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The entrances are done and look great – we will shortly adjust the gates so that they don’t open outwards and will plant some more hedging.

We’ll also add a post at the Elms Close end – at the moment there remains a big gap next to the gate. Sadly, we haven’t been able to connect the Elms Close corner footpath to this entrance, as there was a risk of de-stabilising the adjacent telegraph pole and fencing. We hope to do this in the future.

If you are wondering why the maintenance vehicle entrance gate isn’t set back into the field, this was a specific instruction from Highways, who said there must be no possibility that the space will be used by school traffic.

The vehicle entrance will remain secured, with keys held only by the appointed contractors and Duxford Parish Council.  Additional hedging will be planted where there are gaps.

The spoils from the digging out have been moved to the area of the proposed habitat mound.

Construction of paths and further landscaping will only commence towards the end of July, so although there are now safer entrances onto the field, please note that there will be no connecting paths for a while yet.

 

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Most of the big the comparison sites like uSwitch, Money Supermarket and Energyhelpline are offering donations.

Simply to log in to their sites through easy fundraising and your donation will be assured.  Use this link or copy/paste the following address into your browser:   http://efraising.org/nY7jUdtC3x

Finally!  We have had the nod from Highways that the construction of the entrances can begin, and our appointed construction company has confirmed that these should be completed by the end of April/ first week in May.

 

In early March, the Brewery Field working party held the first project planning meeting with the designer and the landscaper, to agree a schedule for the works.

As soon as Highways give the go-ahead to construct the entrances on to the field, work will begin to create a secure maintenance vehicle entrance, one fully accessible pedestrian entrance and one pedestrian entrance.  These will be completed before the Spring IWM airshow (25/26 May).

Our appointed landscaper, local company Hortiservices, will begin work on the interior structure of the site only after the Summer IWM airshow (13/14 July), ensuring that the site is ready for planting in the Autumn, the optimum season.

Although work is likely to be in full swing, we will endeavour to ensure that at least part of the field is accessible to the village over the weekend of the Autumn IWM airshow (21/22 September).

Exciting news! The Parish Council heard last week that they have been successful in their application to Amey for a grant of £50,000 to transform Brewery Field into the magical place that the whole community can enjoy – now we have the promise of funding, we can really get going.

The deadline for completion of the project is end of April 2020 so it’s all systems go.

SCDC Planning have now discharged the conditions that DPC is required to meet prior to beginning work – we are now waiting for the approval for the works on the highway and then we will instruct the contractor to go ahead with the construction of the vehicle entrance so that work on the site can begin.

DPC has this month agreed to pay invoices for the Brewery Field works that Amey have offered to fund, as detailed in the Amey grant offer letter, on the condition that these will be repaid in full to DPC as soon as the Amey grant is made. We need to do this because although DPC has been successful in its application for £50,000, the grant is payable in arrears, only after work is complete.

Don’t forget our easyfundraising page, where you can raise free donations by shopping on line with over 3000 major retailers.  Please consider using this for your on-line shopping – we could raise considerable funds this way. 

With just a few people using it, we have already raised over £150 – imagine if everyone in the village used it for their online shopping how much money we could raise for e.g. some extra special woodcraft, sculpture, or art installations – your ideas are invited!

It’s easy and costs nothing – simply follow the link below: https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/duxfordgreen/

The Amey Community Fund awards grants to support community, environmental and heritage projects run by non-profit organisations based in Cambridgeshire, within 10 miles of a landfill site. The fund is managed by Cambridgeshire Community Foundation and is part of a voluntary environmental tax credit scheme called the Landfill Communities Fund. For more information please visit www.cambscf.org.uk/amey-community-fund.html

 

Good news!  Friends of Duxford Green Spaces has been awarded a grant of £4000 by the Dulverton Trust, specifically for the Brewery Field project.  The Parish Council has a pending application for £50,000 from Amey and are cautiously optimistic, so we could be moving forward by the new year!

Not long to go until Christmas!   We have already raised nearly £90 through easyfundraising, from just a few who have used it – please have a go, it will cost you nothing and is easy to do.

We are using a great website called easyfundraising, to help raise money for Friends of Duxford Green Spaces – simply by shopping online.

easyfundraising turns your everyday online shopping into FREE donations when you use easyfundraising to shop with over 3,300 retailers such as Amazon, eBay, John Lewis, Argos, NEXT and Booking.com.

Our retailers then make a small donation to say ‘thank you’ and easyfundraising gives those free funds to the cause.

We could raise huge amounts if everyone signs up – please register using this unique link – just search for ‘Friends of Duxford Green Spaces’ and click ‘support us’ – https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/invite/2VJMB5/607KNO/

You can download the donation reminder that will remind you whenever you are browsing the website of a participating retailer.

If you have a smart phone or tablet, download the FREE easyfundraising app from the App Store or Google Play Store and follow the instructions on screen.

Even better, once you’ve signed up and raised £5 in donations, easyfundraising will give us an extra £5 donation.

There’s no catch or hidden charges and Friends of Duxford Green Spaces will be really grateful for your donations.

Thank you!

A HUGE thank you to all the friendly and supportive air show viewers who donated – in spite of the rain on Saturday and chilly wind on Sunday, we raised almost £200 from just one collection box.

It was great chatting to you all – if you would like to receive progress updates by email, please consider joining as a friend.  You can also donate on line – every £1 brings us nearer to our goal.

We have a couple of big funding applications in the pipeline, which if successful, will enable us to start work this autumn .  Watch this space!

Having struggled to get my 89 year old mum on and off the field safely, it is clear that we need at least one accessible and yet secure entrance fairly urgently!

Here’s a copy of the Airshow flyer for you to print off.