BOX COMMUNITY WOOD
Report on ac�vi�es of Box Community Wood 1st January 2023 to 31st December 2023 Registered charity number 1169429
==> picture [525 x 289] intentionally omitted <==
1
Background
Box Wood has traditionally been used by Box residents and visitors for a variety of recreational purposes over many years. Originally thought to have been created by mill workers for pedestrian access to local woollen mills in the Avening and Nailsworth valleys, the numerous footpaths are now used for walking, educational activities for local children, exercising (including dogs), spotting the indigenous wildlife as well as continuing to provide access to neighbouring villages, common land and other locations; benefits that we can all enjoy.
Box Community Wood (BCW) is an independent charitable organisation, established specifically to own Box Wood on behalf of the local community and to protect and manage it as an amenity for the foreseeable future.
BCW raised funds locally and acquired Box Wood on behalf of the community, in order to make it available for the enjoyment of the public in general, to conserve and manage the woodland and its wildlife, and to protect it from any possible future development.
It was recognised that the trustees of BCW would not have the necessary expertise or resources to manage the wood in the longer term, and Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust (GWT) agreed to enter into a 99 year lease as our tenant, to manage and conserve the wood. This includes the development of an ongoing, medium term management plan, obligations to manage its sustainability, and insurance against probable risks.
Between February 2017 and the date of this report, extensive wildlife audits have taken place and a programme of scrub clearance, footpath clearing and general management, including tree safety inspections, have taken place and will continue, organised by GWT and supervised by their land management team but carried out largely by enthusiastic local volunteers.
Box Wood is fully open to the public, with footpaths, fencing, gates, signage and general access having been massively improved. The intense activity and remarkable enthusiasm around the purchase of Box Wood has raised local awareness, and its use by villagers, the local community in general and even those travelling from further afield has greatly increased in the period since its acquisition by BCW.
2
- i
Charitable Purposes
The charitable organisation Box Community Wood was formed with the specific intention of acquiring Box Wood on behalf of the local community, in order to preserve the integrity of the woodland into the future, and to protect Box Wood from future development. Box Wood is itself an area of natural beauty, adjacent to Box Conservation Area, both of which are contained within the Cotswold Area of
==> picture [317 x 464] intentionally omitted <==
Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Under the ownership of Box Community Wood, Box Wood has been made wholly accessible to all members of the public, attracting local people and those from further afield to the great outdoors so that they can enjoy and appreciate this unique piece of Gloucestershire’s natural countryside. Box Wood is carefully managed for the benefit of wildlife, flora, fauna and the general environment.
Box Community Wood, in cooperation with local educational organisations, will maintain and develop opportunities within Box Wood for educational purposes. One trustee of Box Community Wood is specifically nominated by an educational organisation to ensure that educational
opportunities are considered in all aspects of the wood’s maintenance and development.
Box Community Wood has a strong interest in working with young people, as well as disadvantaged and hard to reach groups, with a particular interest in the health and wellbeing benefits of being outdoors. Box Wood is available to play a part in educational organisations’ outdoor curricula.
4
Practical Aims of Box Community Wood
-
Ownership of Box Wood, on behalf of the community
-
Year-round access to Box Wood for everyone
-
Protection of Box Wood from future development
-
Ongoing care and maintenance of the woodland
-
Footpaths will be kept open and maintained, including public rights of way
-
Protection and encouragement of indigenous wildlife
-
Preservation and restoration of ancient woodland
-
Insurance against probable risks
==> picture [497 x 304] intentionally omitted <==
-
Box Wood is now protected from development
-
Box Wood is fully open and accessible to the public
-
Footpaths are open and maintained
-
Wildlife is protected and encouraged
Box Community Wood has complied with its duty to have due regard to the guidance on public benefit, as published by The Chari�es Commission, in exercising its powers and du�es.
5
Practical Conservation Projects Undertaken during 2023
(report by Beris Hanks — chairman of Box Community Wood trustees)
contractors were brought in by Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust to fell dead and diseased ash trees. A second tree maintenance team with trucks and heavy li�ing gear worked to thin The Spinney (a small, overcrowded area of Box - Wood adjoining Stuart Fawkes Fields), felling several of the densely packed, non na�ve larch and pine trees that were preven�ng sunlight reaching the woodland floor. Much of the cost of the tree felling in The Spinney was paid for using “Felicity’s Fund”, a large sum of money given in memory of Felicity Smith, who loved Box Wood.
Large, overhanging trees were felled in the area below the Wilkinson Gate, and several other trees were cut or pollarded in the area just below the pond. Although primarily for safety reasons, the work has created a peaceful, open area next to the stream. Several logs have been cut and le� as stools for children (or adults) to sit on, and here, too, we are hoping that wild flowers will soon begin to blossom where previously there was li�le sunlight.
March is considered to be the last month in which to safely remove or prune trees and shrubs, as birds start nes�ng. Therefore, Box Wood GWT volunteers then turned their a�en�on to repairing gates, steps and other general maintenance. This included the rapid removal of Himalayan Balsam which was par�cularly prevalent in the highest part of the wood and around the pond area un�l two or three years ago, when the GWT volunteers set about clearing them. Bees love the a�rac�ve, pink flowers, but the pods disperse seeds over a huge area when they explode in late July to September, and new plants quickly monopolise the banks of the streams at the expense of our na�ve vegeta�on.
Ever since Box Wood was purchased by the community in 2016, Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust (GWT) has encouraged the volunteers to consider Box Wood, Stuart Fawkes Fields and, to some extent, Iron Mills Common as one large nature reserve. Although the fields are owned by GWT and Iron Mills Common by the Na�onal Trust, wildlife has no understanding of property boundaries. There is no doubt that proper�es surrounding the woods and the fields, many of which have large gardens, also offer a home or feeding grounds to those same creatures
With this in mind, the GWT volunteers then turned some a�en�on to Stuart Fawkes Fields. The volunteers spent several Thursday morning sessions cu�ng back brambles and bindweed that were star�ng to smother the new double hedgerow running east to west across the fields, planted to increase the ‘connec�vity’ of local wildlife areas. With global warming, and the danger of species declining in isolated ‘islands’, there is an increasing need for addi�onal ‘wildlife corridors’ to enable species movement and migra�on.
Box Wood links directly not only with the Stuart Fawkes Fields (both managed by GWT) but also with Iron Mills Common, ‘the W’ and Minchinhampton and Rodborough Commons, all managed by the Na�onal Trust. Also, when par�cularly considering woodland species, Box Wood has near neighbours in the extensive area of Gatcombe Wood and Hazel Wood. Box Wood therefore plays an important part in this jigsaw of connec�vity.
Steve Hemmings re�red from his trusteeship of Box Community Wood in April 2024. Steve was Chair of the Trustees for seven years and he also played a hugely important role in preserving the footpath rights, in the acquisi�on of the wood, and in reaching the agreement with the GWT regarding their overall management and conserva�on work. Although no longer a trustee Steve con�nues to volunteer, keep an ac�ve eye on the woods and to help out in any way that he can. We all owe him a huge debt of gra�tude.
6
Box Wood Volunteers (by Bob Common — our new BCW trustee)
Over the past number of years, Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust (GWT) have organised work par�es to tackle the myriad tasks involved in managing the Wood. These sessions have been open to volunteers from across the county and have been regularly a�ended by a number of Box village residents.
which it was responsible stayed pre�y much constant. GWT accordingly reorganised itself with a number of staff reduc�ons and consequent repriori�sa�on of its remaining resources. The impact felt at Box Wood was that the frequency and �mings of volunteer sessions was reduced.
As a way to help GWT maintain its levels of service to Box Wood and other reserves, regular Box Wood volunteers had a number of discussions with GWT with the aim of se�ng up more “care and maintenance” sessions, under the direc�on of GWT but with local volunteers providing work planning and coordina�on and the provision of First Aid cover during sessions.
In September 2023, GWT agreed that we could ini�ate sessions to run on a fortnightly basis, and they provided the various tools needed to execute tasks. The Box Community Wood trustees invested in a brush cu�er for which two volunteers have “�ckets” to operate this equipment. The first locally organised session took place on 5[th] October 2023 and over the final quarter, seven sessions were held.
Tremendous progress has been made in tackling the various tasks to maintain the Wood and this is summarised in the table below:
| Task | Progress |
|---|---|
| Cut back laurel regrowth | Areas cleared include along the main path, in front of the lower (original)entrance on Pensile Road |
| Clear regrowth away from main paths through the Wood |
Regular cu�ng back to widen paths to and around the waterfall/ pond area |
| Repairs to steps at variouspoints in the Wood | Repairs at Wilkinson Gate and at various points completed |
| Widen the Ride from the Glade to Iron Mills Common |
Completed to allow easyfightpaths for bats,bu�erfies and moths |
| Keepvehicle entrances free from regrowth | All vehicle entrances are clear |
The local volunteer group has con�nued its work in the Box Wood with an average of six volunteers turning out every fortnight over the year to date. We maintain regular contact with GWT and are pleased that, in addi�on to the locally organised sessions, GWT con�nue to organise groups when more manpower or more specialised tools (for example to tackle ash die back) are needed.
7
FINANCIAL SUMMARY 2023
==> picture [516 x 351] intentionally omitted <==
ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND RESERVES
Box Community Wood is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) and its annual income is less than £500,000. It has therefore prepared its accounting records on the ‘Receipts and Payments’ basis. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in notes to the accounts and comply with the charity’s governing document, the Charities Act 2011 and Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard for Smaller Entities published on 16th July 2014.
BCW trustees have decided that it would be prudent to retain a modest cash reserve against any future management expenses that may be incurred. A proportion of this has been invested in an accessible interest-bearing account in the short term, and the Reserves policy will continue to be monitored at the discretion of the trustees.
8
==> picture [524 x 650] intentionally omitted <==
BOX COMMUNITY WOOD TRUSTEES Beris Hanks — Chairman Martin Smith — Secretary Roger Ogle — Treasurer Bob Common Thomas Pentzek
BCW REGISTERED DETAILS
Charity number 1169429
Registered address: c/o Roger Ogle Laburnams, Box, Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL6 9HG.
9