Annual Report presented to Litcham Parish Meeting 21st April 2008

Litcham Common Conservation Group was set up in January 2004 to assist with conservation work on the common. The group is relatively informal, with no written constitution or formal membership list, and uses the Litcham Common Management Committee bank account to hold funds. However, the group is a member of, and insured through, the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers (BTCV). The group’s only income this year was a grant of £200 from Litcham Parish Council, for which it is very grateful. Expenses amounted to £238, the bulk of which was the cost of insurance.

Volunteers meet on the second Saturday of each month and carry out tasks agreed with Norfolk County Council’s Countryside Department. Over the past year the work done has included cutting and burning scrub, clearing rubbish and litter, maintaining the footpaths and burning gorse cut by contractors. The group also carried out an extra task away from the common. This involved raking up vegetation that had been cut on a village road verge where flowers such as cowslips and early purple orchids grow.

The number of people attending tasks varies, but we normally have between five and ten volunteers each month. Volunteers come from other villages as well as Litcham, and have ranged in age from five upwards. Those who come enjoy the physical exercise, company, pleasant surroundings and a sense of achievement.

Tim Angell