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Due to the ongoing situation with the Coronavirus all our events have had to be cancelled until further notice. We will let you know when we can start again.

Because we were not able to have our AGM on 6th April this year, the following is our Chairperson’s report. Hopefully we will have the A.G.M. Later in the year.

 Chairperson’s report for 2019 - 2020

This year was quite a reasonable one until mid-March 2020 when the Covid 19 struck us in the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust and the whole country, in fact the whole world. However it is a time now to reflect on how the Grimsby & Cleethorpes group fared over the past 12 months.

This is the 1st year that I handed over the programme selection to 5 other members of the committee. They came up with some speakers well known to us starting with the President and then a couple of months later the Chief Executive of the Trust.  Mike Pickwell, a local member and excellent speaker and photographer, spoke to us about the highlights of his year in 2017.  The group A.G.M. in April 2019 preceded Mike’s presentation. At our A.G.M. we welcomed Graham Hicks on to the committee. Another friend of ours, Matt Blissett, came with work college Ruth Taylor to talk about the Natterjack Toad. New speakers to us were Barry Last and his assistant of Hedgehog Care, Steve Lovell took us around Scotland with his slides, which reminded most of us of holidays north of the border and finally the Trust’s Conservation Officer talked about her own links with the Lincolnshire coast. In December we held our annual Christmas buffet in the setting of the Town Hall’s Banqueting Room. Paul Learoyd chose to speak about the Trust’s 70 years since formation. Considering Paul has only been with the Trust for around 10 years, he did very well to research and speak without notes on our history. Numbers at out indoor meeting this year have been down on the previous one when we were joined by around 10 students from Nottingham Trent University. Outdoors we had 2 very wet days for visits to Woodhall Airfield reserve and Messingham Sand Quarry. At the 1st, trainee warden Dean Arksey and his friend, walked the 4 of us who braved the rain up the main runway to the RAF memorial and back. The idea was to view the progress since our 1st group visit. The weather caused the event to be cancelled the day before for our annual Fungus foray with Ray Halstead.  He did offer to run the event the next day but only 2 people could attend.  The sad part about this is that Ray Halstead is not leading groups for identifying specimens from now on but just concentrating  on recording only. The weather for the Bat and Moth evening in Cleethorpes Country Park was fine and the event was popular. Julie Ellison led the Bat walk and Adrian White attracted quite a large number of small moths.  Bats were few in number.  The group was financially out of pocket on this event over costs for the experts.  The group was approached to participate in a few events arranged in ‘our patch’. Jan Dring, Mary Porter and I enlisted in the 1st Grimsby in Bloom Environmental day at the end of July in the Duke of York Gardens in the West Marsh district of Grimsby. We were kept very busy with children and some parents on a lovely hot day – a great success. Not a success was the Trust’s ‘Estuary Walk’ with Mike Binnion, as the organisers of this ‘Arts by the Sea’ group failed to publicise our group’s contribution to this new festival at Cleethorpes. Mike did well with beach combing but only 3 members of the Trust turned up and no general public.  Then there was the Hedgehog Awareness Day at Holton-le-Clay when 2 of our committee represented the Trust. We are again indebted to Simon Naylor and his family + Tracey Smith and her husband for putting on a ‘Merlin’s Keep’ concert in aid of Trust funds at St. Giles Church, Scartho.  Thanks to all behind the scenes team. Enough was raised for our Treasurer Julie Wood to present a cheque for £1000 to Paul Learoyd when he came in December 2019.

Ray Hume led his last programmed walk after 10 years of doing so on 1st June.  Vic Adams, one of those who often accompanied Ray, presented Ray with a token of our gratitude.  Ray performed his new composition at our 2019 A.G.M.; he got us joining in the singing.  New member to our committee Graham Hicks fortunately volunteered to lead nature walks to some different venues as well as the well tried ones. According to the reports written up by Graham and David Jagger, they seem to have attracted both members and non members.

This brings me to the group’s membership, which has dropped below the 1000 households mark, lower than for many years.  Hopefully numbers will climb back up again to finance the Trust in spite of the great downturn in the economy presently due to the Covid 19 outbreak.  I hope and pray that all our members will stay safely at home and survive this terrible health outbreak and that we will be able to resume our scheduled programme enjoying wildlife later this year and each other’s company again.  My thanks to all the hard working committee.                                                          Jennie Redpath

There is lots of information on the Lincolshire Wildlife Trust Website.

Information on doorstep-wildlife, helpful for Wildlife Watch.

 www.lincstrust.org.uk/doorstep-wildlife

Information on how to donate on line if you are able

www.lincstrust.org.uk/support-us/donate

Great news from partners the National Trust, which recently acquired their first piece of Lincolnshire Coast. A great short film.

www.facebook.com/NTSandilands/videos/

Check out our Facebook page for lots of new photo’s coming in

Our Lapwings Co-Ordinator, Jane Drinkall

Asks if there is anyone out there who could help in future to deliver Lapwings magazines in Immingham. If you can help please telephone Jane on 01472 751871.

Volunteers are priceless. They save the Trust around £50,000 per year.

Do you have any carrier bags that you could spare for Jane. She buys them for each batch she sends out and they are becoming more exspensive. If you have any that you could spare then please ring Jane on the above telephone number.

Raffle prizes are needed for our indoor meetings.

Could you donate something?

Have you any wildlife photographs taken this year ?

We would be grateful  to receive your contributions to the photo gallery. Send to j.p.l.kirk@ntlworld.com

Check out  our Facebook Page to see some great up to date photographs from members and non members.