I WOULD like to thank all involved in Rodborough Real Gardens and Sculpture Trail which raised a fantastic sum for our funds.

I would also like to thank everyone involved in our charity bike ride.

I am pleased to have cycled 22 miles and raised over £300 and I hope I have recovered by the time this goes to press; padded cycling shorts are definitely the way forward.

For those of you interested in learning more about nature and wildlife we are putting on a wide range of courses including how to create a pond in two days, how to create a rain garden or to learn more about the wide variety of wildlife we have in this area.

If you have been to events during the Festival of Nature and would like to learn more about bats, badgers, butterflies, moths or the insects found in a pond, you can come and spend half a day with an expert and take your knowledge to the next level.

The badger course for example, features Tony Dean, a previous chairman of Gloucestershire Badger Group who will explain how to watch a sett without disturbing the badgers. Pond dipping for adults – what makes a pond healthy?

We will dip into a local pond and identify what we find.

More information and course dates are available in our eco shop, or on our website.

We are running our popular course on scything again this year in partnership with Flora Locale where you can learn to use an Austrian scythe with Clive Leeke.

Austrian scythes are lighter and easier to use and sharpen than English scythes and are better for your back.

The Peli Pop Up Park, situated in the pub garden next to the farmers’ market is starting to happen.

We are creating a temporary pop up park, with the agreement of the landowner.

Work has just started clearing the rubbish, repairing the benches and preparing the ground for planting.

If you are interested in getting involved, now is a good time.

We would like to plant edible plants and flowers.

We are currently looking for containers to plant up on the hard surface area, preferably something we can recycle or reuse.... if you can help please let me know.

And finally we would like to thank TSB for making us their charity of the year.

We were delighted that to launch their fundraising activities for us, Fran Ockwell joined us on the bike ride, and were very grateful for help on the day from Michelle Noel.

For more about SVP see stroudvalleysproject.org