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The Olgar Trust is looking for its second wood. No decision has yet been made whether this will be in East Anglia , the West Country or somewhere in the north of England. As with Venus Wood, Trustees will look at any site that appears promising in whatever part of the country that it comes up in. Generally, more small woods come on the market in southern England compared to other regions. Ideally, we would prefer a wood slightly larger than Venus Wood but it is recognised that land prices have virtually doubled since 2001. The Trustees looked at the finances at the beginning of 2008 and concluded that there was a shortfall of around £7,000 to acquire the type of wood that would made an ideal second purchase.
Why not help the ‘Trust bring the purchase of the next wood a bit nearer by buying one of our T-shirts (left.) Price £9.99 inc. p&p from the Olgar Trust, BCM:Olgar, London WC.1N 3XX. Sizes S, M, L, XL, XXL.
SHOP ONLINE AND HELP BUY
If you already shop online with some of the major retailers why not get those companies to donate to the Olgar Trust through your transactions.
We have teamed up with easyfundraising who provide a simple method of donating to good causes. It won't cost you a penny but could bring the purchase of more woods much closer. Next time you decide to make a purchase from The AA, Amazon, Tesco, Toys R Us, Virgin or any one of over 300 major retailers remember to browse the stores through the www.easyfundraising.org.uk website and up to 15% of your transaction value will be paid directly to the ‘Trust. Important: Before making your first purchase you need to select 'Olgar Trust' under the tab 'Find a Cause'. This will enable you to register with easyfundrasing so that retailers know where to allocate the generated funds from your online shopping.
Also, if you use http://olgartrust.easysearch.org.uk as your search engine a few pence per search will be donated to the Olgar Trust. If we get enough people doing this, the pennies will soon add up.
When Martyn Taylor, Witan Elder, decided to upgrade his computer connection he went for Vodafone Mobile Broadband. Knowing that Vodafone had signed up to the easyfundraising scheme he logged in to www.easyfundraising.org.uk and found the Vodafone link. He then ordered his new broadband over the internet. As a result Vodafone made a £10.50 donation to the Olgar Trust through easyfundraising. “It only took a bit of extra effort and a few clicks, but this is a good way of raising money for the ‘Trust,” said Martyn afterwards. 
DIARY DATES: 14th August, 2008ce. Olgar Trust Annual General Meeting. Open to all members. Venue: The London Apprentice p.h., Church Street, Old Isleworth, Middlesex. (Beside the River Thames.) Starts 8.00 p.m. 12th – 14th September, 2008ce. Weald Woodfair. See www.bentley.org.uk/ Look under the events section. 20th /21st June, 2009. 9 th Annual Open Weekend in Venus Wood, near Staplecross, East Sussex.
Britain is the most watched country on earth but CCTV has failed to cut crime in London, a senior police officer has warned. This is despite huge investment in cameras. Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) Mike Neville, the head of Scotland Yard's Visual Images Identification and Detections Office, said cameras do not act as a deterrent to crime as criminal assume they are not working. He also admitted that some police officers are reluctant to look through CCTV images “because it's hard work.” DCI Neville said only 3 per cent of London 's street robberies had been solved by CCTV images. “Billions of pounds have been spent on kit, but no thought has gone into how the police are going to use the images and how they will be used in court. It's been an utter fiasco,” he said, “but if criminals see that CCTV works, they are less likely to commit crimes.” Councillor Ray Puddifoot, leader of Hillingdon Borough Council, in Middlesex, said that capturing an offence on camera was no different to a police officer having witnessed an incident. “The use of these powers in Hillingdon is carefully controlled, and only used to detect fraud, anti-social and criminal behaviour,” he commented. New legislation allegedly introduced to fight ‘terrorism' gave councils access to phone and e mail records and permission to use surveillance. Meanwhile a cyclist, whose racing bike was stolen from Portsmouth station, was told to check the CCTV footage himself as local police were ‘too busy.' Richard Deakin had his £250 cycle stolen as he made his way to work in Littlehampton. “I was told that the British Transport Police did not have the resources to look at the footage and that I should claim on my insurance,” he said. A police spokesperson questioned whether it was the best use of officer time to look at CCTV images.
THEATRE HAS WIND TURBINE A London theatre is set to become Britain's first arts venue to be powered entirely by the wind. The Colour House Children's Theatre, based in Merton, has installed a 16 foot high turbine. Called the Quietrevolution, the turbine has three S-shaped blades which are virtually silent. Theatre owners hope that the system will provide enough power for the 70-seat Grade II listed building. Dough Stewart of Green Energy UK, which donated the turbines to the theatre said, “New generation wind turbines are a major stride in the right direction. They are quiet, look great and produce good amounts of renewable power, meaning they are ideal for use in urban areas.” Colour House theatre Director Peter Wallder commented, “Electricity costs theatres a lot of money when you think of all the lighting, effects and heating that go into productions. Now our electricity bill is non-existant.”
England will be the most overcrowded country in Europe , official projections have predicted. There are currently 50 million people in England but that number could increase by a third, according to data from the Office for National Statistics. That would be equivalent to 1,349 people per square mile, compared to around 1,010 now. The Government recognises that this increase will put considerable pressure on the countryside as more homes will be needed.
A conservation group is urging the Government to rethink its eco-town concept. The campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) says that there is a ‘worrying lack of evidence' for the 15 planned sites benefiting the environment. Instead the charity wants the Government to concentrate on one or two high quality schemes which were in the right place to be sustainable. CPRE believe that many of the proposed sites are recycled failed proposals. Updated: July, 2008. |
The summer solstice weekend saw a group of Olgar Trust members and supports experience the great outdoors in generally good weather conditions. Eleven adults and two children, plus one 7 week old baby, Freyja, (right) met in the wood to mark ten years of the ‘Trust. Some visitors camped over for two nights, whilst others just stayed for one night. Cooking was carried out over a fire-pit. During Saturday evening some supporters walked through the woods to the ‘Cross Inn' in nearby Staplecross village. As is usual for this annual meet, several of the visitors came from Australia and New Zealand – they also had two winning tickets in the pub raffle!