---- Where does our money come from? ----

The Friends of Troopers Hill fund their activities from a variety of sources. The most important contribution is from our members, who have given many hours of their time to ensure that The Friends of Troopers Hill have become one of the most successful groups in Bristol.

Unveiling of plaques acknowledging funding for the new path on Troopers Hill Field in October 2020.

Many volunteer hours have have been recorded at Work Parties but many more hours have been spent by volunteers helping at events (we can now put up gazebos in any weather!); attending meetings; building this website and carrying out general administrative tasks. As well as time, a lot of paper, printer ink and stamps have been donated - our thanks to everyone. If you would like to volunteer to help us then please see our Volunteering Page.

However, we could not have achieved all that we have without some hard cash. Details of the grants and larger donations we have received are given below, with some notes on how the money has been spent.

Although we have been very successful in the past raising grants; there is always more that we would like to do and it is difficult to raise funds for running costs such as paper, ink, postage, meeting room charges, replacing tools and paying for our website name. There also the costs of the events we arrange.

To make a donation either contact or make a cheque payable to "Friends of Troopers Hill" and send it to Treasurer, Friends of Troopers Hill, c/o 3 Corkers Hill, St George, Bristol, BS5 8DT.

A BIG thank you to all the organisations listed below and everyone who has supported Friends of Troopers Hill since we were formed in 2003.

Susan's Sponsored Walk - September 2025

Our Chair, Susan, had a major operation at Southmead Hospital in May 2025. To say thank you she took part in the 'Bristol to Bath Trail' sponsored walk to raise meney for the Southmead Hospital Charity.

Susan had also very generously agreed to match any sponsorship she received (up to £500) with an equivalent donation to Friends of Troopers Hill - as Susan raised more than than that we received £500.

Read more here - www.tinyurl.com/Susan25k

Active Travel Grant - April 2025

We were delighted to hear in April 2025 that the St George Strollers application for a Bristol City Council Active Travel Grant had been successful.

The funding helped the Strollers celebrate their 300th walk in June 2025.

It will fund most of the cost of a new welcoming information board at the Malvern Rd entrance to Troopers Hill Field, complete with a revised map showing the paths around the Field and through the woods.

As part of this project our wonderful volunteer, Kit Elliott, has updated our Troopers Hill audio trail. He did this work at no charge, so we were able to cost this as part of the match-funding needed to win the grant. The walk leaders time was also able to be used as match-funding.

Book Donation - Dave Stephenson - November 2024

Dave Stephenson was co-author of the book 'Images of England - Crews Hole, St George and Speedwell' which was published in 2003.

The book is now out of print, but in 2024 Dave generously donated his surplus copies to Friends of Troopers Hill for us to raise funds.

By offering copies of the books in exchange for donations to Friends of Troopers Hill we raised over £500. All our copies have now gone.

Dave also allowed us to add some of the articles that he wrote for the Bristol Times about St George Church and the Workhouse to our website, these can be found on our Memories page.

Crowdfunding for Nature Conservation Work 2022 to 2024

To allow people to easily donate to our wildlife conservation work, we launched a Crowdfunding appeal through GoFundMe in 2022.

We have also asked people to donate to this fund at events (such as the planetarium, see below) if they prefer to donate online rather than in cash.

In addition to the donations received through GoFundMe we have also received direct donations, the most generous of which was from a former resident of this area, who now lives in New Zealand, who made a donation of £2,500

Planetarium Shows with Immersive Theatres - February 2024

Thanks to the generosity of Immersive Theatres we were able to offer short planetarium astronomy shows aimed at children as a fundraising event.

Three planetarium shows, each aimed at different age groups, were held in an inflatable planetarium in Wesley Memorial Church Hall, Bryants Hill.

While the dome was provided free of charge, we asked for donations which covered the hire of the hall and raised well over £100 towards our Nature Conservation work.

Sale of Donated Painting - May 2023

The artist, Oliver Sidaway, donated this painting of the old slide in Troopers Hill Field to Friends of Troopers Hill for them to use to raise funds.

Thanks to Parkside Picture Framers of 278, Church Rd generously including the painting in their window display, it sold to a local resident.

The funds raised will be used to help fund conservation work on Troopers Hill in winter 2023/24.

BCC Climate and Ecological Emergency Community Grant
August 2022

Most nature conservation work on Troopers Hill is carried out by Bristol Parks or by our volunteers at our Conservation Work Parties all in accordance with our agreed Management Plan.

But sometimes there are tasks that neither ourselves nor Bristol Parks have the resourses to carry out and we need the help of specialist contractors.

We were very pleased to hear in August 2022, therefore, that a grant of £5,000.00 had been agreed from the BCC Climate and Ecological Emergency Community Grant Programme for cutting and removing gorse to reduce the risk of fire and ensure that the reserve's biodiversity is maintained and increased.

We believe that being able to add some of our own donations from our Crowdfunding appeal was vital in allowing us to get this grant. Larger areas of gorse were cleared by contractors, while our volunteers cleared patches that were appearing amongst heather or grassland.

This much needed work was carried out in January 2023 & January 2024.

Bristol Parks - Wheelchair Access Path & Bench - April / May 2022

Resurfacing the path from Troopers Hill Field towards the chimney was one of the aims of our Ways to Nature Project which was completed in 2020; unfortunately the available funding did not permit it to be completed at that time.

However, we were delighted that Bristol Parks were able to fund the work two years later.

As part of the same project, thanks to the generosity of a local family, the first bench on the Hill has also been replaced.

More details...

Ibstock Enovert Trust & Crowdfunding - March 2021

When the red slide that had stood on Troopers Hill Field (the last remaining part of the pre-1980s play area) had to be removed due to rust in November 2019 we launched a crowdfunder to raise funds to install a new large slide to replace it.

Having demonstrated residents' support by exceeding our intial target of £1,000 we applied to Ibstock Enovert Trust for the balance of the funding and were delighted to have our bid accepted.

The generous donations made by local people to our crowdfunder, included an amazing £500 from local Little Treasures toyshop owner, Jo Webster-Green.

The new slide has been added to the play area installed in 2016 and was installed during August 2021.

We are delighted that Ibstock Enovert Trust agreed to support this project building on their support for the path constructed during 2020 (see below).

Replacing the Red Slide - More information >>

Enovert Community Trust (ECT), Ibstock Enovert Trust (IET)
& Bristol City Council - Autumn 2018

Our 'Ways to Nature' project started in 2018 and continued throughout 2019 and into 2020.

We were able to announce at our meeting on 6th December 2018 that we have received funds through the Landfill Communities Fund (LCF) from both Enovert Community Trust (ECT) and Ibstock Enovert Trust (IET) for a new path and to resurface the track on Troopers Hill Field. Our local Councillors also supported this part of the project by allocating Community Infrastructure Levy funds through the Area Committee. Our successful application to the Committee was was championed by Cllr Fabian Breckels.

Work to the path and track was completed in the summer of 2020, celebrated with a small socially distanced ceremony on Troopers Hill Field in October (see photo at the top of the page).

Ways to Nature Project >>

River Avon Trail Defibrillator Crowdfunding - Jan to July 2018

Fantastic news, you have helped us reached the lifesaving challenge set for us by Didac Ltd at the Woodwise Academy in Crews Hole Rd.

Didac were willing to contribute half the cost of a defibrillator to be installed right by the River Avon Trail in Crews Hole where so many people walk, cycle and exercise. Their challenge to us was to raise the remaining £1,300.

A huge THANK YOU to the local people and business who have helped us raise that money through our crowdfunding appeal. A particular shout out for Jeff's VW Shack with the largest donation, after Didac Ltd's £1,300, of £250. Also to Western Power Distribution who added some extra funds to to bring us over the line.

The photo below shows some of the donors and others involved in making this happen at the official unveiling in January 2019.

The automatic external defibrillator (AED) is now in place on the river side of Didac's building. It can be accessed via a code which will be given to you by the 999 call operator in the event of an emergency.

National Lottery Heritage Fund - June 2018

We are delighted to have received support for a large part of our 'Ways to Nature' project from the National Lottery Heritage Fund (formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund) 'Our Heritage' programme.

Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, we were able to achieve the majority of our aims to protect the wildlife on Troopers Hill Local Nature Reserve including the provision of new fencing and gates along Troopers Hill Road. We were also able to carry out some further wildlife surveys and run some educational events such as guided walks.

New fencing and gate on Troopers Hill Road, 2019.

Ways to Nature Project >>

The Nineveh Charitable Trust - May 2018

The Natural Learners project began in 2017 and aims to encourage local residents to develop a connection with the natural world by providing inspiring educational experiences on Troopers Hill.

The project is run by environmental educators Mali Kedward and Amy Stone

Working with Friends of Troopers Hill, Mali and Amy secured funding of £5,380 from The Nineveh Charitable Trust to enable the continuation of the project in 2018.

Activities running from June 2018 included weekly Wild Play pre-school sessions; school holiday activities for families and Trial school sessions.

Part of our Ways to Nature Project

Avon Frome Partnership - December 2017

Thanks to funding secured by the Avon Frome Partnership, works were carried out in Troopers Hill Woods during the winter of 2017/18 to further improve access.

The work was based on suggestions made by Friends of Troopers Hill and recommendations from an ecologist. The first stage in December 2017 included the removal of some large buddleia bushes that were blocking the lower path and some selected thinning of trees to enhance the ecology. We were also able to open up the overgrown route into the woods from the entrance between the Field and the Hill. As part of our Ways to Nature Project we also added some additional waymarking to the woodland paths in August 2018.

Troopers Hill Flag Crowdfunding - November 2017

In November 2017 Friends of Troopers Hill had to remove the 'Welcome to Troopers Hill' flag at Greendown as it had become too tatty.

We intended to ask Bristol City Council to remove the flag pole, but we were approached by local families who liked the flag asking if it could be replaced.

Natasha (one of those who had contacted us) agreed to work with Friends of Troopers Hill to run a crowdfunding campaign which raised sufficient funds in only 2 days to buy a replacement flag and a spare.

Natasha and her daughter helped up put up the new flag.

The University of Manchester - May 2017

Friends of Troopers Hill benefited to the tune of £200 when our Chair, Susan Acton-Campbell, was awarded second place in Alumni section the 2017 University of Manchester Volunteer of the Year Awards.

We used this money to fund the printing of the surveys for our Ways to Nature Project.

You can see Susan's citation here. A big thank you to Liz for nominating Susan for this award.

Didac Ltd - February 2017

Didac Ltd, locally based at the Woodwise Academy in Crews Hole, have agreed to help us out by printing copies of our Spring 2017 Newsletter and our 2017 Events Programme.

They also kindly agreed to provide, free of charge, a wooden sign to mark the entrance to the Woodland Path & Steps from Crews Hole.

Children of Summerhill Out of School Club - January 2017

The 'Children of Summerhill Out of School Club' recently closed after it was taken over by Summerhill Academy. The Management Committee decided that they wanted to redistribute surplus assets back into the community and we were pleased that they presented Friends of Troopers Hill with a cheque for £500.

While there were no restrictions put on the use of the money, the group did say in their letter that they hoped "this money goes some way to help you continue supporting children and families in the local area". We therefore intend to spend this money on events and activities aimed at children and families.

The majority of this money was spent on additional nets, bug pots and ID charts and were used for the first time at our bugs & beasties hunt in August 2017.

ALHA - September 2016

ALHA (Avon Local History & Archaeology) gave us a donation in mid 2016 as a thank you for leading a guided walk, which we added to the fund for 'Little Elizabeth's' bench (see below). We were delighted when we later learned that ALHA were making a futher donation of £50.

We agreed with ALHA that this should be used to install a small plaque on the marker post, at Little Elizabeth's view. The plaque will have a link to our webpage where you will be able to find more information about Elizabeth Emra, who the view point is named after - www.troopers-hill.org.uk/emra

The plaque was installed soon after the installation of the new bench.

Public donations for new bench - Summer/Autumn 2016

As the path through the woodland that forms part of our Woodland Trail leaves the nature reserve and enters the woodland there is a marker post and adjacent to it a metal bench. This is the location we call 'Little Elizabeth's View'.

In 2006 Friends of Troopers Hill installed a wooden bench here; when it reached the end of its life in 2016 Friends of Troopers Hill launched an appeal to replace Little Elizabeth's bench and raised sufficient funds for the metal replacement to be purchased. The new bench was ordered through Bristol Parks and installed in August 2017.

'Little Elizabeth' was Elizabeth Emra, you can read more about her here:
www.troopers-hill.org.uk/emra.

The Geologists' Association - September 2016

New Geology Interpretation Board - following the award of a grant from Bristol City Council in early 2016 (see below) Friends of Troopers Hill worked with Andrew Mathieson and the Avon RIGS Group on a draft design and wording for the board. It became clear that we could produce a much more informative and attractive board if we could add additional funds.

On Andrew's suggestion, we sent our initial draft to The Geologists' Association with an application to their 'Curry Fund'. We were very pleased to be awarded a grant of £1,380 which added to the money from Bristol City Council means we could procede with the design and installation of our new board.

The board was installed in December 2016, it is located near the existing board at the top of the hill near the chimney.

You can find out more about the geology of Troopers Hill on our Geology page.

Beese's - September 2016

We were delighted that this season's new owners of Beese's have continued to support Friends of Troopers Hill and Friends of Eastwood Farm with a donation of £500 to each organisation from the ticket sales at their Beer, Cider & Music Festival.

St George Neighbourhood Partnership - June 2016

Friends of Troopers Hill have been awarded £310 from the St George Neighbourhood Partnership Wellbeing Fund for an opening event for the new play area on Troopers Hill Field - see below for details of how the play area itself was funded.

As well as being a celebration this will publicise what the Partnership can do to help community groups to achieve their aims and explain how this project succeeded.

See www.troopers-hill.org.uk/StGeorgeNP for more details about the Neighbourhood Partnership and earlier grants awarded to Friends of Troopers Hill.

Veolia Environmental Trust 2016

Following on from our award from SITA in January for the Troopers Hill Field play area (see below) there was even more good news in March when we heard that we had also received a grant from Veolia Environmental Trust. This is for the phase 2 works to construct a £25,000 activity trail for slightly older children.

Being successful in both applications means that the two phases can be constructed at the same time. Taken together and including some additional costs that will be covered by Section 106 money allocated by the St George Neighbourhood Partnership this means an investment of over £80,000 for play on Troopers Hill Field.

Find out more & see a timeline for the project >>

Bristol City Council 2016

New Geology Interpretation Board - Friends of Troopers Hill have been awarded £1,000 from Bristol City Council to provide a geology interpretation board on the hill. This is part of a project to help promote greater enjoyment and understanding of Bristol's Local Nature Reserves.

Friends of Troopers Hill worked with Andrew Mathieson and the Avon RIGS Group on the design and wording of the board. As described above, The Geologists' Association gave us additional funding for this project from their 'Curry Fund'.

Andrew led a guided geology walk for us on Sunday 16th October 2016.

You can find out more about the geology of Troopers Hill on our Geology page.

SITA Trust 2016

We were really pleased to receive news from SITA Trust in January 2016 that we have been successful in obtaining funding of £50,000 for the first phase of our project to install an improved play area in Troopers Hill Field. This will provide a fenced under 5s play area and access path.

Find out more & see a timeline for the project >>

Beese's Riverside Bar & Tea Gardens 2015

Thank you again to Ma & Pa Beese's for two further donations to Friends of Troopers Hill this year.

In April we were handed a cheque for £550 and this was followed by a further £750 in October. As with previous donations since 2007 (see below) these were given without any restrictions on how the funds could be used. The donations are a proportion of money paid for tickets for Beese's annual Beer Festivals, with these donations being from the 2014 & 2015 events.

At about the time that we heard about the donation in April an opportunity came up to get the ParkWork team to improve steps on a path in Troopers Hill Woods if we could fund the materials. With Beese's support we therefore agreed to use the majority of this donation to fund these materials. Work on the steps has now been completed and we used the balance to fund ParkWork to improve the entrance from Crews Hole Road.

Beese's have also donated the same sums to Friends of Eastwood Farm.

St George Neighbourhood Partnership - June 2015

Friends of Troopers Hill were awarded £350 from the Neighbourhood Partnership Wellbeing Fund at the Partnership's meeting in June 2015. This money is to fund our Dog Show on 11th October 2015 which aims to encourage responsible dog ownership.

See www.troopers-hill.org.uk/StGeorgeNP for more details about the Neighbourhood Partnership and earlier grants awarded to Friends of Troopers Hill.

St George Neighbourhood Partnership Bristol Green Capital Fund 2015

Friends of Troopers Hill received a grant from the St George Neighbourhood Partnership Bristol Green Capital Fund for a series of guided walks and events for Bristol's Green Capital Year 2015. The aim is to inspire and educate people about the green spaces in St George and encourage people to visit them.

We are working with Friends of St George Park and Friends of Dundridge Park who will also be hosting events and have produced a leaflet with all the events to be distributed locally. The walks organised by Friends of Troopers Hill are shown on our Events Page.

Walks & events in St George in 2015 (pdf) >>

Sovereign – 2014 & 2015

The St George Strollers, the Walking for Health group set up by the Friends of Troopers Hill, have been working with Sovereign Housing Association to increase access to local walking opportunities.

As a result Sovereign have granted £1,100 for the Strollers to develop and lead a series of free, child-friendly walks made particularly accessible to Sovereign residents but open to all.

The funding also means that Sovereign residents in the Pile Marsh area are receiving copies of each quarterly programme of walks and their community noticeboard is being kept up to date with local activites, news and maps and photos of the walks.

Dig In, St George - Donation Tin - 2011 - 2015

Dig In Fruit & Veg shop on Church Rd kindly allowed us to have a collection tin on their counter for several years.

Sadly the shop closed in 2016.

Many thanks to Dig In and to all their customers for their generosity.

Beese's Riverside Bar & Tea Gardens 2014

A BIG thank you to Beese's who have been supporting Friends of Troopers Hill with donations since 2007. These donations which are not tied to particular projects have been vital in allowing Friends of Troopers Hill to put on events and fund running costs.

As announced at Music on the Hill in June 2014 Beese's donated a very generous £700 to Friends of Troopers Hill from money raised throughout 2013, including a proportion of the ticket sales money from the 2013 Beer Festival.

Beese's presented the cheque to us at the Fun Dog Show at Eastwood Farm on 13th July and donated the same sums to Friends of Eastwood Farm.

Cheque presentation by Ma & Pa Beese's at Eastwood Farm Dog Show July 2014

Community First Neighbourhood Matched Fund - March 2014
Falconry Display

We have been awarded a second grant from the St George West Community First Panel. The Community First Neighbourhood Matched Fund programme is administered by the Community Development Foundation (CDF) for the Office for Civil Society.

This grant is for a Falconry display to be held on Sunday 5th October 2pm-4.30pm. The event, which will be a first for Troopers Hill will give a live example of the natural food chain and the importance of falcons and other raptors. Click here for more details.

St George Neighbourhood Partnership - Sept 2013

Friends of Troopers Hill were awarded £650 from the Neighbourhood Partnership Wellbeing Fund at the Partnership's meeting in September 2013. This money is to help promote the St George Strollers during 2014 by running and publicising a series of special walks aimed at attracting new walkers and retaining existing walkers.

See www.troopers-hill.org.uk/StGeorgeNP for more details about the Neighbourhood Partnership and earlier grants awarded to Friends of Troopers Hill.

Beese's Riverside Bar & Tea Gardens 2007 to 2013

Over this period Friends of Troopers Hill received extremely generous donations from Beese's Riverside Bar & Tea Gardens with a lot of it coming from the ticket sales at their beer festival, in total they donated nearly £2,000.

A BIG thank youto Ma & Pa.

Co-operative Membership Community Fund - December 2012
Stepping Forward Schools Project & Leaflets £2,000

We were pleased to be able to announce at our Slide and video show & AGM on 6th Dec 2012 that we had been successful in an application to the Co-operative Membership Community Fund to enhance the Schools Project that we are running as part of the overall Stepping Forward Project (see below).

This grant of £2,000 is also paying for our Information Leaflet to be refreshed and for all of our set of 3 leaflets to be reprinted.

 More details on Stepping Forward Project Page

Big Lottery Community Spaces Programme - July 2012
Troopers Hill - Stepping Forward - Extra £3,500

We were pleased to announce at our July 2012 meeting that we have been successful in a further application to the Community Spaces Programme for a 'Sustainability Grant' of £3,500, this was for two projects aimed at people using the Hill. The first project is to create an audio trail and the second is a project working with local schools.

This is additional to the £30,500 awarded in November 2011, see below.

The Stepping Forward Project has been funded through the Community Spaces programme. The Community Spaces grants programme is being managed by Groundwork UK as an Award Partner to the Big Lottery Fund. Community Spaces is part of the Big Lottery Fund's Changing Spaces initiative.

 More details on Stepping Forward Project Page

Community First Neighbourhood Matched Fund - June 2012
St George Strollers & Dog Show 2012

The Community First Neighbourhood Matched Fund programme is administered by the Community Development Foundation (CDF) for the Office for Civil Society. We were awarded a grant following our application to the St George West Community First Panel.

The first part of the grant is to support the St George Strollers in their second year of operation. The 'St George Strollers' run regular walks in St George or in surrounding areas that can be easily reached by bus. The group was set up by Friends of Troopers Hill in May 2011 with funding from the Quartet Community Foundation, see below. This grant will allow the group to further develop and encourage more people to take part. Click here for details of the next walk.

The second part of the grant will fund our Family Fun Dog Show to be held on Troopers Hill Field (which is in St George West) on Sunday 14th October 2012. This show is aimed at encouraging responsible dog ownership and is also to thank those dog owners who do such great work picking up litter to help keep Troopers Hill clean and tidy.

Big Lottery Community Spaces Programme - November 2011
Troopers Hill - Stepping Forward - £30,500 for Troopers Hill

In November 2011 Friends of Troopers Hill received news of our biggest grant award to date. £30,504.89 was awarded by Groundwork UK from the Big Lottery through their Community Spaces Programme.

This followed the award of a development grant of £1,000 to carry out further consultation and also for an ecological survey in December 2010 (see below).

This Stage 2 award also included agreement in principle of a further £3,500 being awarded as a 'sustainability grant' but subject to a suitable project being agreed. This has now been awarded, see above.

The Stepping Forward Project has been funded through the Community Spaces programme. The Community Spaces grants programme is being managed by Groundwork UK as an Award Partner to the Big Lottery Fund. Community Spaces is part of the Big Lottery Fund's Changing Spaces initiative.

 More details on Stepping Forward Project Page

Big Lottery Community Spaces Programme
Troopers Hill - Stepping Forward - Development Grant Feb 2011

Friends of Troopers Hill were delighted to be able to announce at our 2010 AGM that we have been successful in the first stage of an application for £32,000 to Groundwork UK for funding from the Big Lottery through their Community Spaces Programme.

We were awarded a development grant of £1,000 to carry out further consultation and also for an ecological survey.

Our Stage 2 application was submitted on 29th September 2011 and was approved in November (see above).

 Stepping Forward Project Page

St George Neighbourhood Partnership - 2009 to 2011

Friends of Troopers Hill were awarded a total of over £2,200 by the Neighbourhood Partnership during this period. This money was for:

 A new dog bin - Autumn 2009

 Tree works and planting adjacent to Troopers Hill Rd - Autumn 2010

 Grant to St George Strollers - Summer 2011

See www.troopers-hill.org.uk/StGeorgeNP for more details about these projects and the Neighbourhood Partnership.

Bristol City Council's Community Festival and Event Fund
2010 & 2011

Friends of Troopers Hill have been awarded nearly £300 from Bristol City Council's Community Festival and Event Fund towards the costs of running our Family Fun Picnic in 2011. This followed an award of £1,375 in 2010 towards the Dawn Chorus Walk, Music on the Hill, Family Fun Picnic and Family Fun Dog Show events in 2010.

The weather meant the Picnic had to be cancelled in 2010 so we were extremely pleased to receive the second award to run the event in 2011. The awards are a recognition of the value of these events in promoting Troopers Hill to the local community and raising awarness of the importance of this unique site for wildlife.

The fund also supported Gynormous Rawkus in 2010 to organise 'playful picnics' at green spaces througout Bristol including Kite Making and Flying on Troopers Hill.

Quartet Community Foundation - February 2011
Walking for Health Group for St George

Friends of Troopers Hill were pleased to be involved in setting up a Walking for Health Group for St George; the group is called 'The St George Strollers'.

Quartet Community Foundation gave us funding of £1,700 to work with Bristol City Council to get a group started. The group started with a launch walk on Wednesday 11th May 2011 and now run regular walks in St George or in surrounding areas that can be easily reached by bus. Click here for details of the next walk.

Find out more about Walking for Health in Bristol at www.bristol.gov.uk/healthwalks

For more information about the national Walking for Health initiative visit www.walkingforhealth.org.uk

Public and Commercial Services Union - October 2009

In October 2009 Friends of Troopers Hill was presented with a cheque for £50 from the Public and Commercial Services Union . Many thanks to Helen who applied for a grant which is for Friends of Troopers Hill to spend on craft materials for us to use at our events. It will help a lot of kids and adults be creative on Troopers Hill.

NHS Bristol - Summer 2008 & 2009

Our Tai Chi sessions on Troopers Hill Field in both 2008 and 2009 were funded by grants from NHS Bristol. The grants were given in recognition of the value of Tai Chi for improving balance and core stability particularly for older people. The session were run by the Bristol School of Tai Chi.

You can see details and photos via the links below:
  Tai Chi Summer 2008      Tai Chi Summer 2009

Friends of Troopers Hill Education Fund - Summer 2008

Friends of Troopers Hill received two significant donations during 2008. The first donation was over £600 from the funds held by the Dundridge Park Group when it was wound up at the end of 2007. While we were sorry that this group was unable to continue we are pleased to have the opportunity to ensure that the money continues to benefit local residents. Information about Dundridge Park can be found here.

The second donation was from Beese's Riverside Bar & Tea Gardens who again donated money from the ticket sales at their beer festival, this donation was over £300.

After some discussion Friends of Troopers Hill decided that the best use of this money was to form an 'Education Fund'. This fund will be used to enable us to hold events to inform both adults and children about the wildlife and history of Troopers Hill. This is one of the key aims of Friends of Troopers Hill. Prior to September 2008 this type of event had been run as part of the Wildspace! and Nature in the City Projects and had been very popular. We are very pleased that these donations have enabled us to continue with this aspect of our work.

YANSEC Grant - February 2008

We are very pleased to have received our second grant award from YANSEC (Yanley and North Somerset Environment Company), which is substantially funded by Viridor Credits. This grant was for a project with a total cost of £21,500 of which Bristol Parks contributed 10% in third party match funding.

Most of this money went towards improvents to the Greendown entrance to implement the design produced with our Awards for All grant described below. We were also delighted to be able to replace the benches that were installed with the earlier YANSEC grant in 2006. Part of the grant also funded three new entrance signs.

  YANSEC Grant 2008 Project Page

Nature in the City Project - September 2006 to September 2008

In 2006 Bristol Parks secured funding for an exciting new project under the heading of Nature in the City. This was led by Sally Oldfield and allowed her to continue the work started with the Wildspace! Project over the preceeding four years. Nature in the City funded the majority of events held on Troopers Hill and other Local Nature Reserves over this period.

It was with great sadness that we heard at the begining of October 2008 that Sally was to leave her post. While the Nature in the City Project was always planned to finish at this time, funding for her post was in place until March 2009. Unfortunately with funding only guaranteed for these six months the post could not be filled. Sally has moved to a new role working on LNRs in Islington which is near to where her boyfriend, Richard, lives. After travelling to Bristol every weekend for 6 years, he has finally managed to persuade her to move over there. Islington's gain is sadly Bristol's loss.

As Bristol Parks Local Nature Reserves Officer running these two projects Sally was responsible for getting Friends of Troopers Hill started and was very supportive of the group. There is no doubt that without her Friends of Troopers Hill would not exist; Troopers Hill would not have a Green Flag and it would not be so well maintained by Bristol Parks - she will be very much missed. I'm sure you will join with us in wishing her the very best for the future. To mark five years of Friends of Troopers Hill and as a big thank you to Sally we presented her with a wooden vase and this certificate at our meeting on 1st October 2008.

  Nature in the City Project Page

Awards for All - September 2007

Friends of Troopers Hill received news in September 2007 that they have been awarded £5,000 by Awards for All, the public announcement of this Lottery Funded award was made on 23rd October.

Part of the grant was for 'Trooping the Hill' an interpretive project with local Scouts to celebrate the story of Troopers Hill. The project involved environmental arts and performance to bring the History of Troopers Hill to life and took place on Sat 28th June 2008. The remainder of the grant was to redesign two of the entrances to the hill. The designs were produced in consultation with local people through the Friends of Troopers Hill.

  Awards for All Grant 2007 Project Page

Grand Raffle & Beese's Beer Festival - Summer 2007

The generosity of various local businesses gave a significant boost to the Friends of Troopers Hill finances in the summer of 2007. Our Grand Raffle raised £400 with most of the tickets being sold at our Family Fun Picnic in August. The first prize of balloon flight for two was kindly donated by Somerfield. Other prizes included a wonderful wooden vase turned for us by Tom Thomas of Topwood Crafts, Yatton from a Silver Birch that used to grow on Troopers Hill; a meal for two and other prizes from Beese's Riverside Bar & Tea Gardens; a year’s free membership, video and book from Barton Hill History Group and a chicken from Gingells our local butcher. Thanks to everyone who made donations.

Ma & Pa Beese were even more generous in September when they donated £250 from the ticket sales for their highly successful Beer Festival.

These donations have ensured that we will be able to put ona full programme of events again in 2008.

Big Lottery Fund, Breathing Places Programme - October 2006

Friends of Troopers Hill were delighted to learn of their largest grant award to date when the post brought news from the Big Lottery Fund in early October 2006.

The award of £9,984 was from the Big Lottery Fund Breathing Places programme. This scheme complements the BBC Breathing Places campaign which aims to encourage more people to get involved in their local green spaces.

  Big Lottery Fund, Breathing Places Project Page

YANSEC Grant - March 2006

Friends of Troopers Hill had some excellent news for their first newsletter of 2006. YANSEC (Yanley and North Somerset Environment Company) are a non-profit making organisation that receives contributions from landfill operators to finance projects to improve the environment of parts of North Somerset and Bristol.

YANSEC, which is substantially funded by Viridor Credits, agreed to give us £2,910.

This money was used to fund a path to provide wheelchair access from Troopers Hill Field to the chimney at the top of the hill and three benches. The path was completed in April 2007, Friends and others with mobility problems now have the chance to enjoy the wonderful views from the top of Troopers Hill.

  YANSEC Wheelchair Path Project Page

Two of the benches were made at our work party in May, and were then installed in June. The third bench has been made by participants in a local Youth Inclusion Project based at Barton Hill Settlement. This was organised by the Groundforce Project that aims to encourage residents of the New Deal Area (Redfield, Barton Hill, Lawrence Hill and The Dings) to use and improve their local green spaces. We hope to do more work with the Groundforce Project later in the year.

Unfortunately two of the benches were vandalised less than a month after they were installed; we are looking at ways to get them reinstated.

Thank you to Sally, our Local Nature Reserves Officer, who helped us to prepare the application to YANSEC. A condition of the grant is that we had to obtain 10% of the funding from a third party and we are extremely grateful to Bristol Parks who agreed to provide that funding.

  YANSEC New Benches 2006 Project Page

Cromadex Donation - April 2006

The Friends of Troopers received some more good news in April 2006 with a donation from Cromadex, part of Akzo Nobel. The money was awarded through Akzo Nobel's Global Community Program, aimed at providing funding and help to benefit the local community. Alan, an employee of Cromadex at their St George site, is one of our most enthusiastic volunteers at work parties. He saw the scheme advertised at work and put in an application on our behalf.

The donation is for £789 and is being used (together with £100 donated by a local resident) to install a bench and to restore a view from Troopers Hill Field. Alan has been taking part in the project by helping us cut the bramble at our Work Parties.

  Restoring a View on Troopers Hill Field

The Bristol Wildspace Project - Summer 2002 to August 2006

The Bristol Wildspace Project was funded by English Nature and the Big Lottery Fund. It is this project that provided funding for the post of Local Nature Reserve Officer expertly filled by Sally Oldfield.

It was Sally's efforts to increase people's awarness of their Local Nature Reserve and its potential that led to the Friends of Troopers Hill being formed in December 2003.

During the four years of the project Troopers Hill and other wildlife sites in Bristol benefited from a raised profile and from Sally's enthusiastic contribution to their management and development.

The Bristol Wildspace Project has also provided financial support for many of the events that we have held on the Hill and also for the School Project that took place in 2005.
 
 

Smaller Donations 2004 - 2006

Although the money from the large grants listed on this page is very welcome, the smaller donations are equally important to us. One of our earliest successes was to raise money for the repair of the bench that was damaged in May 2004. £400 was raised, mostly in small donations in a very short time. The story is told in a short video on our Video Project page.

In the second half of 2005 we received donations of £100 and £200 from employers of two Friends. A further £350 was donated by staff at the Bristol Headquaters of Somerfield as part of a casual dress day collection.

Following discussions at our meetings in the first half of 2006 we decided that the majority of the £200 pounds should go on some extra tools, with a small sum set aside for spares for our signs. The £100 pounds provided entertainment for the August Family Picnic. We were also able to fund a local botanist to join us on the August Purple Prowl to tell us more about the hill's plant life.

Troopers Hill also benefitted from the efforts of staff from the MOD at Abbey Wood. On 7th March 2006, twenty of them came to the Hill for a team building day to repair some steps. Details are on our Work Parties page. If you think your company would be interested in running a similar event please see our Volunteering Page.

Thanks again to everyone who has given both time and money so generously.
 
 

Awards for All Lottery Grant - May 2004

The Friends of Troopers Hill were delighted to receive a grant of £3,269 from the Lottery through Awards for All in May 2004.

This grant enabled the Friends of Troopers Hill to get off to a flying start in their first year of activities. Our thanks go to Susan and Sally for all the work they put in to making the application and to Awards for All in Exeter for supporting us. Details of how we spent the money can be found here.

  Awards for All Grant 2004 Project Page

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