The first thing is that the newsletter will now be coming out at the start of the month, rather than in the middle. This will make it easier to let you know what is happening during the month. This month see the launch of the new season and our virtual AGM. October wood fuel session will be available to all members to book onto. There are still spaces for First Aid training on Saturday 17th September.
David Gravett - Membership Coordinator
What's In this Woodfueler
Heartwood AGM
It's that time of year again when we hold our AGM and combine the meeting with the launch of the new season. As last year we will be holding the meeting virtually using Zoom, the joining details are available in the Members Information & Announcements section of the website.
- Welcome
- Apologies
- Approval of Minutes 13th September 2021
- Chair's Report
- Treasurer's Report
- Election of Officers
- Chair
- Secretary
- Membership
- Treasurer
- Safety
- Heartwood Sub-Committee Chair
- Wood Fuel (Operations) Sub-Committee Chair
- Nether Hall Wood Sub-Committee Chair
- AOB
- Next Meeting – September 2023 (Exact Date tbc)
Please reply to this email with any items you wish to add to the final agenda along with any nominations for committee positions.
Kevin Banton - Heartwood Chair
Training
FIRST AID COURSE SATURDAY 17th September
Each session which is run by Heartwood has to be supported by a team of First Aiders. Without these we can not even use hand tools, never mind chainsaws, the ATV or clearing saw. It may look like we have a lot of first raiders already, however with increased sessions and attendees we have to increase that number. Some people who we have trained in the past are no longer members and they need replacing. The course is funded by Heartwood and runs from 9 am until 4ish at Rosliston Forestry Centre.
The course is run by an experienced and "fun" instructor who won't bore you. If you can attend then please contact me and I can book you on. It not only gives you First Aid at Work but also covers +F which is needed for any machinery which you may be trained on in the future. Finally, for our younger members it counts towards your Duke of Edinburgh award.
Email
Robin Barber - Training Coordinator
Wood fuel sessions
October to December 2022 wood fuel session dates will be released in the same way as last season, with a month at a time being made available for members to book on to, this does not apply to non wood fuel sessions. Wood fuel sessions will be released on the following schedule.
October
- Available from 6pm on the 1st September to all members, increased spaces and a waiting list.
November
- Available from 6pm on the 15th September to skilled members, 10 spaces, no waiting list.
- Available from 6pm on the 1st October to all members, increased spaces and a waiting list.
December
- Available from 6pm on the 15th October to skilled members, 10 spaces, no waiting list.
- Available from 6pm on the 1st November to all members, increased spaces and a waiting list.
Skilled members get early access to ensure the sessions are viable. Skilled members are those members who have a skill that is required to run a session, i.e. Session Lead, First Aiders, ATV Driver, Clearing Saw, Chainsaw Operators, etc. When the sessions are available to skilled members there will be no waiting list available. When the required skilled spaces have been filled other skilled members will need to wait until the sessions have been released to all members. The waiting list will then be available. If the session you want is full please book on to the waiting list, as this allows the team to assess the demand for places and add sessions as required (if possible).
David Gravett - Membership Coordinator
Heartwood HQ
We ran the extra session on Sunday 21st August, thank you to all those who attended as we processed most of the charcoal wood. Also on this day the local allotment made a donation and attended making stools for the children's area of their allotment.
There was a smaller group in attendance on Saturday 27th August and we started making besoms for selling at Halloween, made charcoal, cleared the bank in the car park of all the weeds and made a start on bringing over wood from Edwards Wood left over from last season.
Over the next sessions we will be focusing on besoms for Halloween and then our reindeer and snowmen for Christmas, no previous skills required come along and have a go. There is always room for anyone to come and share their craft skills on the day.
You can easily find HQ sessions by going to the Heartwood HQ section from the Members menu of the website. Sessions this month:
- Friday, 9th September 09:30 - 14:30
- Saturday, 24th September 09:30 - 14:30
Remember we always have the fire going and for a small donation, lunch is usually provided.
The bank in the car park has been cleared of the dead flowers/weeds and the huge thistles. There has been a diverse mix of flowers and plants, non of which were sown. Its been very interesting to see some of the species that have moved in. Hopefully with the arisings cleared there will be an even better display next year.
Chris Adams - Heartwood HQ Chair
Nether Hall Wood
There is still quite a bit of work going within the Nether Hall sub-group. We have started the planning for winter coppicing. There will be a couple of mid-week sessions per month to ensure we get this year's quota completed. The events are on the booking system through to Christmas, so feel free to book on if you would like to be involved. There may be a little firewood and there will certainly be stakes and poles for anyone who wants them for the garden etc. The sessions are limited on numbers due to the parking restrictions, but if there is enough demand we can look at putting on extra sessions. They are mid-week so as not to clash with woodfuel sessions.
The rides and the main meadow have now been mowed so that will see us through this winter. There has been some very positive feedback from site users so far. We are working on the detail for the main information board which we hope to get up as soon as possible. There will be a link from the board via a QR code to our web site where we can store more information and updates on our work on site. We also plan to have an A4 clip frame where we can post details of upcoming work as notification for site users. The site entrance area is also due to be stoned to improve access for us during the winter.
Kevin Banton - Nether Hall Wood Chair
Projects
As mentioned previously we have the first school charcoal filed trip on the 13th September at "The Outwoods" near Loughborough, there is still time to get involved if you wish, just let me know. We are getting increasing enquiries for corporate and volunteer days. These are planned to be ran at HQ, so we'll need a few willing hands to help when dates go into the diary. These could be very beneficial for us as a group as the income will help us achieve one of our objectives of becoming grant independent. We also have the ladies from Ashby WI coming along to a couple of sessions later in the year to make Christmas Reindeer, again a few hands to help would be appreciated.
Our work with Sterling University on a project called "RestREco" will see us carrying out small thinning activities in a number of woodlands as part of a study looking at the impacts/benefits of the type of thinning we do all the time. We will be carrying out the felling of the trees identified by the project team. Link to the wider project - https://restreco.com/research/
Derby University funded internship - We have been asked to look at taking a student for a short period as part of their paid internship scheme. We are looking at a potential business management or well-being student. This isn't finalised yet, but it's very positive that we have been asked to be part of such a scheme.
Kevin Banton - Heartwood Chair
Where we are working
We are continually looking to diversify our portfolio of woodlands. We recently toured :"Picks Triangle" just outside Albert Village with the National Forest Woodland Manager. There is certainly work in that woodland that suits our type of session, so we have agreed to run a couple of "taster days" this season targeted at people local to the site. There are a couple of reasons for this, one being we are fully committed this year with grant work in Foxley Wood and Edwards Wood, but in future seasons we will hopefully include this site. Secondly the National Forest team are looking to involve the local community in Picks Triangle to create a community volunteer group to look after it. Let me know if you would like to help with the sessions (no logs for leaders I'm afraid)
Kevin Banton - Heartwood Chair
Website Updates
In the last newsletter I mentioned that there would be an update the to booking system by the beginning of September. I have decided to delay this as I haven't had sufficient time for testing. I'll let you know in advance of any changes in the Members Information & Announcements section of the website.
David Gravett - Membership Coordinator