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Cotswold Lakes Trust - Perch Pod

Funded on Spacehive 5 August 2021 Delivered 1 August 2023

Impact data and claims within this report are provided by the project creator and have not been independently verified by Spacehive.

Cotswold Lakes Trust - Perch Pod

Cotswold Lakes Trust - Perch Pod

Cotswold Lakes Trust By Cotswold Lakes Trust

Our colourful Perch Pod trailer will serve as a mobile education and information centre touring local primary schools. It will also welcome and engage visitors to the Cotswold Water Park.

Cricklade Delivery stage

37
backers
£15,242
raised
funded icon
This project was funded on 05 Aug 2021!

We want to re-purpose an old wooden horse box into the Perch Pod - an exciting, bright and colourful mobile information and education centre for use by our team of knowledgeable volunteers and staff. Our Perch Pod will provide a mobile education facility - it will tour the local area visiting primary schools to encourage children, from as wide a background as possible, to learn about nature and the fantastic landscape of the Cotswold Water Park and to encourage them to visit the area. The Perch Pod will also tour around many of the key access points within the 180 lake Cotswold Water Park. It will allow our volunteers to provide a warm welcome to visitors providing them with information on walks, wildlife, local history and things to do. By doing this we will ensure that people will feel more confident to visit again without feeling intimidated, improving mental and physical wellbeing.

What we'll deliver:

  • Purchase and re-purpose an old horse box into a mobile education and information centre
  • Provide a mobile information centre at key access points
  • Deliver an educational programme to local primary schools

Why it's a great idea:

Key Benefits: 1) Utilising the Perch Pod as an Information Centre allows us to engage with the public (over 1 million visits to the Cotswold Water Park each year). We can enhance the understanding of regular visitors and encourage new visitors to feel welcome, not intimidated whilst stressing the need to avoid damage, or disturbance to the wildlife or leaving litter. 2) Provide a welcome to a diverse group of visitors with a further benefit of enhancing well-being and mental health especially with Lockdown measures now easing. 3) We plan to visit 6 primary schools per annum with the Perch Pod introducing younger generations to the need to appreciate and conserve the countryside. Recent surveys have highlighted the need to widen diversity amongst groups currently enjoying the countryside. 4) Economic benefits for over 40 local businesses seeing an increase in visitors. 5) Volunteering opportunities, we currently have a team of 12 (mostly retired) volunteers to engage with the public.

Steps to get it done:

  • Purchase second-hand trailer
  • Convert trailer into mobile information education centre
  • Information delivery at key access points
  • Educational visits to local primary schools

We already have a pickup with a two bar that can be used to mover the trailer around. We have carried out a short survey of our local contacts with regards to the Perch Pod proposal, of 27 respondents 85% felt it would benefit local communities while 74% supported liked the scheme. At weekends and school holidays in 2019, prior to Covid restrictions, , our volunteers reported engaging with 3,000 groups of people. Over 50% of these asked questions relating to walking, cycling and wildlife. The volunteers also sold over 2,000 walks maps and gave out thousands of the free Leisure Maps produced by Cotswold Lakes Trust on behalf of the many leisure businesses. The Perch Pod provides the opportunity to substantially increase this engagement as it can be positioned in various new locations across the 42 square miles of the Cotswold Water Park.

Location Cricklade

About the space

The Cotswold Water Park is an area of 42 square miles and 180 lakes, with many different leisure providers, and a variety of places to stay. This stunning wetlands landscape hosts tens of thousands of breeding and watering birds and is an important area for wildlife. Cotswold Water Park interactive map www.waterpark.org/interactive-map

Council

Cotswold District Council

How will the money be spent?Total £15,203

Horsebox Conversion and fit out - £12,000 (79%)
Trailer Purchase - £2,200 (14%)
Other - £1,003 (7%)

Costs Breakdown

This shows how money raised for the project will be spent. These costs have been confirmed by the project's Delivery Manager and verified.

79%
Horsebox Conversion and fit out
£12,000
14%
Trailer Purchase
£2,200
7%
Other Read More
£1,003
  • Spacehive fees
    £719
  • VAT
    £144
  • Transaction Fees
    £140

Overfunding

This project is enabled for overfunding. If the project hits its funding goal before the end of the campaign period, any extra funds raised will be spent (in order of priority) on:

  • Canvas awning
  • Additional pop-up displays

Total £15,203

Our Volunteer List

We're currently looking for people to offer skills and time to develop our project! Check out the list of what we need below and then use the 'Volunteer' button to the right to get involved.

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