Alva Woodland Park, Clackmananshire.

Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th May 2008

Flisk Wood weekend residential 23rd - 24th Feb 08 

7 Volunteers recently tried out a pilot WoodCraft course

Everyone had the chance to learn how to use handtools and powered machinery while producing their own wooden stool.  The course was a pilot educational course funded by the Group and run by local craftsman Dave McKeen of Hollytree Woodcrafts.  It was so successful the Group is now trying to secure funding to run further weekend courses, linked with a full educational initiative focusing on trees and woodlands working with our friends on Falkland Estate and Simon Lockwood from Scottish Native Woods.  Lookout for further developments of our new and exciting project "Project TreeCycle" that we hope to launch in a few months time.

Working on Mill Burn - Falkland Estate - Two weekends in  January and February

Update on Projects carried out over the last 6 months

Catch up on what we have been up to between May and October!

May 2007 

  • During May this year group volunteers were very active with numerous visits to the Secret Garden project at Sugaracre Nursery in Falkland.  Tasks included preparing the beds for planting, tidying the garden area and preparing access paths for laying gravel, which was kindly donated by Carillion Construction. 

  • Two full day projects at Cardenden Woodland saw group volunteers construct two bridges using materials donated by Carillion Construction, and the resurfacing of two long lengths of footpaths throughout the woodland.  This project was organised by Simon Lockwood of Scottish Native Woods and has made a tremendous improvement to the access of the woodland which will benefit the local community. 

  • Group volunteers also carried out two full days bag packing with the kind permission of the Staff at Morrisons supermarket in Glenrothes.  The proceeds from the two days went towards the forthcoming group expedition to Poland in July, and to other group projects, educational events and residentials. 

  • A small group of volunteers attended a clean-up project day during the week which was organised by Carillion Construction based in Markinch.  Volunteers filled numerous black bags with litter which had been dumped on the banks along a cycle access route.  The litter was removed by dumper truck and the access route was restored to its natural state. 

  • The following weekend group volunteers took part in a project at Bluebell Wood in Dalgety Bay, which was organised by Simon Lockwood of Scottish Native Woods.  Volunteers resurfaced the access path through the woodland with type 1 gravel/hardcore mixed with quarry dust.  This involved lots of hardwork scraping out the path and transporting wheelbarrows of gravel to surface the path which extended the whole length of the woodland.  The improvement for access to the local community was phenomenal. 

  • The last weekend in May saw a large group of volunteers travel up to their reserve (The Colin Burt Reserve for Wildlife Conservation) in Glen Dochart for a residential weekend to take part in a final workshop for the completion of the Green Timber Bird Hide.  Various other conservations tasks were undertaken throughout the weekend, and a number of volunteers travelled back to Fife on the Saturday evening to carry out a bag packing day at Asda in Dunfermline on the Sunday, the proceeds going once again to group funds for educational events, residentials and projects.

June 2007    

  • ‘The Big Tent’ (Scotland’s first festival of stewardship) took place in June on Falkland Estate in Fife for the second year.  Fife Air Cadets Conservation Group is a member of The Falkland Stewards, and was invited to help out at the festival.  The festival is held over three days and group volunteers carry out car parking and stewarding duties, as well as manning their own tent, providing educational activities for children, and giving dry stone walling demonstrations.  This year the group also teamed up with Simon Lockwood of Scottish Native Woods to carry out a green timber processing demonstration using a woodmizer. 

  • Two volunteer members of the group gave a talk and presentation one evening to the Auchtermuchty Council Annual General Meeting.  This helped to promote the group and its work, as well as encouraging people to become a group volunteer or inspiring them to take up worthwhile volunteering opportunities within their local community.  

  • The Royal Highland Show is an annual event held over three days in June.  A number of volunteers travelled to the show in the groups ‘Green Bus’ to spend a day observing all the activities and events whilst also making new contacts and gaining numerous new ideas for projects and educational opportunities for the group…….as well as having lost of fun negotiating the large pools of muddy puddles generated by the almost constant rainfall throughout the day!! 

  • Volunteers also visited the Secret Garden project at Sugaracre in Falkland on two separate project evenings during June.  Numerous activities were carried out and volunteers gained knowledge in planting and weeding techniques.

July 2007    

  • During one evening in July a group of volunteers attended a conservation project on the site of Exxon Mobil, near Cardenden.  The projects was organised by Bill Sweenie (a group member and employee of Exxon Mobil).  Various conservation tasks were carried out such as laying a new footpath, planting wild flower plugs and cutting back established trees and bushes.   Assisting a large company like Exxon Mobil with conservation work allows group volunteers to ‘work together for tomorrows future’, whilst also improving the environment for the local community. 

  • A further evening visit to the Secret Garden project in Falkland saw volunteers carrying out more practical tasks in the garden as well as planting and weeding the raised beds. 

  • On the 23rd of July -  Thirty two group volunteers travelled to Poland for two weeks on the Groups second International expedition.  Two days prior to the expedition volunteers attended a swim test held in Bowhill Swimming Pool at Cardenden, lead by Debbie Cranmer (group volunteer and qualified ISA Instructor).  The swim test was carried for insurance purposes relating to the expedition.  Volunteers travelled to Zakopane in Poland by bus, plane, train and foot.  The group stayed in Zakopane for approx 9 days and carried out conservation tasks with Countryside Rangers from the Tatra National Park, and within the local community.  As well as conservation projects, volunteers discovered and explored the surrounding area by taking part in environmental and educational walks, and attending talks from the Countryside Rangers.  Volunteers experienced, visits to museums, using chair lifts and the funicular railway, high level and low level walking routes, a full days water rafting, swimming and much more.  The remaining three days were spent travelling to and exploring the main city of Krakow which included a visit to Auschwitz and the Salt Mines in Wielicka.  The expedition was a tremendous success and an opportunity for Discovery, Exploration and Conservation of a different country in Europe.  Volunteers shared their experiences from the expedition by keeping their own personal diaries.  One of the many positive outcomes of the expedition is the forthcoming visit to Scotland of one of the Tatra National Park Rangers and her conservation volunteers in 2008.  The Polish volunteers will work with Fife Air Cadets Conservation Group on various projects as well as having the opportunity to Discover, Explore and learn more about our Country.  A more detailed report of the expedition will be uploaded to the website in the near future.

August 2007    

  • One week after returning from Poland approximately fifteen volunteers travelled down to the Lake District for seven days to work with The National Trust.  Tasks included high level footpath work, dry stone walling, track repairs and everyone enjoyed the various evening activities organised.  The practical projects were hard work due to the difficult terrain and weather conditions, but a large volume of work was achieved, and lots of fun was had by all.

September 2007   

  • During September a small group of volunteers visited The Colin Burt Reserve for Wildlife Conservation on a week day to carry out more work on the Green Timber Bird Hide.  This involved stabilising the legs with cement as well as various other tasks to the overall structure.  The timely completion of the hide was fundamental in retaining the funding grant from The Scottish Community Foundation, therefore the work could not always be carried out within organised group visits to the reserve at the weekend.  

  • Simon Lockwood of Scottish Native Woods invited group volunteers to a weekend camping residential at Balgownie Wood near Oakley.  Over the two days a number of volunteers carried out tree brashing, timber extraction and attended a chainsaw demonstration.  Laura McCauley of Scottish Native Woods lead a seed collecting event with a group of volunteers to be followed up with a planting session at a later date. The ongoing project at Balgownie Wood aims to promote more access to the woodland for members of the local community. 

  • A further 2 visits to The Colin Burt Reserve for Wildlife Conservation in Glen Dochart were held during September.  A large number of volunteers visited the reserve one Saturday to carry out more work to the bird hide, install a gate at the entrance to the woodland (to stop grazing sheep straying into the woodland), plant trees and measure out an area at the east end of the reserve for deer fencing. The following week a smaller group of volunteers visited the reserve to continue with work on the bird hide.  

  • Paul Coakley (a group member and HNC Countryside Management graduate) held a very educational ‘Bug Night’ on Falkland Estate.  Paul gave volunteers a guided walk through part of the Estate and talked about various habitats and insect species.  Volunteers spent time searching for insects under rocks, in long grass and in dead tree trunks.  Paul issued volunteers with a very educational and informative hand-out about bugs and insects.  The event was a huge success. 

  • Also during September fifteen group volunteers attended a woodland training weekend organised by Simon Lockwood of Scottish Native Woods at Comrie in Perthshire.  Volunteers carried out numerous woodland management tasks such as timber extraction, snedding, brashing and also took part in a chainsaw training session lead by Mark Armour (group member and qualified chainsaw operator).  Volunteers stayed overnight at the Comrie Croft Hostel and young volunteers took part in various evening entertainment and sports sessions.  Over the two days in excess of 40 tonnes of timber had been extracted from the woodland.  A huge achievement from all those who took part, with lots of teamwork and dedication.

  • At the end of the month over thirty volunteers met up on Falkland Estate for an educational evening focusing on Bats.  Everyone learnt a great deal on bats during a talk from Elspeth Christie from the Fife Bat Group.  After the talk young volunteers made some bat boxes and then the evening was rounded off with a short walk, using the Groups bat detectors, to   watch the bats on Falkland Estate,

October 2007    

  • The annual group expedition to the Lake District took place once again this October.  Approximately 30 volunteers travelled by minibus to the Lakes to stay at the High Wray Base Camp near Ambleside.  During the week long residential group volunteers carried out four days of conservation work which ranged from footpath work, woodland clearance and burning felled wood, dry stone walling to the removal and burning of rhododendron.  A large volume of work was achieved over the four days and the National Trust Rangers were very happy with the huge efforts and enthusiasm of the volunteers.  Other activities included:  hill walking, mountain biking, rock climbing, evening walks and a quiz, a talk on the National Park by Moira Herring (National Trust Ranger), and finally a farm visit and cookery demonstration held by the National Trust Food and Farming team. Another week long residential that was a huge success, involving a large amount of teamwork, enthusiasm and dedication from all group volunteers.

  • To raise funds for group activities and residentials volunteers take part in various bag packing days.  Saturday 27th October saw a group of volunteers attend a bag packing day at Sainsburys Supermarket in Leven.  The conservation group is extremely grateful to all the supermarkets who give permission for volunteers to carry out bag packing days, as the proceeds make a tremendous impact on group funds, and bag packing is also a practical way for young volunteers to highlight their work to the local community.  It also allows them to make a contribution to securing funding that can be used for forthcoming projects, purchasing of equipment and to reduce their personal contributions on residentials.

  • Forty three volunteers from the Group turned out on the 28th October for Make a Difference Day in Strathmiglo.  Despite the Fife Coast and Countryside Trust spending many hundreds of pounds advertising the project day in local papers only six people from the local community attended.  Fences were erected; hundreds of tree tubes removed and a large area of the community woodland was brashed.  All in all a good day.

Small Snippets:

During October the Group also learnt that it had achieved charity status and now is a registered Scottish Charity.   

The Group’s work to help Newport Primary School establish its ECO garden at the beginning of the year helped the school win the Naturally Fife Eco schools competition.They recently returned from the awards ceremony at Dunfermline with two trophies and two thousand pounds to develop their garden.

Falkland won a prestigious award during the European Entente Florale competition.Only two UK communities were put forward Shrewsbury and Falkland.The Group has worked hard in Falkland on many projects and to promote “Working together for tomorrow’s future”

The Group's new Green Bus is now on the road. Kindly funded by the Awards for All - Lottery Funding, Scottish Natural Heritage and ExxonMobil.  The bus has allowed the Group to drastically increase the amount of young volunteers it can get out to each project, and also we have doubled the amount of projects so far each month since we took delivery.  A brilliant asset for the Group!

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The Big Tent Event - Falkland Estate

 

30th June to 2nd July 2006

The first ever festival of Stewardship

Over the 3 days FACCG members assisted with this event by carrying out car parking duties, assisting event organisers and other organisations attending the event, guarding palace doors, and offering help and assistance to members of the public. FACCG also erected the 12x12 tents onsite to show the group displays, as well constructing a dry stone wall throughout the weekend as a demonstration of skills group members have. The event was a huge success with in excess of 5000 visitors recorded over the weekend. Our grateful thanks go to all who came along to help out, and also to Falkland Centre for Stewardship for their much appreciated contribution to Group funds. The Group will be in Falkland for 3 practical tasks over the next 4 months as part of our partnership with the Falkland Stewards Group, this is part of our commitment after the success of the substantial Rural Challenge Fund Grant.

Visit from the 5th World Congress Rangers -

17th June 2006

The group spent a weekend camping at ‘The Colin Burt Reserve for Wildlife Conservation’ in Glen Dochart from 16th to 18th June. Fifty four Rangers from all over the world, who were attending the 5th World Congress in Stirling, visited our project on the Saturday. The theme of the Congress was “People & Place, the Natural Connection” and our project at Glen Dochart was an excellent example of this theme.

Five of our youngsters acted as guides to show the Rangers all the practical conservation projects group members were involved in. They saw youngsters and adults re-building a stone bridge, building a boardwalk, creating an otter holt, constructing wildlife viewing hides and designing a gathering circle. Various ecological surveys were carried out earlier in the day which involved small groups of youngsters. The Rangers were also able to view all the FACCG display boards in the marquee, and were given a special newsletter containing information about FACCG and the project to take away with them.

The feedback about FACCG and our work was extremely positive. Tony Wilson, Countryside Ranger and Chairman of the Scottish Countryside Rangers Association commented…..”the feedback from the delegates who visited the Fife Air Cadets Conservation Group project at Glen Dochart was extremely positive. Many delegates had been inspired by the young people working so hard to care for their environment. They were also very impressed with the young guides”. The Rangers were visiting Scotland from countries such as Australia, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Kyrgystan, Malawi, Uganda. USA, Germany and many more…… We hope the visit will inspire the Ranger delegates to set up similar youth conservation groups in their part of the world, and perhaps eventually become involved in a youth exchange visit in the future.

The whole weekend was very productive and we achieved so much. Everyone worked very hard and many of the practical projects were completed by the end of the weekend.

 

The weekend was not all practical tasks however, and one of the highlights was a visit from Professor Roy Watling MBE, who is a former Acting Regius Keeper and Head of Mycology and Plant Pathology at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Roy retired 8 years ago, but continues to carry out mycological research in the UK and Southeast Asia. Roy visited the reserve with his wife Elizabeth and carried out two fungi surveys taking small groups of youngsters to assist him. After the surveys Roy then unexpectedly gave the Group an extremely educational and superb talk about various different types of fungi that he found on the land.

Senior Ecologist, Keith Cohen also visited the reserve and carried out a Phase 1 survey. Keith was very impressed with the diversity of plant species growing in the wetland and grassland areas. During the weekend the youngsters also took part in an art project lead by Jan Hendry, which involved creating a record of their experiences in book form, and using fungi paper (made at previous paper-making workshops) for the book covers. On the Saturday evening there was opportunity for youngsters and adults to learn about bats and moths with Kate Morrison, Countryside Ranger from Fife.

On the Sunday two National Park Rangers brought their conservation group along to the project to work together with FACCG. They worked very hard and removed a whole length of old fencing in just a few hours.

The whole weekend was a huge success. The group achieved lots of hard work, had many opportunities to increase existing skills and knowledge, and everyone had lots of fun. The extent of the work that was achieved in 2 days was phenomenal, and the level of teamwork involved was inspiring. It was a great honour to share our achievements and experiences with Environmental Professionals at an International level. As always……..’Working together for tomorrow’s future’.

Bag Packing at the Co-Op Supermarket - Leven

8th July 2006

Approximately 12 members of the group attended this fund-raising day. At most there were only 3 tills in operation, so adults and youngsters took turns packing shopping bags. But due to the generosity of Leven shoppers and the hard work of the bag packing team we still managed to raise £283.03!!

So well done to all who came along on the day, and a huge thanks must go to all the shoppers and the staff in Leven Co-Op!  The money will be put towards existing group funds and future residentials.

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