Friends' Funds

Where does our money come from?

The Friends of Troopers Hill fund their activities from a variety of sources. The most important contribution is from our members, who have given many hours of their time to ensure that The Friends of Troopers Hill have become one of the most successful groups in Bristol in a relatively short time.

Over 500 volunteer hours have have been recorded at Work Parties but many more hours have been spent by volunteers helping at events (we can now put up gazebos in any weather!); delivering Newsletters; attending meetings; building this website and carrying out general administrative tasks. As well as time, a lot of paper, printer ink and stamps have been donated - our thanks to everyone.

However, we could not have achieved all that we have without some hard cash. Details of the grants and donations we have received are given below, with some notes on how the money has been spent.
 
 

YANSEC Grant - March 2006

Friends of Troopers Hill had some excellent news for their first newsletter of 2006. YANSEC (Yanley and North Somerset Environment Company) are a non-profit making organisation that receives contributions from landfill operators to finance projects to improve the environment of parts of North Somerset and Bristol.

YANSEC, which is substantially funded by Viridor Credits, have agreed to give us £2,910.

This money is being used to fund a path to provide wheelchair access from Troopers Hill Field to the chimney at the top of the hill and three benches. Bristol Parks' contractors have started work on the path and it was partly completed in time for the Family Picnic in August. Once it has received its final surface, Friends and others with mobility problems will have the chance to enjoy the wonderful views from the top of Troopers Hill.

Two of the benches were made at our work party in May, and were then installed in June. The third bench has been made by participants in a local Youth Inclusion Project based at Barton Hill Settlement. This was organised by the Groundforce Project that aims to encourage residents of the New Deal Area (Redfield, Barton Hill, Lawrence Hill and The Dings) to use and improve thier local green spaces. We hope to do more work with the Groundforce Project later in the year. Click here for photographs of the finished benches and the installation of the first bench by Friends of Troopers Hill.

Unfortunately two of the benches were vandalised less than a month after they were installed; we are looking at ways to get them reinstated.

Thank you to Sally, our Local Nature Reserves Officer, who helped us to prepare the application to YANSEC. A condition of the grant is that we have to obtain 10% of the funding from a third party and we are extremely grateful to Bristol Parks who have agreed to provide that funding. We shall keep you up to date with the progress of the work on this website.
 
 

The Bristol Wildspace Project - Summer 2002 to August 2006

The Bristol Wildspace Project is funded by English Nature and the Big Lottery Fund. It is this project that provided funding for the post of Local Nature Reserve Officer which has been so expertly filled by Sally Oldfield.

It was Sally's efforts to increase people's awarness of their Local Nature Reserve and its potential that led to the Friends of Troopers Hill being formed in December 2003. We have been very fortunate to benefit from Sally's enthusiastic help and advice since then and hope that this can continue as part of an exciting new project for which Bristol Parks are currently seeking funding.

Cromadex Donation - April 2006

The Friends of Troopers received some more good news in April 2006 with a donation from Cromadex, part of Akzo Nobel. The money was awarded through Akzo Nobel's Global Community Program, aimed at providing funding and help to benefit the local community. Alan, an employee of Cromadex at their St George site, is one of our most enthusiastic volunteers at work parties. He saw the scheme advertised at work and put in an application on our behalf.

The donation is for £789 and is being used (together with £100 donated by a local resident) to install a bench and to restore a view from Troopers Hill Field, details of the project can be found here. Alan and some of his colleagues will be taking part in the project by helping us cut the bramble at our work parties next winter.

Smaller Donations

Although the money from the large grants listed on this page is very welcome, the smaller donations are equally important to us. One of our greatest successes was to raise money for the repair of the bench that was damaged in May 2004. £400 was raised, mostly in small donations in a very short time. The story is told in a short video on our Video Project page.

In the second half of 2005 we received donations of £100 and £200 from employers of two Friends. Together with other donations from various kind people, money raised through sales of refreshments and donated books and some payments for leading walks and giving presentations for other groups, this means that we had a significant sum of money available to spend in 2006. Following discussions at our meetings in the first half of the year we decided that the majority of the £200 pounds should go on some extra tools, with a small sum set aside for spares for our signs. The £100 pounds will provide entertainment for the August Family Picnic. We have also been able to fund a local botanist to join us on the August Purple Prowl to tell us more about the hill's plant life. There are always more things that we would like to do, so further donations will always be welcome.

Troopers Hill has also benefitted from the efforts of staff from the MOD at Abbey Wood. On 7th March, twenty of them came to the Hill for a team building day to repair some steps. Details are on our Work Parties page. If you think your company would be interested in running a similar event please Contact us.

Thanks again to everyone who has given both time and money so generously.
 
 

Bristol Parks

As part of our partnership for the management of the Local Nature Reserve, Bristol Parks provide funding to help us carry out our activities through the Community Development Officer. Bristol Parks have also funded some events, such as our Bird Bonanza in February 2006. This funding is of course in addition to the money spent by Bristol Parks on the maintainance of the site which ensures it is a safe place to visit.
 
 

Awards for All Lottery Grant - May 2004

The Friends of Troopers Hill were delighted to receive a grant of £3,269 from the Lottery through Awards for All in May 2004.

This grant enabled the Friends of Troopers Hill to get off to a flying start in their first year of activities. Our thanks go to Susan and Sally for all the work they put in to making the application and to Awards for All in Exeter for supporting us. Details of how we spent the money can be found here.