Category Archives: Volunteering

The Birth of the New Pond Dipping Platform

Events, People, Volunteering

Holly and Colin

Holly Reeves (TAG Farnborough) and Colin Gray (FPS)

Cathy Holden writes:

The brand new dipping platform at Fleet Pond’s Hemelite Bay proved to be one of the highlights of the recent Wildlife Day event. From its official opening it was packed with families the whole day.

The Fleet Pond Society ‘Last of the Summer Wine’ team of volunteers carried out the construction led by Terry Austin, Vice Chairman of Fleet Pond Society (FPS).

Terry said: ‘This was not an easy task but a very satisfying one as it was built to commemorate forty years of volunteering at the Pond. The frame of the old jetty proved very difficult to remove having sunk deep into the mud and involved us spending a lot of time in our waders, chest deep in the water.’

A grant organised through the Rushmoor Environment Fund, from the Farnborough Airport Community Environment Fund enabled the Society to buy the necessary materials and have the jetty framework constructed. From their site:

For every take-off or landing at Farnborough airport, the community environmental fund receives money to help support local projects. The airport pays a levy of £2 for every take-off or landing or £5 if the aircraft is a Boeing business jet or an Airbus A310 corporate jet. This money goes into the community environmental fund, which we manage.

The Society were delighted to welcome Holly Reeves, the Environment Management Assistant for TAG Farnborough Airport to cut the swan decorated tape and declare the jetty open (see pictures above and below).

Holly and Colin 2

Colin Gray, Chairman of FPS, said: ‘We are very grateful to Rushmoor Environment Fund for sponsoring this project. It is a fitting memorial to the Society’s 40th year.’

Wildlife Day Platform 2016

Adults and children enjoying the new platform on Wildlife Day 2016

Ed. Here’s a series of photos that gives an idea of all the hard work and planning that went into constructing the new jetty. It also provides an impressive example of how FPS provides substantial and long lasting benefits to visitors to Fleet Pond.

We are a registered charity and your financial support would be greatly appreciated. If you would like to contribute you can make an online donation (see tab above) or you can join the Society to also receive a very attractive and informative newsletter (see tab above).

We hope you enjoy the new jetty in your walks around the Pond!

2016-05-13_jetty 02s

Planning the construction on the ground

2016-05-15_jetty 05s

Getting the foundations right

2016-05-19_jetty 07s

Putting in the planking

2016-05-30_jetty 09s

The impressive finished product

Wates Developments Supports Fleet Pond

Conservation, Fund Raising, Volunteering

Wates Community Day 2016 s

Members of the Wates Developments team plus Hart Rangers, together with the product of their efforts!

Emma Gruenbaum, Land & Planning Manager at Wates Developments, writes:

“As part of Wates Group’s annual community day, a 19 strong team from Wates Developments has spent the day clearing unwanted saplings and weeds from an area of heathland at Fleet Pond.

The 141 acre nature reserve is owned by Hart District Council and is managed in partnership between Hart Countryside Service and Fleet Pond Society, a registered charity. In addition to the full day of weeding, the charity will also benefit from a £500 donation made by Wates.

The community day is an integral part of Wates Groups annual charity work and a key fixture in the company’s diary since 2008. Wates Giving is a charitable programme run and funded by the Wates Family Enterprise Trust, set up by the family with the aim of strengthening the role business has to play in society, focused on making a real difference to the communities in which we live, work and build.

Since 2008, Wates Giving has invested over £8m in local initiatives through five themes: Education; Employment and Training; Social Enterprise; Sustainability; and Community Building. Wates Group has twice won the Queen’s Enterprise Award and remains the only construction company to have won.”

Fleet Pond Society is very grateful to Wates Developments for providing the large volunteer team as well as the very generous donation.

Volunteer Event This Sunday, 12 June

Conservation, Volunteering

There will be a volunteer event at Fleet Pond this coming Sunday and all are welcome to attend (see below for registering).

Colin Gray, Chairman of Fleet Pond Society, writes:

“On Sunday we will be doing some more repairs to the banks of the Gelvert Stream.

Please assemble at the Countryside Workshop, Old Pump House Close, Fleet, GU51 3DN at 9.00 a.m. for a 9.15 start. The nearest access point, if you do not come to the workshop, is Guildford Road.

As usual we will have tea, coffee and chocolate available but please bring your own cold drink. Some volunteers will need wellies and others can work from the bankside.

If this hot rather muggy weather continues, you might be wise to bring insect repellent with you as our mosquitos can get a bit hungry. Those who do not bother with insect repellent can comfort themselves that our bats will enjoy some good, fat mosquitos for supper.”

For further information and booking for this event (which is essential as tools and resources have to be planned beforehand), please contact Hart Countryside Services:

Phone: 01252 623443
 Email: countryside@hart.gov.uk

The Sunday volunteer tasks are supervised by a Hart Countryside Ranger, Nick Macfarlane, together with members of Fleet Pond Society.

Local History Group Celebrates 30 Years

History, Volunteering

Old Map Fleet Pond

A map of the Pondtail area of Fleet in the 1880s donated to Fleet and Crookham Local History Group (see link below)

From Get Hampshire:

Fleet and Crookham Local History Group is 30 years old, having been set up in 1986 following a wish from within the Fleet and Crookham Civic Society to have a museum in Hart.

…

The archive catalogue lists more than 8,800 items and the scans of material donated or loaned now numbers more than 58,000.

The group is now looking for a secure room in which to store archive material, with additional space for volunteers to work on cataloguing and scanning, and to carry out research and answer enquiries.

In 2007, the group was given a National Lottery award of £3,880 to increase public access.

This included purchase of display stands and providing copies of local history material, such as directories, census returns and topics relating to businesses, sport and graveyard memorials, in a set of red binders on open shelves in Fleet Library.

To widen contact with the public, the group invites enquiries and offers of information at its Meet the Local History Detectives sessions, held in Fleet Library.

The History Group’s web site can be found here.

You can find detailed information on the history of Fleet Pond on the FPS website here.

Volunteer Event This Sunday, 8 May

Conservation, Volunteering

There will be a volunteer event at Fleet Pond this coming Sunday and all are welcome to attend (see below for registering).

Colin Gray, Chairman of Fleet Pond Society, writes:

“The task for Sunday 8th May will be bank repairs along the Gelvert Stream. Some of you will need to wear wellies for this one, although bankside work will also be needed.

As usual please meet at the Countryside Workshop at 9.00 a.m. for a 9.15 a.m. start. If you come later, Guildford Road is probably your nearest access point. Straight ahead as you cross the bridge and turn left at the stream.”

For further information and booking for this event (which is essential as tools and resources have to be planned beforehand), please contact Hart Countryside Services:

Phone: 01252 623443
 Email: countryside@hart.gov.uk

The Sunday volunteer tasks are supervised by a Hart Countryside Ranger, Nick Macfarlane, together with members of Fleet Pond Society.