This month has been absolutely incredible in terms of the supportive donations and community survey results.
1) Crowdfunding Update.
Our funding target has now risen from last month’s 73% to 95%, leaving a tantalising 5% (£1100) to achieve our target, to provide a safe perimeter hedge & rail and an accessible Cotswold path. Should we be fortunate enough to have any excess funding at this stage it will support border planting costed at £3200.
A huge thank you for all the wonderful online donations this month and the cash donations over the last months that we collected today, amounting to £31, from Dover Road collection containers at the Post Office (£11), The Chippy (£3), The Blue Star (£8), Morrisons (£9) and Dianne (£20 which broke our £18,000 milestone).
We are also enormously grateful, this month, to the previously mentioned donors who include: Spacecare (offer of free labour), Spacehive (waiving their £500/600 fees & allowing in-kind support as funding), Aintree Homes (£500), Nationwide Fencing (approx. £1000 discount), John Sisk & Sons (£1600 plus other community work discussed below), and Kier Construction (£2076 plus rustic sign from MJS Joinery).
2) Community Survey to Shape Proposals.
The Survey was open to everyone but focussed particularly on knocking on over 600 houses closest to the site, providing residents with information sheets, Q&A sheets, survey and represented a wonderful opportunity to engage with the local community during a loosening of the pandemic restrictions. Most participants completed the survey online whilst a few completed hard-copies. MTC received nearly 300 responses, with the overwhelming majority of respondents from the L31 7_ _ in overall favour of the project and similar responses for each of the seven proposals. The full survey results are available on the MTC website http://www.maghull-tc.gov.uk/news with hard copies available on request. MTC will be happy to answer any further questions in relation to the survey and project at woodendcwp@gmail
Previously we had already, within the then restrictions, made contact with every resident in Maghull through the front page of the Champion newspaper, the 10,000 strong Maghull Community Facebook Page, radio, posters and other mediums, meeting the local residents through the survey was a really useful positive experience. However, it did mean less time for exploring funding options, which we are now refocusing upon.
3) Over the Next Month (September) we will be: (1) continuing to focus on the crowdfunding to firstly reach our target and if we are lucky to over fund prior to its completion on the 27.10.20, (2) exploring with Green Sefton their green improvements to the completed neighbouring junction, their promise of trees, and the possibility of two benches, (3) after siting and securing the large black bin by Sefton Council, MTC have dug two small foundations to secure to yellow litter bins, (4) exploring with a professor in ecology the ground work for collaborative research on the reduction of vehicle pollution by hedges, (5) potentially installing a rustic sign and wooden perimeter knee high rail (including 2 feet of perimeter turf removal in preparation for hedging in November), and (6) planning Maghull’s Big 8,000 Trees Dig and hedge laying course.
Finally, we will continue to explore funding options, at this difficult time, in the form of grants and donations from large companies this month. Many thanks once again for all your brilliant help and please continue to spread the word about the project.
One last note concerns Maghull in Bloom (MiB), who although they are a separate and long established organisation we would like to convey special congratulations to them for their recent success in securing a £7000 grant from the ‘Community Foundation for Merseyside’. It supported their average annual spend of £14,000 and have raised over £170,000 since 2007! I personally feel that any success they have is everyone’s success because their work is not only inspiring but on a day-to-day basis it is immensely uplifting to see, whilst their continued hard work is worthy of immeasurable gratitude.