Ambassador Autumn News & Events Update

Celebrating the AONB

On Wednesday 27 September, we hosted the AONB Partnership’s 15th Annual Meeting and (despite some wet weather!) enthusiasm and attendance were high – a great testament to the strength of local support for the East Devon AONB.

New facilities at the Donkey Sanctuary provided the ideal venue for the event and guests were welcomed to a relaxed atmosphere and an excellent, locally-sourced menu to compliment drinks provided by our sponsor Four Elms Fruit Farm.

Keynote speaker for the evening was Harry Barton CEO, Devon Wildlife Trust, with a motivating presentation on the diversity of East Devon’s landscapes and current conservation projects that are helping to protect them.

With a further talk from Mike Baker (Donkey Sanctuary CEO), in addition to our presentation of the AONB Annual Review and Acland Award, the evening provided a valuable opportunity to learn of the wide-ranging action being taken to enhance the AONB landscape and wildlife.

Community Win for Woodbury

After a record number of nominations, and a closely fought selection process, we were delighted to announce Woodbury Community Orchard as winner of the Acland Award 2017 at our Annual Meeting presentation.

The Woodbury orchard project, founded in 2013, received the award for ‘inspiring the whole community’ and their contributions to conservation within the AONB.

Beer Village Heritage, Thelma Hulbert Gallery and Shute Community Primary School were also shortlisted for their exceptional local projects, collecting trophies and prizes (from our genourous sponsors Sidbury Vineyard and Trill Farm) on the night.

Second Term Announced by Executive Committee

Graham Godbeer, East Devon Councillor for Coly Valley, has been elected to a second term as Chairman of the East Devon AONB Partnership following a unanimous vote. Joining him in a second term will be Alistair Handyside, who was elected as Vice-chairperson.

The Partnership serves to deliver the management strategy of the AONB.

Cllr Godbeer said “I’m delighted to continue in the role of chairman for a second term. This is a fantastic partnership and I look forward to working with them over the next two years in protecting and promoting our outstanding area of natural beauty”.

Outstanding Autumn Walks

With trees bursting into colour and stunning golden light, autumn walks are the perfect way to get outdoors and explore landscapes at their most beautiful.

As well as getting us active they have the power to make us happier too - 87% happier according to recent National Trust research.

Maybe you could plan a walk this weekend with family or friends? Take a look at our East Devon Way walks for inspiration. Connect with nature and each other this Autumn – everyone will feel better!

Prince’s Farm Resilience Programme

We are delighted to be acting as a delivery partner for Prince Charles’ Countryside Fund. The programme recognises the importance of family farm businesses to both rural communities and the economy and is designed to enhance their viability through a series of business skills workshops and assistance in developing a future plan for their family business.

The landscape of the AONB has been created and maintained by the endeavours of generations of farmers and landowners and it is the current generation that maintains the landscape that we all love. Our involvement will assist these businesses to continue this work into the future.

We were asked to get 15 to 20 small to medium-sized family farms to sign up to the Programme. Our 20 farms started their training on November 6th and have been supported by East Devon District Council, who have made the East Devon Business Centre at Honiton available to the group for this business training. Local sponsorship for the delivery of the workshops is also being sought on behalf of the group (contact pete.youngman@eastdevonaonb.org.uk for more details).

Legacy to Landscape Update

The project continues to receive great support from local people with Ruth, our Project Co-ordinator, delivering a wide range of events for people to join in with. Insect forays, guided walks through the Deer Park to see the veteran trees and supporting the Shute Literary Festival. Talks at the Colyton Memory Café, Women’s Institute and the AGM at the Axe Vale and District Conservation Society.

Work with local youth groups also continues including playgroups, cubs and brownies and local schools where she has made maps, dipped streams, measured trees and worked out their age and created a moth alphabet. Ruth has also developed a time line game which shows the national and local historic events that have passed in the lifetime of King John’s Oak.

Meanwhile we have been enhancing the landscape with sessions planting trees and clearing back brambles from wildflower meadows.

Ambassador Event - Save the Date!

Our next AONB Ambassador event is scheduled for Wednesday 21 February 2018 at Kennaway House and we've been focusing on how we think our Ambassadors can gain the most from attending.

Feedback from previous events has been extremely useful, but we’d really like to hear your current thoughts on the following:

What would you like to learn more about or what advice might be useful to you or your business?