It is great to see so many of you at our virtual Coffee Mornings and Tea Tmes. If you have not been to one then we woud love to welcome you to join us. They will be run every two weeks.
We are always looking for new members to come and join our committee and trustees, so please let me know if you are interested and also if there are any items of business or motions that you would like included on the agenda.
We will be sending out the Agenda prior to the meeting.
Please contact Sarah at info@bosf.org.uk to add anything to the agenda or to send your apologies.
1. In 2019 Birmingham won a place on an initiative called the Future Parks Accelerator Programme and became one of only eight places across the UK selected by the National Trust (NT), The National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) and Ministry for Communities, Housing and Local Government (MCHLG) to take part in its ground-breaking Future Parks programme.
PLEASE JOIN US
For one of our free online FPA Webinars on Zoom
Tuesday April 20th 2021 starting at 15:00 (1.5 hours)
Thursday April 22nd starting at 18:00 (1.5 hours)
Saturday April 24th starting at 10:00 (1.5 hours)
There will be lots of opportunity to tell us about your group and ask the Team questions about the project.
Please book your place via Eventbrite by clicking here
2. Find out about our plans for The Green Birmingham Website and have your say.
As part of our Future Parks Accelerator work on a digital platform, we are holding three online events in April 2021 (on a Saturday, Monday day time and Thursday evening) to talk about our plans and give you the chance to have your say before we go out to commission this in May 2021.
We hope many of you can come. If any of you can’t make the dates we have selected, but would like to talk with us, please let Dan Lloyd know on Daniel.Lloyd@birmingham.gov.uk and we will arrange an alternative date.
City of Nature Challenge with the Wildlife Trust
This year’s nature-spotting challenge will take place from the 30th April to 3rd May.
In just over a month Birmingham and the Black Country (Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall & Wolverhampton) will be taking part in the 2021 City Nature Challenge.
The City Nature Challengeis an annual competition between cities all over the world to see how many wild species their citizens can spot over the space of four days.
Last year ‘Birmingham and the Black Country’ took part in the challenge for the first time, and over the course of the four days we managed to record over 16,000 records of 1,300 different species - with highlights including weasels, buzzards, green-winged orchids and some insect species which had never been recorded here before! You can see what we spotted last year here.
This result meant that we managed to spot more wildlife in Birmingham and the Black Country than any other European city!
How Do I Take Part?
Record any wildlife you see! (30th April to 3rd May)
Any records of wildlife spotted in Birmingham and the Black Country from Friday 30th April to Monday 3rd May will help towards our total and move us up the live global leader board.
The easiest way to make your records count is to use the free iNaturalist app or website. Simply take a photo of a wild plant or animal and the app's inbuilt software will help you to identify it!
You have until 9th or May to upload your wildlife photos.
1)Help us to identify what’s been seen (30th April to 9th May)
City areas will be ranked according to:
Number of wildlife records
Number of species recorded
Number of people taking part
The results will be updated in a live leaderboard so you will be able to see Birmingham & the Black Country rise through the rankings in real time!
The final results will be announced on 10th May.
We want to make this the biggest wildlife recording weekend ever in Birmingham and the Black Country.
They will now be planting 88 trees, both on the grassland and in the orchard, with wildflowers including primroses bluebells and snowdrops.
Community Garden Volunteers Needed
Grosvenor Road Studios are looking for volunteers who can offer their time, ideas and passion in their Community Garden at Grosvenor Road Studios, 16 Grosvenor Road, Birmingham B20 3NP.
They are looking for volunteers to help to maintain plants, share ideas for the garden and also to encourage young people to get involved through sharing an interest in local green spaces and the environment.
You will be joining a small team, dedicated to looking after the community garden and be a great addition, sharing your skills, knowledge and experience of developing the space with visitors. Interested?
The Community Initiatives Fund was launched in May 2020.
The funding comes from money seized from criminals under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
The Police and Crime Commissioner recognises that the lifting of restrictions has eased the impact on everyday activities and social isolation for vulnerable people, but that individuals and communities are still in a recovery stage. Grass roots organisations can continue to play a vital role in providing pandemic-recovery related support and provide activity which has a focus on mental health , re-establishing confidence in emerging from lockdown or diversionary activities that are on-line or socially distanced.
The Commissioner recognises the harms from the pandemic will be disproportionately felt in areas where there is greater levels of economic, social and health inequalities and deprivation.
The application form now requires your organisation to state if the people who will benefit are within an Impact area. Applicants are urged to follow the process map below and contact their relevant Partnership Team.
Funding for 2021/22:
Funding launch April 1st 2021
Application deadline to Partnership Inspector will be noon on Friday April 16 2021
The Scrutiny Panel will be held week commencing 26 April 2021
The Screwfix Foundation currently offers local registered charities and not for profit organisations funding of up to £5,000.
All applications are reviewed individually by our team on a quarterly basis, the review dates are in March, June, September and December.
All successful applications will be contacted by post, email or phone to arrange the next step. Unsuccessful applicants will be contacted within one month of the review meeting.
Once you have received your outcome, should you wish to reapply, please do so after 12 months. This applies to both successful and unsuccessful applications.
The Great British Spring Clean 28th May to 13th June
This spring, join Keep Britain Tidy and their community of #Litterheroes on their #MillionMileMission to clear litter from our streets, parks and beaches. Because what is good for our environment is good for our mental and physical health too.
In the past 12 months our outdoor spaces and places have mattered to us more than ever before. So join in and show some love for those special places that helped us through lockdown.
