Lots of information in here, campaigns for everyone to support and dates for your diary. If anyone has any questions, please give me a shout. We're currently putting the finishing touches on our own group newsletter as well and aim to have that with you soon. It's our first formal publication so there's a lot to communicate!
GROUP NEWS UPDATE - MAY 2023
Dear Badger Group Member
We are steaming ahead into summer now and so many of you have been dealing with badger rescues, and cubs during the last month. Lots of you have held your AGM and are now starting to look at summer events for education, awareness, and fundraising. In this edition, we have some important news & online regional meeting updates to share with you, a summary of the Badger Trust AGM and group discussion, and your John Taylor Award Winner!
Our AGM was well attended and a positive, constructive meeting. Thank you to those of you who were able to attend. It was fabulous to catch up in person with so many of you. AGM Summary Peter gave a headline overview of 2022 and the votes were undertaken. All motions were passed including the updated Memorandum and Articles which includes the ability to have hybrid meetings. This is fantastic news and should help groups to be involved in the AGM in the future if the venue is too far to travel to. New trustees, Nick Cole, Phil Loveday, and Christa Van Wessem were elected onto the board, and existing trustees Rosie Wood and Peter Jackon were re-elected. PDF of the headline overview given by Peter, Executive Director > Afternoon Discussion Summary The group session in the afternoon was well-received and interactive with lots of discussion and questions. It covered two priority topics, Space for Badgers which was led by Nick Cole and Tris Pearce from the Planning & Development Working Group, and The Cull, led by Peter & Sally, with a section from Jenny (Somerset & Devon Badger Groups) on her experience with landowner engagement.
The winner of the inaugural John Taylor Award is... Dave Williams of West Surrey Badger Group Dave Williams has been a key figure in the protection and conservation of badgers for many decades. A driving force behind the establishment of the West Surrey Badger Group over 30 years ago and a former Chairman of the Badger Trust (formerly NFBG). He is well respected and has worked tirelessly at all levels of badger protection. “Dave’s tireless commitment to badgers will inspire badger champions everywhere.” Peter Hambly, Executive Director The John Taylor Award is awarded to an individual who has shown dedication and commitment to badgers and is named after John Taylor, a founding member and first Chairman of the National Federation of Badger Groups (NFBG). The award and dedication of Dave have been covered by local press and Dave is also being interviewed about 'a life with badgers' on BBC Radio Surrey Breakfast Show. More details in the News Release about Dave and the Award
* New Groups! We are delighted to announce that plans are progressing well for new affiliated Badger Groups in both Cumbria and Lincolnshire. An initial interest meeting took place in Penrith, Cumbria last week, with a fantastic, positive group of attendees. They are now working on the next steps to form the committee. An initial meeting is being arranged for a Lincolnshire group to take place in the next few weeks, with two dedicated members already onboard and working on the governance documents. We look forward to sharing more news about these groups in the coming months. * Reminder of your Group Resources: There are lots of resources for groups including social media images, templates, the fantastic Scottish Badgers Infographics, training, presentations, and much more in the Groups Resource Library > * Can you help North East Essex Badger Group? They need help with adding a membership form to their website using Dreamweaver. If anyone has knowledge or experience of Dreamweaver or CGI Script, please email groups@badgertrust.org.uk and we can put you in touch.
* State of the Badger recruitment news > After a year in the planning, we have just recruited our Research Coordinator for the project, Victoria Coulton. Victoria has a Master’s degree from Durham University and experience with wildlife population surveys, volunteer training, and meso-carnivores. State of the Badger Information > * New IFAW report - Make Wildlife Matter: A report about crime against UK Wildlife also featured in an article in the Independent about the link between wildlife crime and other violent crimes. * New report blasts ‘weak science and huge supposition’ behind bTB policy Team of scientists including Tom Langton and Zurich University warn the present focus on badgers is undermining efforts to combat the disease as featured in Vettimes and Independent. * Badger Trust calls for inclusion of animal cruelty in Online Safety Bill. Concern at the rapid increase of online videos and other content around cruelty to animals. Our research shows badgers are one of the most featured native wild animals in such content.
Reminder we have new Regional Groups Meetings coming up in June, which will be online using Zoom so I hope to see lots of you. These are for you and topics will be led by you so please do take part. AIM & FORMAT The meetings will be small open forums for groups to connect with each other, ask questions, and discuss important issues. Scheduled for 1.5 hours initially, but flexible for you, so timings will depend on how much or how little you want to talk about. Attendees will be the Groups Coordinator and affiliated group members who have registered to attend. Future meetings can have invited guests including Trustees, Badger Trust Staff, or others to discuss specific topics. WHICH GROUPS For ease and to get a good ratio of groups, England & Wales (incl NI) has been split into 3 for the meetings. * NORTH * (to include: Durham, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Manchester, Derbyshire, Cheshire, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Northern Ireland) Tuesday 6th June 2023, 7pm REGISTER HERE
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* WEST & SOUTH WEST * (to include: Wales, West Midlands, Warwickshire, Leicestershire & Rutland, Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Dorset, Somerset, Devon, Cornwall) Tuesday 20th June 2023, 7pm REGISTER HERE
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* EAST & SOUTH EAST * (to include: Bedfordshire, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Essex, Hertfordshire, Middlesex, Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Berkshire, Hampshire, Isle of Wight). Thursday 22 June 2023, 7pm REGISTER HERE
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FLEXIBILITY If you are unable to make your regional meeting, please feel free to let me know and you can, of course, attend another. They should be as convenient for you as possible and be led by issues or topics that you want to talk about. You can email topics you want to discuss in advance at Groups@badgertrust.org.uk or let us know on the day, at the meeting. It is up to you! These meetings are for you so please do sign up and I look forward to seeing you!
Dates for your Diary! Next Badger Trust Grant Deadlines Monday 12th June 2023 If you need any advice or support when writing your application, please do get in touch and I will be happy to help you. More detailed grant Information >
NEXT TIME... The next e-news will have information and our news release about the supplementary culls which commence in June. Plus new cull resources for groups to use locally. In the meantime, if you have any questions about any of the information in the newsletters, need advice or support with something, or just want to chat about your group and badgers, please do contact us! Whatever you're up to for badgers, we'd like to hear about it! Let us know via groups@badgertrust.org.uk and we can profile your wonderful work nationally. Sally Jones Groups Coordinator
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