Snow at the lakes

For the 2nd time in 2 weeks, we've had snow at Testwood Lakes.  This time the main lake has frozen and there is snow lying on the ice.  I got a few photos - here's a selection to show the beauty of this site.  A great place for the Aquativity Centre when it is ready.

Not much chance of swimming today!

All is well at the boat store

This will be the view from the building (without the container)

Plenty of wildlife, but much of it is out on the ice at the moment

PS We had our meeting on Monday - no big news to report, we just discussed some detailed business about building plans, finances, fundraising and status on the issues I've recently mentioned on this blog.

Next project team meeting

We're getting together tomorrow night for a pre-Christmas drink with our building contractor and a chat over everything that is going on - funding, building regs, utilities connections, Sailability and pontoon, equipment...

As usual, I'll post any news arising from this meeting here.

Kayaks

Back in the late summer, many of the Sea Scouts took part in a sponsored boating day on the lake.  They sailed, rowed and paddled all day and raised money for every lap they completed.  The aim was to raise enough to buy a kayak or 2, as a start to rebuilding our fleet to replace the old kayaks which have had their day.  It was a really successful day, and raised well over £600, so we were hopeful of getting 2 kayaks or at least most of the money towards them.

Then Martin, our Boating Manager, noticed a set of 6 second hand kayaks for sale on eBay.  They were of the type and size we need, and appeared to be relatively new and in good condition.  So, some tactical bidding and a trip to Oxford later, and we have 6 kayaks sitting in the boat shed behind the old hut, paid for by the Sea Scouts themselves.  It is always so much more satisfying to see equipment coming in as a direct result of the efforts put in by young members of the Group.

Well done and thank you to Martin and to the Sea Scouts, leaders and instructors who put the effort in to get these.

We are expecting 2 more kayaks soon as a donation from the local Rotary Club (just need to get the detailed quote from the supplier so they can be ordered).  So we are well on our way to getting the 20 kayaks we need for the Aquativity fleet, as well as looking forward to new sailing dinghies and rowing boats when we can get them.  We've still got some pretty good leads for securing some money for all this equipment; watch this space for news when these leads turn into cash!

Craft stall report

Phil, who was running his craft stall raising money for us yesterday, has sent in this report...

Hi All

Just a quick update on how the Sunnyfields thing went.

We raised £62.

This is not what we'd hoped for but that market is a shadow of it's former self.
There were maybe 6 other stalls and I doubt if more than 200 people came through all day.
So, although the total is disappointing the take up rate is actually very encouraging.
A lot of people who didn't buy took away an Aquativity flyer so it was also successful as an awareness raising exercise.
Sunnyfields are having a Xmas market on the 22nd and 23rd so we'll try again then and see if they get more footfall.
They've agreed to us having a free stall on the 23rd.

On the whole, I think that this is worth pursuing as both a fundraising and a marketing exercise.
We just need to find the right place to do it.

It's also a way of involving parents who produce craft work and might not have an outlet for their work - or be too shy to sell it directly.

The goal might be to have an Aquativity/4thNFN craft stall every 3 months at a successful market like Lyndhurst, the New Forest Show, Sunnyfields at Christmas and our own Donkey Derby.
There must be others.

Anyway, thanks to all who supported this one.
Not a great result in terms of cash in, but lots of positives to build on.

Phil

Thanks again to Phil, that's another £124 (2x £62) towards our total - if anyone has any good ideas for doing something similar (or totally different!) to raise some money, please email us or leave a comment.

The next fundraising idea

One of our Scout's parents has taken the initiative to use his talents to raise some money and awareness for the project.  This coming Saturday he is running a stall at the local farmers market to sell hand-made pots.  As well as donating his profits, he is also handing out flyers (see below) to let people know what we're doing.

Please go along to Sunnyfields Farm this Saturday 11th December to support him, and buy a pot or two.  Many thanks Phil, and good luck.

Bag packing results

Having made £872 at the end of October by packing bags for shoppers at the local Asda supermarket, we've had a re-run today.

With huge numbers of people in Asda today filling their cupboards after the last few days of snow and ice, and over 50 members of the Sea Scout Group on duty, we've had a great day.  Thank you very much to everyone who organised, led or took part in this great group effort, and thank you also to the management, staff and customers of Totton Asda for their generosity.

And the result of all this effort today...

£1,022

Well done everyone!

So the 2 bag packing sessions, including match funding, have raised a wonderful £3,788 - pretty good for 2 days' work.

Here's the updated chart of the money we've raised against our year's £20,000 target, to maximise the funds we can have doubled by our charitable benefactors.

All told, we're now at about £3,000 (or £6,000 when match funded) raised so far since the beginning of October, still aiming for the £5,000 interim target for the end of December - plenty of pre-Christmas buying and selling on eBay and through easyfundraising.org.uk will help us on the way - see my previous post for how your use of these sites can get us some more money.

Brief meeting report

...and it was a brief meeting, not least because it was on the lake's shore in a few inches of snow at about -3 Celsius so none of us wanted to hang around chatting for too long!

This was a meeting this afternoon between members of the project team and Southern Water who own Testwood Lakes.  We discussed:
Water supply - progress on that front and agreement in principle.  We have some more work to do on finalising that but we have a way forward.
Electrical supply - progress there too and again agreement in principle.  We have established that the existing supply at Testwood Lakes has sufficient capacity to let us take a feed from it.  We need to sort out details of exactly where we tap in and our cabling starts, and agree details like meter reading arrangements, but this is looking very positive.
Waste water - the concern there was to avoid the need for a huge underground sealed tank - very expensive to install and run, and very disruptive to the site to get it installed.  There was also the ongoing risk of leakage into the lake.  Our preferred solution was a grey water system in which the waste is filtered and cleaned and the clean water discharged into a nearby ditch.  We examined the proposed ditch which contains flowing water (despite the freezing conditions).  Following the ditch along, it is clear that it flows through a culvert at the main entrance to the site, then out to the River Blackwater downstream from the site.  On finding this to be the case, again we have agreement in principle to this approach, which is excellent news.
Pontoon - behind the scenes, Sailability and Southern Water have been working with a potential supplier and have a design and approach that should be acceptable to all and meets the needs well.  So this is also looking very positive for Sailability to be able to progress along with us.

So, all in all, a very worthwhile discussion with clear next actions on all fronts.

Meanwhile, there was some interesting birdlife out on the lake, which wasn't actually frozen today despite the cold - Canada Geese and Cormorants among others - this place really is a great backdrop for meetings!