Fund Raising Passes the £40,000 Mark!

The public has really taken our appeal to heart with donations coming in from all over the country and even from abroad! In less than three months the public has donated a remarkable £26,000 to our appeal.

This has been boosted further by 3 recent grants totalling £14,000! The Rothley History Society have donated £2,000, the Harry Hames Cottage Charity, which is administered by Rothley Parish Council, has given a grant of £5,000 and we have just been awarded a further £7,000 grant from another charity who's name we will release once we have permission to do so.

This has taken our appeal total to £40,000 with only £16,000 still remaining to be raised to release the £540,000 grant from Lafarge Tarmac's Landfill Community Fund.

Time is running out though as the terms of Lafarge Tarmac's grant mean that the heritage centre has to be complete by July 16th 2015, which in turn means that we need to raise the remaining match funding by July this year to be able to achieve the completion date target.

If you haven't donated yet time is running out. Donations of any amount, large or small are greatly appreciated. Our "sponsor a brick appeal" has proved hugely popular, particular with families wanting to sponsor a brick or donors sponsoring bricks as presents for friends or in memory of someone. Bricks cost £50 to sponsor and names of sponsors will appear on a large commemorative plaque in the heritage centre tea room. Larger donors are also recognised on a further role of honour that will appear in the heritage centre.

For details of how to donate and where to send your cheque to, see our donation form. If you are a UK tax payer don't forget to download a Gift Aid form. Completed gift aid forms sent in with your donation will allow us to claim an additional 25% from the taxman at no additional cost to you.

If the company you work for has a charitable fund that supports local good causes, please get in touch to let us know.

Together with your help we can reach our target! 

Local Children Learn About Nature at the Nunckley Trail

Our latest Wildlife Warriors event was another resounding success! Despite the poor weather forecast the sun shone and we all stayed dry.
 

This event focused on bees. The children were able to learn about the important role bees play in pollinating a wide range of crops to make every day things we use ranging from sun flower oil to cotton for the clothes we wear.

They learnt how to make a bumble bee nest for their gardens at home and undertook a bee themed scavenger hunt around the Nunckley Trail.

 

We would like to thank the Mercury News Agents on Leicester Road Mountsorrel who kindly provide juice and biscuits for those attending.

Wildlife Warriors events are free to attend, although donations are welcome towards our heritage centre appeal fund.

To help raise further money for our appeal fund, through May, June and early July we are running a programme of evening visits for local Brownie, Guide, Scout, Rainbows and other young people groups.

 

Last Tuesday 1st Quorn Brownies came to learn about the different birds that can be found along the Nunckley Trail. At a safe distance they were able to observe nesting birds flying in and out of the many bird boxes erected around the trail by our volunteers. They were also able to learn how to identify birds by the bird song they sing and there was a nature and history quiz.

 

If you run a local young people group who would like to visit the Nunckley Trail and sponsor bricks for our heritage centre appeal, please get in touch as there are just a few dates still available.

 

 

A big thank you to all our volunteers who allow these visits to take place! 

Heritage Centre Fund Raising Reaches Half Way Mark!

It is a little over two months since we launched our appeal to raise the match funding of £56,000 required to release the £540,000 grant we have been conditionally awarded to create the Mountsorrel and Rothley Community Heritage Centre.

The support from the public has been tremendous with a remarkable £28,000 raised so far. This takes us half way towards our target.

The £540,000 grant is conditional on the heritage centre being complete by July 16th 2015. To be able to achieve this we will need to raise the remaining match funding within the next two month.

If you have already donated or have sponsored a brick then thank you very much indeed! If you haven't donated yet then now is the time to help make a difference. We are tantalising close to our target and with your help we will get there.

Donations of any amount large or small are very welcome. Our "sponsor a brick appeal" has proved hugely popular, particular with families wanting to sponsor a brick or donors sponsoring bricks as presents for friends or in memory of someone. Bricks cost £50 to sponsor and names of sponsors will appear on a large commemorative plaque in the heritage centre tea room. Larger donors are also recognised on a further role of honour that will appear in the heritage centre.

For details of how to donate and where to send your cheque to, see our donation form. If you are a UK tax payer don't forget to download a Gift Aid form. Completed gift aid forms sent in with your donation will allow us to claim an additional 25% from the taxman at no additional cost to you.

If the company you work for has a charitable fund that supports local good causes, please get in touch to let us know.

Together with your help we can reach our target!   

Government Minister Visits Project

Recently promoted cabinet minister Nicky Morgan took time from her busy schedule to visit the project and learn about our plans to create a community heritage centre for the villages of Mountsorrel and Rothley.

Nicky took time to understand the benefits the heritage centre and other elements of the scheme will bring. She also viewed the restoration work the volunteers have undertaken on the Mountsorrel Railway and toured the Nunckley Trail, which has been created by community volunteers and school children.

Nicky commented that she found the scheme "inspiring" and was particularly impressed by the project's commitment to being as inclusive as possible for visitors with disabilities and how the project has brought our local communities together.

Nicky has pledge her full support and looks forward to seeing the project progress over the coming months.

Wildlife Warriors Event on Saturday May 10th - Don't Miss It!

Local Tree Surgeon Helps Nunckley Trail

We would like to give a big thanks to Martin Spratling of Martin Tree Care (01509 212421), who over the last few weeks has been kindly donating wood chippings for our volunteers to cover the Nunckley Trail path.

 
If you have a local business and would like to help the project, please get in touch.

First Open Day a Tremendous Success!

Our first of two public consultation open days was a great success last Saturday.

186 visitors came to see the project and to gain a fuller understanding of the benefits the community heritage centre will bring.

Visitors view the location for the heritage centre which is pegged out on the ground

The plans for the heritage centre, museum and tea room were on display and our architect was available to answer questions about the design and how the historic buildings will come together. In addition to this there were tours of the heritage centre site, which has the positions of the heritage centre, tea room and museum staked out on the ground, so visitors can see scale and position.

Visitors see the proposed historic quarry recreation area at Nunckley Hill

In addition to this there was a stall selling home made cakes and plants to raise money towards the match funding we need to release the £540k grant to build the centre, the Mountsorrel Railway Project display stand was also there, explaining the history of the railway and the story of its restoration.

Young project volunteers staff the cake stall

Rothley History Society's plant stall

There were also tours of the Nunckley Trail which proved hugely popular as well.

First of the new Nunckley Trail information boards. Note the Braille panel in the bottom right

Tomorrow, Saturday March 29th is our second open day, so if you missed last Saturday please come along and see us. The weather promises to be fine and we'll have everything running again including the plant and cake stalls. If you would like to "sponsor a brick" then they'll be a stall where you can do that as well.

Mountsorrel Railway Project stand

Members of the Mountsorrel Heritage Group and the Rothley History Society will be there to answer questions about the historical displays that will be on show in the heritage centre when it is completed.

Visitors tour the area for the recreation stone masons' huts

 

The site will be open from 11am until 2pm via the entrance on Swithland Lane Rothley, next to the Halstead Road junction. There is no off site parking so please try to arrive on foot or by cycle if you can. If you do come by car please bear our neighbours in mind and park courteously.

Open Days

Heritage Centre Appeal Raises £17,000 in First Two Weeks!!

The public's response to our match funding appeal for the Mountsorrel & Rothley Community
Heritage Centre has been remarkable, with over £17,000 raised in the first two weeks!

We launched our "Sponsor a Brick" appeal in the hope that the public would share our belief that the heritage centre will bring significant benefit to our local communities. It is clear from your response that you are firmly behind us!

Our thanks go to the Loughborough Echo for running an article on our appeal and 103 The Eye for giving us the opportunity to talk about the project on their Sunday morning radio show.

We have £56,000 match funding to raise by July before the £540,000 grant from Lafarge Tarmac's Landfill Communities Fund will be released. The heritage centre must be complete by August 2015 as per the conditions of the grant.

There is still a long way to go to reach our target. If you have donated already or sponsored one or more bricks, thank you very much indeed! If you haven't donated yet please do so as soon as you can. The details can be found here "Sponsor a Brick".
   

Wood Chip

Our Ecology Group volunteers need wood chippings to place along the Nunckley trail path. If you are a local tree surgeon or know a local tree surgeon who may like to donate chippings resulting from a nearby job they are doing, please get in touch

We can publicise your help on our website. Most recently Oakdale Tree Surgery of Mountsorrel 07867 787744 dropped off a load of chippings for us.