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Skills for All at Berrington Hall

Skills for All at Berrington Hall

Crabapple Community By Crabapple Community

Help us empower people through practical courses focused on sustainable living, traditional crafts & caring for land & nature; particularly aimed at young people and strengthening community networks

Berrington Delivery stage

61
backers
£7,311
raised
funded icon
This project was funded on 24 Oct 2024!

We will run a series of weekend courses focused on practical skills and knowledge for sustainable living and land-based livelihoods and projects, applicable in both rural and urban contexts. Experienced tutors will share their skills in growing food; foraging; planting and looking after trees, hedges, orchards & forest gardens; making traditional herbal remedies and willow crafts. The courses will be held at Berrington Hall Housing Co-op, a low-impact community near Shrewsbury. The project will bring together people of different ages & backgrounds, building links across generations, enhancing wellbeing and strengthening community networks. A theme linking courses will be how we can collectively respond to the climate & nature crises by making our communities more resilient, reducing carbon emissions and living in nature-friendly ways. Courses will be actively promoted to young people, with 1/3 of places free for 18 - 25's and 1/3 free for representatives of local community groups.

What we'll deliver:

  • Run 12 one-day courses focused on practical skills for sustainable living & land-based livelihoods & projects.
  • Provide 40 free places on one-day courses for 18 - 25 year-olds
  • Provide 40 free places on one-day courses for representatives of local community groups
  • Provide 40 free places on one-day courses for other local residents
  • Offer opportunities for course participants to develop their skills through volunteering with Crabapple Community

Why it's a great idea:

Locally, as in the UK generally, there has been a decline in the knowledge and practice of land-based skills and traditional crafts. In parallel with this, people have become increasingly disconnected from nature and the decline in biodiversity is accelerating. As a society we need to reverse these trends if we are to successfully tackle the climate & nature crises and build community resilience in a changing world. This project seeks to inspire and support local residents, particularly young people, to try out skills, crafts and approaches relevant to sustainable living and taking care of the land and nature; while at the same time reducing social isolation and boosting individual & community wellbeing. The project will also support and strengthen connections between community initiatives and networks by bringing together members of different groups e.g. community growing projects, food-shares, re-wilding projects. This will build resilience both in local communities & in nature.

Steps to get it done:

  • Confirm dates & details of courses with tutors
  • Set up booking system via Eventbrite
  • Run series of social media posts introducing each course and each tutor
  • Reach out to young people aged 18 - 25 via youth groups and colleges etc
  • Reach out to local community groups
  • Run the courses!

If you're interested in finding out more and booking onto a course, please email us at [email protected] and put "Skills for All" in the email title. The courses cover 6 main topics/skills areas, with 2 days on each topic. However each day is designed as a stand-alone course, so participants can choose whether to book onto a single day or 2 linked days. For example, there will be 2 days on different aspects of looking after fruit trees: one day covering planting fruit trees and winter pruning; and the other day covering bud-grafting and summer pruning.

Location Berrington

About the space

Berrington Hall

Council

Shropshire Council

How will the money be spent?Target (inc. fees)  £7,157

Orchard Management courses (tutor fees for 2 days, tutor travel & materials) - £888
Willow Coppicing & Craft courses (tutor fees for 2 days & materials) - £760
Permaculture/Forest Gardening courses (tutor fees for 2 days, tutor travel & materials) - £745
Provision of course venue, including insurance, electricity & heating - £720
Tree Propagation & Tree Care courses (tutor fees for 2 days & tutor travel) - £699
Foraging & Herbal Remedy making courses (tutor fees for 2 days & materials) - £650
Hedge-Planting & Hedge-Laying courses (tutor fees for 2 days) - £600
Project co-ordination & admin - £600
Course promotion - £400
Refreshments for 12 one-day courses - £360
Other - £240

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.

Orchard Management courses (tutor fees for 2 days, tutor travel & materials)
£888
Willow Coppicing & Craft courses (tutor fees for 2 days & materials)
£760
Permaculture/Forest Gardening courses (tutor fees for 2 days, tutor travel & materials)
£745
Provision of course venue, including insurance, electricity & heating
£720
Tree Propagation & Tree Care courses (tutor fees for 2 days & tutor travel)
£699
Foraging & Herbal Remedy making courses (tutor fees for 2 days & materials)
£650
Hedge-Planting & Hedge-Laying courses (tutor fees for 2 days)
£600
Project co-ordination & admin
£600
Course promotion
£400
Refreshments for 12 one-day courses
£360
Other Read More
£240
  • Overnight accommodation & meals for tutors traveling from a distance
    £240

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:

  • Run an additional course focusing on nature connection and/or land-based/environmental art (IF £500+ extra raised)
  • Purchase tools for use in hedging, pruning, coppicing etc e.g. billhooks, secateurs & pruning saws (IF £50 - £500 extra raised)

Target (inc. fees)  £7,157

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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