Category Archives: CVN in the Woods

Preliminary Ecological Appraisal

Echoes Ecology have now completed their PEA of our proposed site in Gillies Hill Community Woodland. Their executive summary records “There was no field evidence of protected species found during the survey. There is suitable habitat for nesting birds and commuting and foraging for bats. If proposed works are to be undertaken during the breeding bird season (March to September inclusive), then any areas of the Site that need to be cleared of vegetation must be shown to be free of nesting birds prior to works commencing. There are no other recommended surveys.”

Echoes Ecology report lists several species from the Scottish Biodiversity List which may be present in the woodland – these include bats, toads, hedgehogs, red squirrels and native bluebells. We have seen lots of bluebells this spring, we regularly see toads and have once spotted a red squirrel. We need to keep our eyes peeled for the rest!

Visit from Echoes Ecology

We were very pleased to welcome Kay and Heather from Echoes Ecology to our woods this morning. They have picked a beautiful, warm, sunny day to visit!

Kay and Heather are are conducting a Preliminary Ecological Appraisal (PEA) of our site in the woods which will document the range of habitats present and will look for signs of any protected species. This initial appraisal will inform the requirement for any future surveys.

Kay is known to us at CVN having helped us put up squirrel and bird feeders in the woods a couple of years ago. We are hopeful that our children can again be involved so that we can learn more about the creatures that live in our woods.

Cambusbarron Gala Day

Great to be at Cambusbarron Gala Day and see so many of our children having so much fun despite the rain. That said CVN children are very used to having great fun in all weathers! It was also lovely to get a chance to speak to children and parents who will be starting with us after the summer and also to meet prospective new families. We are so lucky to be part of such a vibrant community.

Sustainable options and opinions!

We’re developing our ideas for our new nursery building in Gillies Hill Community Woodland and wanting to get some ideas and suggestions from the wider community. We’d really like to hear from you about experiences, ideas and suggestions on how to make sure our building is ethically and sustainably built. Please take some time to give us your ideas via this google form.

National Lottery Funding Success

We are thrilled and delighted to learn that the National Lottery Community Fund has awarded us £10000! This money will help fund the next stage of our project to develop our new nursery building in Gillies Hill Community Woodland.

If you haven’t heard about our plans or want to find our more, check out the pages on our website and/or follow our new dedicated Instagram @CVNintheWoods.

We always welcome comments and feedback so you can do that too via our feedback link. If you prefer a less technological method, give us a call on 01786 430497 or, better still, stop by and have a chat. We’re always delighted to discuss our plans. If you spot us when you’re up in the woods we can even show you some of the things we get up to!

You can support our project financially too, see “Support Us”.

Falck Renewables – Enriching Communities

We received funding last year from Falck Renewables to allow us to begin the development of our new nursery in Gillies Hill Community Woodland. We also won the Falck Renewables Recovery for a Resilient Sustainable Future Competition. As part of the funding process we were interviewed by Falck and asked about what we do in the woods and about our plans for the future.

A Monster Truck in the woods

We were very interested in the monster truck harvester in the woods today. It’s job is to fell trees and it has already cut down some to make a path along to the walled garden. It has enormous wheels and makes very deep and muddy tracks. We helped Amos mark out an alternative path to the muddy one so people walking can keep out the truck’s way. Look out for our colourful ribbons!!

Developing our site

We have now submitted a funding application to Foundation Scotland (Cambusbarron Community Fund) and have our fingers and toes crossed that it will be successful. This would allow us to complete some initial groundwork on our site (survey the trees and ground conditions) and also allow us to commission an architect to produce some initial drawings for the nursery building. Exciting!!

We’ve also begun developing a space within the Walled Garden and have planted 15 fruit trees (apples, pear, plums and cherries). We are now working on a raised bed and, when the unseasonal but Scottish cold and wintry May weather leaves, we will be sowing some seeds and planting out some vegetables (we have courgettes, pumpkins and sunflowers ready and waiting).