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Hello!
Here's another update about our project for the community purchase of Goit Stock Wood.
Our group is now called Friends of Goit Stock Wood. And we have agreed our vision, mission, and values, which set out what we want to achieve and how we will do it:
Our vision is of
A thriving woodland, owned and cared for by the community, forever
A biodiverse habitat for plant, animal and aquatic life
A welcoming place for visitors to enjoy, learn about and look after nature
Our mission is
To establish a sustainable organisation to raise funds for, purchase, manage, enhance and maintain the wood
To provide opportunities for members of the community to experience, enjoy, engage with, and conserve the wood
To encourage a healthy variety of plant and animal life in the wood and the beck
To educate visitors about nature and to encourage them to cherish and look after the wood
We value
Enjoying and understanding nature
Caring for the environment
Engaging with people in our community and those who visit
After some investigation, we decided that the best form of organisation to run the project, and to (hopefully!) eventually own Goit Stock Wood, is a type of registered charity called a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO). The Incorporated part means that, similar to a Limited company, the CIO will have its own legal identity and can enter into contracts and own land in its own name (but unlike a company we won't incur corporation tax). It also means that the trustees of the charity would have no liability for any debts the charity might have. And as a registered charity, we would qualify for Gift Aid top ups from HMRC on any eligible donations and be able to access grants and other support which is only available to registered charities.
But in order to run a CIO we need trustees, and this means...
A CIO, like any charity, needs trustees. The trustees are responsible for making sure the charity acts in the public interest and upholds the law. There's a guide to what being a trustee means on the Charity Commission website.
We would ideally like six trustees, so that we have a range of people and can share the work involved in the running of the charity. We envisage that the trustees will sit at the heart of our Project Team to investigate and fundraise for the purchase of the wood. (There will still be plenty of jobs to do for anyone who wants to help with the project team without being a trustee, so if being a trustee isn't for you, that's fine, you can still help us!)
We've identified the roles we'd like these trustees to do. We've filled the roles of Chair, Treasurer and Secretary/Project Manager.
So we are looking for people interested in the following roles (but if you would prefer to do a different role, we'd still like to hear from you, as we may be able to reorganise the roles to suit the team).
Fundraising Lead
Leads activities to raise money for the charity and to fund the purchase project. If you are full of creative ideas for fundraising or the sort of person who's not afraid to approach people and companies to ask for help, this role could be for you (but don't worry, fundraising is going to be a big part of the project, so we expect to have a lot of other volunteers to help with this and you won't be on your own).
Publicity Lead
Leads activities to get our project known to the wider public, such as engaging with the local press/media, supporters, and the general public. If you're good at writing press releases and emails - or perhaps you are happy appearing in front of a camera and talking to the media, or a social media guru - you could be just the person we're looking for.
Vision Lead
Responsible for thinking about how we would want to use and manage Goit Stock Wood in the future. Are you interested in conservation projects, biodiversity and looking after the environment - or thinking about how we might engage with groups of people who might want to use the wood? You might be perfect for this.
Please consider whether you (or someone you know) might be willing to be one of our trustees, and get in touch (or email goitstockwood@gmail.com) as soon as possible. It's fine if you aren't sure yet and just want to have a chat without any obligation!
(It can take a few weeks to register the CIO, and we can't start until we have the trustees. If we can't get enough trustees we won't be able to go ahead with the project, so it's really important that we move quickly with this!)
That's all for now. Don't forget you can read more about the project on our website: www.goitstock.org.uk
Tom & Amy
on behalf of Friends of Goit Stock Wood