Hello All,
There will be a volunteer session at Fairfield Orchard, Flora and Fauna on Saturday, October 10th.
More on that in a moment but first a big thank you to those who responded to my previous email regarding the reasons for the low numbers attending our Saturday volunteering sessions.
Whilst there were several different reasons, the irony is that expectation of over subscription was the most prominent theme. You will have gathered that, as yet, we have not been oversubscribed on our Saturday sessions.
The Fairfield Association continues to run volunteer sessions under the revised ‘dispersed group protocol’ laid out in the attached document. The next Saturday morning session will take place on October 10th.
Note that Government guidance on the ‘rule of six’ and mixing with other households is quite clear that ‘work or the provision of voluntary or charitable services’ is not restricted but must follow social distancing.
This we achieve by:
* Maintaining a 2 metre rule throughout our sessions.
* Limiting work Teams to a maximum of six.
* Teams have staggered start times, keep separate and have separate breaks.
* The meeting place is the Orchard Stump Circle rather than the more confined shed.
In order to facilitate this volunteers must ‘book in’ with the Volunteer Organiser (Ian) if they plan to attend. To do this please email or text Ian no later than noon Thursday at:
Ian will then allocate you to a team, a start time and indicate what tools you might bring if you wish to use your own. Please bring your own refreshment.
And so to the tasks for Saturday 10th October, which are:
* Giving the hedge alongside the Sunnyside Lane – Orchard track its annual trim and clearing the track of weeds.
* Trimming back the hedge alongside the Fauna path.
One other rather different matter. From time to time we have to take rapid action to maintain the Reserve. An example is clearing a fallen branch blocking a path. This has been done informally by the Volunteer Organiser calling upon long standing volunteers for immediate assistance.
We want to formalise this by establishing a Rapid Reaction Force(!) of people who the Volunteer organiser can contact if help is needed at short notice. This is, of course, always subject to availability.
So, please let Ian know if :
* You plan to attend the volunteer session on Saturday (by 12 noon Thursday)
* You want your name added to the Rapid Reaction Force.
Many thanks for reading this far and very best wishes to you,
Jonathan.
Here is what we did
Volunteers gathered for the Saturday volunteering session on a fine and pleasant morning. We continued to use the revised Covid protocol.
• Team A included 6 volunteers who trimmed back the overhanging hedge along the track between Sunnyside Lane and the Orchard, including clearing out weeds growing on the path. All cleared away. The Team also made a start trimming back the Paddock / allotments hedge.
• Team B included 8 volunteers in two subgroups trimming back the hedge alongside the fauna path and that between Carr House Meadow and the Gun Range. All cleared away.
• Team C included 2 volunteers who completed the ramming in of the stakes in West Field for the new hedge.