Setting up a community group - Wild Amersham

Here is Marieke's excellent presentation on how she went about setting up a community group, Wild Amersham, in her town:

Here is the link to the watch the video on the YouTube website: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQBrrsiNr1s

Topics of discussion:

In the Q&A session, we discussed finding experts to give talks at community group events. This can be challenging in several ways - mainly to find experts who have the time, as well as charging affordable rates for a community group.

We spoke about how funding pots can help groups afford to pay for experts, and that parish councils will sometimes be able to provide financial support.

Finally, we discussed running events and how difficult it is to predict uptake, and the challenge of trying to figure out why some events have lower attendance (a hint; it could be all sorts of things from the weather, to a big football game taking place that day!)

Useful links/information:

• Bird identification app - Merlin app https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/

• Organisation for Buckinghamshire-based groups (they provide information about funding opportunities, and loads more) Community Impact Bucks: https://communityimpactbucks.org.uk/

• Organisation that runs training and provides practical guides - National Council for Voluntary Organisations: https://www.ncvo.org.uk/#/

• Book recommendation - The Birds of Buckingham, Lack & Ferguson: https://www.pemberleybooks.com/product/the-birds-of-buckinghamshire/28704/