedom of information request, via the Ministry of Defence, to get a copy. Once we have a copy of the report we can assess any observations they made and adjust our working practices if required to ensure all Group members carry out their voluntarily work as safely as possible. There is a cost to the Group financially having to submit this request. Thanks must go to Stevie Black of S&R Transport for the kind donation to help us.

We have, at present, disassociated ourselves from the ACO due to the above, and concerns that the trustees have in respect of recent newspaper coverage in regard to vetting of adults. We hope that the ACO Chief of Staff will ensure both concerns noted above are addressed and then we can both continue to work together for the good of the young people.

On the practical front we have been out and about working hard in many areas of Scotland. Our main project for last month was a weekend South East of Edinburgh staying at Innerwick Outdoor Education Centre, owned by East Lothian Council. We worked for the Scottish Wildlife Trust on the Saturday at one of their nature reserves, and then Sunday headed out by boat to the Island of Craigleith to take part in SOS Puffin. This was for the Scottish Sea Bird Centre who manages the island of Craigleith, a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Special Protection Area due to it being a breeding area for large numbers of puffins. SOS Puffin is a Scottish Seabird Centre project to save the puffins on the islands in the Firth of Forth. Launched in 2006 by the Scottish Seabird Centre with funding provided from Viridor Credits and Scottish Natural Heritage, the five year project aims to stop, and eventually reverse, the dramatic decline in puffin numbers on the islands of Craigleith and Fidra near North Berwick.

Puffin numbers on Craigleith had crashed from an estimated 28,000 pairs to just a few thousand, due to an invasive plant, Tree Mallow which grows to 3m in height. It was introduced to the nearby Bass Rock more than 300 years ago for medicinal use but has spread rapidly in recent years, helped by mild winters, linked to climate change. It choked the puffin burrows and prevented the birds from nesting and rearing their pufflings.

The project was to cut down the tree mallow so that the puffins can nest again. Monitoring is showing that puffins are returning to the islands to re-use old burrows where the mallow has been removed. Hard work by all had an area cleared as we departed the island. Every time we all look across the Forth from Fife we can now look with pride that we have helped the Puffins. We will be heading back next year, so if you want to come and help drop us an email now!

Be good, and thanks to everyone for their support.

Love Cazz :+) xx

PS - See the pictures below!!

Update - 17th Aug 09

Its been such a busy few weeks, sorry I have not been updating this regularly. I will very soon promise.

One very exciting piece of news please read on. 

I wanted to give you an update about the visit to The Colin Burt Reserve for Wildlife Conservation yesterday (Sunday 26th Jul).  A group of 20 FACCG volunteers wrapped up in wellies and waterproofs travelled up to the Reserve yesterday to take part in a day of archaeological surveying on the mound, and to carry out other tasks on the reserve.  We met up with Danny from Scotland's Rural Past www.scotlandsruralpast.org.uk and Georgina from the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) www.rcahms.gov.uk to learn all about the archaeology of the mound on the reserve and to become involved in various survey techniques. Danny also asked volunteers to find the cup marked stone that has a strong significance to the history of the mound. Much thanks to Danny and Georgina for giving us the opportunity to learn so much about the mound. The investigation of the stones on the mound was carried out very sensitively so as not to disturb the ecology.

Professor Roy Watling and his wife Elizabeth also visited the reserve to give a very interesting talk about the fungi on the mound and to explain the connection that it has with the archaeology. Professor Watling ventured into the woodland to record more fungi species and the list will be posted on the website in a few weeks time. Thank You Roy. 

Willie and Gina Angus and Trevor Shaw from the Killin Historical Society came along on the day to meet the group volunteers and make future plans for joint projects on the reserve. It was due to Willie, Gina and Trevor that the archaeological importance of the mound was recognised, so we are extremely grateful for that, thank you.

Most of the day was very wet (though we had blue skies and sun for the last couple of hours) but even with all the rain the FACCG volunteers got involved in the surveying and also carried out other essential tasks on the reserve.

Brian Robins, Dave McIntryre and Alistair Munro lead a team of young volunteers to carry and install the two halves of the timber bridge (made as part of Treecycle) into the wetland area. They all worked hard in very long wet vegetation to make the bridge secure. 

MarkP worked with another group of volunteers shifting timber and having a general tidy up in the woodland. This involved a lot of walking and carrying materials. 

Terry, Sharon and Ian were involved in the surveying on the mound and Heather, Nicholas, Scott, Jodie, Sarah-Jane and Sean all became archaeological surveyors for the day. The end result was the beginning of a pencil drawing of the circle of stones on the mound and a 3D digital computer image of the mound as a whole. Further survey work will be carried out on the mound in the future and there will be more opportunities for other young volunteers to become involved in this work.

After much discussion with Danny from Scotland's Rural Past it would seem that the initial survey and observation of the stones on the top of the mound suggests that it is very likely that there was a round house erected on the mound in the past. This is a very exciting development and is also (as Mark said yesterday) quite an emotional moment to learn that people have lived on the mound such a long time ago. 

We hope to register our project with Scotland's Rural Past so that we can continue to hold survey days and find out more about the archaeology of the mound. When we receive more detailed information from Danny there will be a longer update posted on the 'Project Woodland' website. The website has not been updated for some time due to the very drawn out planning issue that we have had with the National Park Authority, but there will be new information and images posted on the website in a couple of weeks time (when Terry returns from his 'Wings' trip).

I would like to thank everyone who made the effort to come along to the Reserve yesterday and make the day so enjoyable and successful. And also to all the FACCG volunteers who made the day amazing just by being there and always smiling no matter what the weather! 

And a special thanks must go to Linda McCallie for baking the most delicious caramel crispy cake for the volunteers. :-)) And to Brian Robins for cutting the vegetation on the top of the mound in preparation for the survey work. And to Christian for making all the tea and coffee!

Keep Smiling,  Take Care, Love Cazz :-))

July 09

Hi everyone, Hope that you are all still smiling and happy. 

Over the last few weeks there has been a lot going on with the group. 

We have completed the dry stone walling project in Falkland that proved to be very educational for all the volunteers and also resulted in a substantial donation to group funds.  Group volunteers also attended two advanced woodcraft courses with Dave McKeen.  The first course involved staff volunteers learning how to make outdooor benches for Gilvenbank Park in Glenrothes.  The idea of the training course was for volunteers to learn how to construct the benches using manual woodcraft tools so that the benches can be constructed on-site in areas without access to power. 

The second course was held for the staff who are attending the Hungary expedition. The purpose of the training was to make timber interpretation huts of similar design to the huts that volunteers will be constructing in the Buuk National Park in Hungary.  The staff who attended this course will be able to pass on their expertise to the young volunteers during the conservation project days in Hungary.

We have also recently held another Treecycle weekend where young volunteers took part in a woodcraft course with Dave McKeen and work was carried out at the Coal Pit Den project at  Craigmead.  Simond Lockwood from Scottish Native Woods also attended the weekend and provided a training session on trees, timber and the wood miser.  The whole weekend was a huge success.

That's all for now.