July 28th 2007

News from the Sustainable Trust-www.sustrust.co.uk

To our delight, Satish Kumar has become a patron of our small Environmental Trust.

He declared that he ‘was honoured’ to be asked, making us feel more empowered to carry on the work:

 

Crenver Grove, the 14H woodland we manage for the Dandelion Trust, now entertains local children as part of the ForestSchool. Any initiative to bring volunteers of all ages and abilities in contact with nature and their heritage is welcomed. Help with clearance of the invasive species is constantly needed, and is always a light-hearted activity. Just ring us for details. 01209 831718. ‘ Breathing Spaces’ , a Big Lottery fund have just made us a sizeable award for works to Crenver Grove, mending walls, an archaeological study, green woodworking workshops and training.

 

Globally-our little project in Sri Lanka helping tsunami victims has moved on. The Saga Charitable Trust have put a further £5,000 into the neglected village we helped back into employment with a Cornish boost to their coir spinning cottage industry last year. They will buy sewing machines, train and provide a showroom together with our Sri Lankan partners, the Centre for Environment & Development. We have also been instrumental in forming a Credit Union in this village, Madampagama. These often help poor villagers cross the poverty line, making their work and lives more sustainable. Scooby’s images of the progress is being exhibited around Devon & Cornwall this year. The exhibition is called ‘Recovery’. Prints are for sale at  (www. Travellightphotos.co.uk)

 

Locally, we are engaged in negotiations to buy the ‘Giants/Pendarves/Carwynnen Quoit/Cromlech/Dolmen- also known as the ‘Frying Pan’. Naming it is a weighty problem, the least of our worries is clearing a planning technicality and raising the money to buy this ListedScheduledMonument together with the surrounding 5 acres of land. We would be delighted to receive any donations towards the £22,000 asking price, or any offer of help or suggestions towards running a series of events to involve a wide audience. H.R.H the Duke of Cornwall , Camborne Town Council and The Cornish Gorsedd have kicked off the fund with Community Energy Plus donating 200 indigenous trees to extend the wildlife corridor on this land, which was formerly set aside land, owned by a bulb growing company.

 

So we trundle on, pleased with an involvement in a new magazine called ‘The Source’, happy to burn charcoal for cooking and drawing, and most of all to welcome new people to help us treat the world as if we intend to stay.