BFER Newsletter 4th Edition September 2021

September 13th, 2021

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BFER NEWSLETTER
4th EDITION – September 2021

Welcome to the BFER newsletter

Hello! And welcome to the September newsletter.

Its been another busy month for our partners planning and delivering a wide range of projects, some of which are highlighted in this month’s update.

In this edition of the newsletter, we wanted to focus briefly on the volunteering elements of the BFER Scheme. As you can imagine, the Covid-19 pandemic has caused significant disruption to the volunteering and engagement facets of the Scheme but there has been much positive progress despite these challenges. Many of our project leads and enthusiastic volunteers have been getting stuck in to keep the Scheme progressing nicely. To give just a few examples of what’s been going on so far – last year, the River Lark Catchment Partnership’s river restoration volunteers made great progress on the Fullers Mill section of the river, the citizen science water quality surveyors are assisting the Freshwater Habitats Trust with preparing the first report; the River Raiders research volunteers are nearing completion of their Viking history booklet and a dozen fearless open-water lifeguards have also been trained. As the Scheme progresses further, and life continues to return to normal in the wake of the pandemic, we hope that many more volunteers will be recruited, trained, and deployed to help out with everything from practical conservation tasks to archaeological research.
Later on, in this newsletter, you will see some information about the current volunteering recruitment opportunities which are open both for the scheme itself and with our partner organisations more widely. We look forward to seeing even more exciting volunteering activities in the Brecks in the months to come!

I hope you enjoy reading this and would like to encourage you to provide feedback on content, submit ideas and articles, or links to relevant activities in the Scheme area by contacting bfer.admin@suffolk.gov.uk

BFER Scheme Manager

Volunteering

We wanted to bring you some news on what we have planned for volunteering in the Brecks

Volunteer Hub

We are currently developing a volunteer hub section on our website with links to the latest opportunities and resources for volunteers. It will help signpost opportunities to those interested in becoming volunteers, as well as provide resources, advice, and support for partners. This photo is an idea of what we hope the volunteer hub will look like. We have already added the volunteer resources page to our website.

Click here or on the photo to visit our volunteer resources page

Volunteer Opportunities

Our Partners below are recruiting volunteers for a variety of exciting projects in the Brecks:

Brecks’ Fen Edge and Rivers LP – Events Volunteers

Bush Adventures UK – Events Volunteers and Garden Volunteers

Charles Burrell Museum – Front of House Volunteer, Main Display Area Guide, Café Staff and Engine Specific Volunteer

Tales from the River – Research Volunteer

For more information on the opportunities visit: https://brecks.org/bfer/resources/volunteer-hub/

Upcoming Opportunities:

Brecks’ Fen Edge and Rivers Archaeology – Geophysics Volunteer Opportunity. Recruiting stars mid-September. Join our mailing list or follow us on social media to sign up.

West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village and Country Park – Woodland Conservation Volunteer Opportunity. Details coming soon.

If you are recruiting volunteers in the Brecks area and would like to advertise your opportunities here, please email: bfer.admin@suffolk.gov.uk

Project Focus

Lots of projects have been incredibly busy this month, here are just a few highlights to celebrate key project milestones.

1.3 Little Ouse River Improvement

We ventured over to Brandon once again in August and this time we were joined by our new board member SCC Councillor Melanie Vigo Di Gallidoro, Paul Norris from Bush Adventures and also visiting was SCC Councillor Edward Back. While there we got to test out the newly constructed canoe pass with Paul Norris going up and down in his canoe.

‘The staunch is probably between a grade 1 or 2 as far as river grading is concerned. Anybody can do it without any skill, it’s very safe and enjoyable.’ Paul Norris

Read more about the project here

4.3 Accessible Rivers

Throughout August Thetford Town Council have funded Bush Adventures UK to deliver free Canoe and Paddleboard hire in Thetford as part of the Accessible Rivers Project. Every Wednesday we have been at Thetford Riverside all day for people to just turn up and give canoeing and paddleboarding a go. Each event has been very popular with fantastic feedback, and over 400 people engaged over our first four events.

You can view photos from our events here on our Flickr page

‘Fabulous experience, highly recommend’ ‘Kids loved it, thanks so much’ ‘First time for everything, excellent. Thank you’ ‘My daughters had THE BEST time this morning’

4.4 Healing Waters

On Sunday 15th August we held our first introduction to outdoor swimming specifically for families. We had over 70 adults and children turn up at the event held at Forestry England’s Lynford Waters. With 21 volunteers and newly trained life-guards helping out on the day, the event ran smoothly with children enjoying their first go at outdoor swimming.

If you would like to see more photos from the event click here

4.5 Volunteer and Engagement Programme

We were delighted to receive an invitation to join the local community at Foulden Village Hall’s belated VE/VJ Day Celebration Garden Party on 14^th August. Ellie went out armed with the Breckland Society’s Military History and Cold War publications as well as leaflets and information booklets showcasing what the Brecks have to offer and how to get involved with BFER projects. It was great to get involved with a community celebration and to spread awareness about the Brecks’ Fen Edge and Rivers Landscape Partnership. We hope to return to Foulden in due course and to get to know many other parishes and communities in the Scheme area as we continue to put the pandemic behind us.

BFER Events

Oral History Training: 7th September
Thetford – Click here for more info

Norfolk Heritage Open Days: 10th – 19th September
More news to come – Click here for more info

BFER Outdoor Swimming Intro: 12th September
Venue still to be confirmed – Click here for more info

Archaeology Geophysics: 18th October – 29th October
We will be recruiting volunteers soon – Save the date

Do you have an event you would like us to promote on our newsletter, on our website, or across our social media pages?

Please complete the form for us to share your event:

Event detail form

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While we are out filming videos for you, you can watch our latest video here:

Open Water Lifeguard Training May 2021

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