As of July 31st, the Centre will be closing its doors to visiting schools and groups. Sadly, the funding crisis has now reached such proportions that there is no alternative.

Problems with funding are not new. The Centre has struggled for adequate funding right from the start. It has always been a constant battle to ensure that funds would be available to maintain and increase the conservation value of the Centre, as well as to provide educational activities. Despite the fact that the Trust has built up an excellent track record and reputation on both accounts, the struggle seems to have got harder, rather than easier.

The current crisis with funding has been foreseen for some time. The Trust has been making every effort over the past three years to convince local funders of the benefits of the Centre and to stress that help was needed now rather than later if those benefits were to continue. Much time and research has also gone into identifying new sources of funding from further afield and to making grant applications. Some of these have been successful and have provided interim funding, while others have not. However, it is a sad fact that if staff are dealing with the day to day running of the Centre, as well as delivering education, they cannot also be devoting time to fundraising.

Part of the problem with funding lies in the fact that there is little money available at present for effective action in the countryside. Most of what is available is aimed at community projects utilizing volunteers and with staff costs ineligible for inclusion. This is very short-sighted, because while volunteers have a valuable role to play, they still need staff to guide them. There are very few grant schemes which will pay salaries, so that it all becomes one of those chicken and egg situations.

A place like the Centre cannot be run on small grants. Grants of a few hundred pounds, in many cases, end up absorbing most of the grant in paying for the staff time which has to be committed to application and reporting requirements.

Larger amounts of a few thousand pounds can be exceptionally useful, especially if they are not tied to a particular project. They can then be used to attract more serious amounts of money by providing match funding. However, what is most desperately needed is an annual commitment of sensible money for core costs. This basically means staff salaries. If staff are in place, then there are people on site whose energies are committed full time to implementing the conservation and education which is the Trust’s remit.

Fund raising for serious money is a highly skilled job which usually requires Machiavellian thought processes and flexibility. It takes a long time to prepare the grant applications and often a long time for a funder to consider its merits and come to a decision. There is usually only one chance at a grant, so the applications have to be very carefully tailored to each funder’s priorities. This is the process that remaining Trust staff have to commit all their time and energy to at present.

All of the educational work at the Centre depends upon the conservation and wildlife value of the many habitats which have been restored. This is now considerable and provides the basis for all of the practical learning experiences provided at the Centre.

Very little of the biodiversity (variety of life) actually present at the Centre has been documented. There is simply not the time to do exhaustive surveys. However, aided and abetted by visiting taxonomic experts, a number of points can be flagged up.