The Bexley Local Group of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds was formed in March 1979 with the main aim of providing a link between the national organisation and the then 1,100 members living in the London Borough of Bexley.

A newsletter, with details of the comprehensive programme of indoor and outdoor meetings, is sent free to all members in February and September. Those living outside the Borough can request copies of this and participate in local activities. Some 3,500 newsletters are now distributed in this way.

From September to May, indoor meetings are held once a month, usually on the third Friday, at Hurstmere School, Hurst Road, Sidcup (View Map) Up to 100 members normally attend these illustrated talks on a variety of bird and natural history themes by local and national speakers.

For most of the year there are also monthly coach trips to venues such as Minsmere, North Norfolk, Dorset and the Wye Valley. There are also regular half day car trips to some of the many local areas of interest.

During the winter months, we have monthly work parties in North Kent. These are usually at the RSPB reserve Northward Hill in Halstow, but can be at Shorne. More information can be found on the Work Party page.

The Group has a wide variety of free information leaflets. Close relations are maintained with Bexley Recreation Department and other local conservation organisations.

In its activities the Group aims to cater for the interests and enthusiasm of all, from the experienced, active and well-equipped to the absolute beginner who would like to learn more about birds, where to find them and how to identify them. There are experienced members to give advice and we aim to encourage all age groups.

Annual Report 2010 -11

I would like to give my report on the past year, in conjunction with how we, as a local group, are currently achieving six of the seven aims set out for us by the RSPB

1. People Engagement: these are events which are aimed specifically at the public and give us the opportunity for speaking to members of the public.

• During last year we attended six fetes and fairs
• Held a Feed The Birds day event at Hall Place
• Held three beginners’ bird walks
• Held a number of both car and field trips
• Held monthly indoor meetings.

My thanks go to everyone who volunteered to help out at these events. My special thanks go to the Trip Leaders (Jacky Foot, Tony Banks and Maurice Ewart) and the field trip sub-committee for providing a varied programme during the past year. We look forward to the same next year. My thanks also go to Alan Mayes for organising the Indoor Meetings programme and speakers for the year.

2. Community Involvement: these are events where we can help spread the word. In addition to the events already mentioned, our events and programme, which are open to all, appear regularly in the local press and in national bird watching magazines. This is thanks to Eric Brown our Publicity officer and I would like to thank him for all his efforts this year. We also held a Photographic Exhibition at Hall Place during January and February which was seen by over 1000 members of the public. I would like to thank once more all those people who helped make this event such a success. We have also visited Greenwich and Bexley Hospice to give them advice and hope that we will be able to work with them in the future. We have also given advice to Walpole Estate tenants’ management scheme in Woolwich with regards to providing suitable nest sites for their biodiversity scheme. Our Website has been run by Eric Brown, who resigned this year as website editor. A replacement has been found in Terry Wren.

3. Membership and Recruitment: members are our lifeblood and they contribute 60% of the RSPB’S total income. We recruited a number of new members at our photographic exhibition as well as at our recent Spring Fair. This is an area in which we can all contribute by talking to friends, neighbours and work colleagues about the work of the RSPB and how they could help in protecting all wildlife. We also handed out name gathering cards at all the fairs/fetes we attended.

4. Fundraising: in addition to our two successful fairs, raffle and 200 club we have also raised funds through our Group Sales and our successful pin badges. I would like to thank the following: Tony Banks and Chas Parr for organising the fairs, Diane Lelliot for promoting the raffle, Linda Blackett for co-ordinating the Pin Badges, Maurice Ewart for organising the 200 club and Maureen Thompson for organising the Group Sales and the raffle at our monthly meetings. I would also like to thank Jackie Tappenden for taking over the peanuts and seed sales. I would also like to thank all those people who sponsored me on my parachute jump which raised over £600 for the RSPB.

5. Conservation Work: as a group we have been providing practical assistance to the North Kent RSPB for many years and my thanks goes to Chas Parr and all his volunteers for carrying out this work. If you would like to help in this work please contact Chas.

6. Campaigning for Conservation: during last year we supported the Letter to The Future campaign. Such was our success that our method for obtaining signatures was displayed on the RSPB blog page and we received a letter of thanks from Chris Corrigan, the RSPB’S director for South East England.

7. Inspiring Young People: this is the one area in which we as a group could improve upon. Although a number of youngsters have been on field trips we do not run events especially for youngsters. During last year I have been appointed as a Schools Liaison Officer for the RSPB in addition to David James and following some more training I will be visiting local schools

Recycling is also an important role for our group and I would like to thank Alan Mayes for co-ordinating our used stamps and Beverly Treece for recycling our old mobile phones and used printer cartridges.

I have just a few more thank yous: first of all I must thank John Turner for all of his personal help during the first year and for producing our newsletter together with Steve Ansell. I would also like to thank all those people who help with the distribution of our magazine (over 100). I would also like to thank the committee for their help and support throughout the year. I would also like to thank Jean and Alan Mayes for providing the refreshments at our monthly meetings and fairs. As most of you are aware Jean and Alan are hanging up their tea towels and we need some volunteers to take over from them.

I can only apologise if there is anyone I have forgotten to thank.

As you can see, we as a group are very successful in carrying out the aims of the RSPB. This can only be done with the help of our many Volunteers.

HOW YOU CAN HELP!!

Volunteer to:

• Lead a trip
• Make items we could sell at our monthly meetings
• Distribute newsletters
• Become a committee member
• Help at our fairs/fetes.

If you are as proud as I am about being a member of this dedicated, imaginative and hard-working RSPB local group and would like to volunteer to help us achieve our aims in some way please contact me.

Finally I must thank my wife Frances for all the help and support she has given me without too much moaning despite losing one bedroom and living room space throughout the year.

Stuart Banks