Society Shareholders will have already received this notice. Others may not have, but I am sure that you will all know or remember our quillet in Brineddin Wood as a lovely strip of sessile oak woodland which our Society holds for the benefit of our 45 shareholders, Redlake Valley residents and visitors to the valley. We continue to maintain it with regular work parties, and we closely monitor the deer exclosure that is successfully enabling hazel coppice to regenerate.

A once-in-a-generation opportunity has now arisen for us to bid for the adjacent quillet to the left of ours.   The area of our  existing quillet is just under two acres. The one that is for sale is 5.3 acres. Together they would create a fabulous community woodland at a time when the urgency of  increasing biodiversity has never been greater.  

But we have to raise funds against a tight deadline for the submission of an informal tender by 21st October.

Subject to general shareholder approval, which is being sought this week, the Society’s directors are of the view that we should attempt to gain sufficient commitments of funds to submit a realistic bid.

Hence this email to everyone we know who is  supportive of our activities and might like to either join our membership by investing in shares or making a donation (which will attract gift aid for UK taxpayers) to help with this potential purchase.

Without wishing to show our hand in a competitive bidding process, but in order to provide an idea of the order of money involved and the necessary fund-raising process, it’s worth pointing out that our existing, smaller quillet cost £7,000 in 2011, and that we bought it using money from a core of original investors, an interest-free loan from an enthusiastic supporter and a grant from Shropshire Hills AONB.  A programme of recruiting additional shareholders eventually allowed the loan to be repaid.  We believe that a similar approach would be needed again this time, although grant aid is less likely against the timescale. As before, we will probably set the minimum shareholding at £100.

If you feel that this is something that you could support, we would very much like you to make contact.

Of course, there is no certainty that the Society would be successful in acquiring the new woodland even if it is able to raise enough money.  Furthermore, the possibility of a later fund-raising effort to repay any loan and to support management of the new woodland would have to be addressed, but we have ideas on how this might be achieved. All of these, and other matters, will be discussed at our next board meeting on 16^th October.

Irrespective of this opportunity, we are always pleased to welcome new shareholders, and this applies should any bid we submit prove unsuccessful.

For further information, the following people are happy to be contacted. Do, please, pass this email on to anyone else you think might be interested.

Patrick Cosgrove (RVCBS Director): 01547 530347, pccosgrove@icloud.com

Bob James (RVCBS Director): 01547 530395

Simon Jameson (RVCBS Director); 01547 528546, simon@1066creations.co.uk

Karen Limbrick (Society Secretary): 01547 530002, limbrick85@btinternet.com

Mark Limbrick Society Chairman): 01547 530002, mark@addoldy.co.uk

Anthon Morgan (Society Treasurer): 01547 530342, agmorgan100@btinternet.com