Stop press! You’ll read elsewhere in this mailing about how much has been achieved in our practical work right up to the lockdown and indeed since then. This work of course never ends and we want to share with you some exciting thoughts on the next steps. We are putting together a major programme which we hope will substantially increase the reach of our work - a three-year programme to tackle the key challenges identified in our Action Plan. Those challenges include responses to the climate and biodiversity emergencies as they play out in Snowdonia. Restoring peatlands, managing habitats, planting trees where they make sense and supporting the big conservation projects with our partners. Alongside these are the challenges that stem from visitor pressure. The need for a more sustainable model of tourism is particularly evident in the much-loved, and sometimes over-loved, honeypot sites that attract a disproportionate share of those visitors. Here we need to help people make the right choices and come prepared, and of course we need to maintain footpaths and tackle litter. Now those challenges have been joined by two big new ones. Firstly, the need to carry out our work safely and responsibly now that our risk assessments all have to address the consequences of Covid-19. Secondly, the need to avoid the craters that have opened in the ground in front of us in terms of our available resources and our partners’ resources. Like other charities and indeed the National Park Authority some of our key income sources have dwindled or disappeared. Meanwhile as the nation’s holiday horizons shrink before our eyes, and many people choose to visit National Parks who may never have done so before, the need for our work and our messages is greater than ever.
So far our answers looks like this. We get a lot of work done, thanks to our fabulous staff and volunteers. But we just don’t have the resources to employ a much bigger permanent staff complement. What we do have is an outstanding track record of training, supporting and mentoring volunteers and young people on work placements. What if we could take that a step further and offer apprenticeships/ internships and in doing so increase our effective capacity? How much more help we could give to our partner organisations if we had an entire team of young people – being paid a living wage – building their skills and focusing their energy on helping to look after Snowdonia and meet the challenges outlined above. With the right training and support in place, these apprentices could themselves lead groups of volunteers on tasks that need a lot of person-power – tackling invasive species, litter and footpath maintenance on a scale not seen before. Along the way a whole cohort of young people who care about Snowdonia will be encouraged and enabled to do their bit – experiences and motivation that will perhaps last a lifetime. There is much to do but also so much potential. There’s a chance to scale up our work and our impact. We are in discussion with potential funders about this work. We need our existing members and funders, but we will also need to find new supporters, new sources of funding. If you can help or have an idea who can, please get in touch. Contact John Harold, our Director: director@snowdonia-society.org.uk to discuss.
Looking at this situation in the context of a country facing recession, we’re asking the question ‘What can we do to help?’
A colourful way to raise funds for the Society One of our trustees, Julian Pitt, makes 'stained' glass windows (except that he doesn't stain glass with a brush, preferring instead to use kiln fusing & casting techniques). He's just completed a window for the hall of Pensychnant Conservation Centre in the north of the National Park. Previous work includes a window that's part of the permanent exhibition at the National Holocaust Memorial Centre near Stafford. If you're interested in commissioning a window, large or small for somewhere special to you, then Julian agrees to donate his entire labour charge to the Snowdonia Society. A lot of money could be raised for the Society because designing and making decorative windows is very time consuming. He can be contacted via the Society office if you would like to chat about a potential project.
Protecting and celebrating Snowdonia for over 50 years | 7
