Support for Tarvin Community Woodland Trust.

We were very sad to hear recently of the death of a regular user of the woodland. He and his dog took their exercise in our woodland, sometimes several times a day. Meeting him was absolute pleasure – his cheerful face could brighten a dull day and chatting to him was always a joy. We were surprised to find that he has left in his will a bequest for the woodland. We feel that this is a mark of the regard in which he held it. The donation will help us to maintain and develop the woodland as he would have wanted. Thank you, friend. We will miss you.

We were also surprised to receive a quantity of woodland management kit. It had come from a villager who had been involved with work in woodlands but is no longer doing so and has decided to pass the equipment over to us. All of these items will be useful and, as well as helping us to carry out our task of managing the woodland, they will also enable us to avoid some of the expenditure which would doubtless become necessary as our existing implements age.
Such events – when Tarvin folk "bear us in mind" when items are being disposed of – are most welcome, and we thank the donors most sincerely for them. But they are not very common.

We don't receive monetary donations for the woodland very often and, of those which we do receive, by far the most common are the smaller donations, when people decide to sponsor a bird box or to provide us with some money in order to mark the memory of a family member, or of 'old so-and-so'. Collectively, these donations do mount up and they make a huge difference to our long-term ability to run the woodland, not just on behalf of the donors, but for the whole of the Tarvin community.

It is appropriate to point our once more that every penny that the Woodland receives comes from the Tarvin community, one way or another. As well as the donations from Tarvin folk, we receive an annual grant from the Parish Council. This, of course, is money which the people of Tarvin have provided through their Council Tax. And, each year, we try to run our own fund raising. Highest profile in this is our plant sale in mid-May each year which, last year, we had to run in front gardens.
This year, we hope to be back on the front of Tarvin Methodist Church but, even if that isn't possible, we WILL do something – somewhere – and Tarvin folk will help us by buying our plants!

We are grateful for all of the help and support which we receive, one way or another. More than anything else, it is that support which makes Jim Grogan's motto for the woodland, "Created by the community for the community" come true. We are really grateful for that. Thank you all very much indeed.