THE holiday season is with us, Stroud town centre is much more vibrant at this time of year with lots of families and young people out and about creating a lively atmosphere all week long.

I love the Peli Pop Up Park.

For those of you who haven’t seen it, it’s next door to the Cornhill where Stroud farmers’ market is held.

The rain garden is looking good thanks to the recent weather, helped by the rain we have had this week, the green wall planted with herbs has started to establish itself and now we are beginning to get some courgettes ready in the raised bed.

I am still looking for recycled containers of some sort we can use to put on the tarmac and paved area so we can grow more plants, can anyone help?

Come and join us for a moth night in Cam on Friday, September 4, from 8.30pm at a nature reserve in Cam.

Neil Woodward, moth expert, will set up traps to attract moths during the evening for us to look at.

This is a reserve with a rich habitat for moths, so we hope to see some unusual and exciting species.

On Thursday, September 10, from 7pm to 9.30pm, we are running a tour of a mine near Stroud.

The mine is home to rare bats during the winter and it once supplied stone to build mills and houses in the area.

The walk is for people who are fit,. It is about one mile long and there is a small opening to squeeze through.

Once inside, there is room to stand but it will be dark.

It’s a tough time for charities like ours.

The Financial Sustainability Review produced by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations says charities have not seen the recovery experienced by the economy overall.

We are seeing some of these difficulties reported in the media.

Small and medium-sized organisations have been hardest hit, with charities with incomes between £100,000 and £1million seeing the biggest falls in their income and assets.

Such charities saw an overall fall of 38 per cent in their income from government sources between 2007/8 and 2012/13.

We are spending more and more time and energy on fundraising when we would like to be spending time working with our volunteers on our local environment.

This vital work cannot happen without funding. Where is all the money?