Hi everyone!

Hi! My name is Rachel Taylor,
I can't really believe that I've been elected - I never thought I would get in but am thrilled that I am. I've been reading the blog and everyone sounds really friendly and interesting and I am really looking forward to meeting you all!
I wanted to join because of my love for the wildlife and environment and I'm also interested in photography and would love to travel to take pics of animals in their natural surroundings!
What does everyone else want to do when you're older?

See most of you on the 18th !

Rachel :)

Ofcourse!

Hi again All!

Good point Tim! I can't believe we hadn't thought of that yet! lol

Leah

Hi everyone it's Tim
just wanted to say for our next meeting could discuss how we're going to fund all the activity's for the next meeting.
p.s It's great to see all the new people using the blog.

hi

i'm so glad i got in
my school has gone mad there so glad someone got in

New Members!!

Hi Sophie May :)

I've just read your post, and you sound like a really interesting person and a valuable addition to what i hope will soon be a highly active and exciting Youth Council! (is the photo of you taking a photo, or someone else?) Pity you can't come to the first meeting, but ah well. Anyway I'm Leah, and as you might have gathered if you've read some of the earlier posts, i like to talk a lot! lol :)

Lovely to meet you in cyberspace.

And see you all soon :)

p.s. Sorry to hear you can't come to the next meeting either Ali, but anyway see you sometime soonish :D

Hello all!

Hi, I have just received my letter telling me that I have been elected to the Youth Council! I am so thrilled to be chosen and look forward to meeting you all!

My name is Sophie May Lewis, I am nearly 17 and am currently studying for a Level 3 National Diploma in Countryside Management. I live in Midhurst, West Sussex and am a keen Wildlife photographer, birdwatcher and nature enthusiast. I am Currently building myself a website: www.SophiEco.co.uk and have a blogspot at: www.sophiecosussex.blogspot.com

I cant wait to start getting involved with the Sussex Wildlife Trust Youth Council, However I am afraid I do have to make an apology (that's a good start isn't it?!) . I am due to go on holiday on the 18th of April; the date of the next meeting, so will be unable to attend. Sorry!! I will be staying near Dungeness, Kent for a week, so will be sure to visit some of the SWT reserves 'Kent counterparts' whilst I am there.

I wish you all the best for the next meeting and hope to see you all soon, Sophie May xx

???

Just a few quick questions...

Can anyone tell me about a few places that they find are really inspiring and good for taking photo's? And, are we going to have another group photo for the blog taken at our next meeting?

Thanks, thats all, Leah :)

Sussex Wildlife Trust Photography Competition

I'm sure some of you will have some winning photos for this:

What's Your View - Sussex Wildife Trust Photography Competition

Time to get out your cameras and camera phones out and show us your favourite, inspiring and valued wild places of Sussex. Will it be the rolling downland, dramatic seascapes, hedgehogs in your local park or frogspawn in a school pond?

We want you to know What’s Your View.

Enter your images of wild places, animals, plants and people and they could be featured on the Sussex Wildlife Trust website or magazine. The winner of each category will receive £40 and the overall winner £75 in prize money.


Categories
1.People and Wild Places - 16 and Over Category - Under 16 Category
2.The Wild Side of Town - 16 and Over Category - Under 16 Category
3.Get Connected - View from the phone - 16 and Over Category - Under 16 Category

You can enter up to three images in each category.

Prizes will be awarded in each category for under 16s and 16 and over. There will also be an overall winner. All winners will be presented with their prize by Chris Packham at the Trust AGM on October 31st in Hassocks West Sussex. Winning photos will be featured on the SWT website, and the overall winning image in Sussex Wildlife Trust's Wildlife magazine.

You can enter via post or online at Flickr, the photo-sharing website, http://www.flickr.com/groups/whatsyourview/

For full terms and conditions please see the Sussex Wildlife Trust’s website.
www.sussexwt.org.uk/misc/page00006.htm

So go out and get shooting.
Sarah

A couple of things...

Greetings fellow bloggers ;)
First of all, when you post can you please put your name at the end so we know which one of us it is.
Secondly, I've given the login details to all our new Youth Councillors so hopefully some of them may be posting soon.
Thirdly, you all need to help me plan the next meeting which will be a full day session. Is there anything which you think should be included in the plan for the day? Ahy particular guests? (we have a few options - I was thinking it'd be nice to have Tony Whitbread who is the Chief Executive come along and speak to us, but there's also Ann Mudd from the People and Wildlife Committee (who we need to write a report to) or Henri Brocklebank who is Head of Living Landscapes, although maybe we should leave Living Landscapes until a second meeting.

Timothy and Leah, don't worry too much about missing the last meeting. It was an important one, but everyone forgets things sometimes. Just make sure you're at the next one which will be even more exciting!

Hope you're all enjoying this wonderful weather now that Spring is finally here. Has anyone seen anything special? I've seen lots of bumblebees which is great, and some beautiful purple violets on the dowons when I was out walking on Sunday before our meeting.

I'll be in touch soon.
Sarah

Who is coming to the next meeting?I can't wait can you!!

We have elected 15 new members to join us for our meetings and we look forward to meeting them!

Hi it's Tim
sorry for missing the meeting on sunday it was really rude of me but i'm going to have to ask if you can send me the minutes of the meting?
thats all really sorry again:(.

Just one other thing...

Oh yes... just one other thing, Sarah said that you'd also been talking about what to do about Calum. I think i agree with Ali that we should try and ask him to come back one more time! Maybe we could all send him something together, asking what's going on with him and why he decided not to come anymore...

Thats all for now, i promise! lol

Leah :)

Hello All :)

Ok first things first i have to immediately and deeply apologise for completely forgetting about our really important Sunday meeting:( It was really stupid and careless of me, and I'm kicking myself very hard now cos i was so looking forward to helping! :( I really hope all you guys didn't mind too much... and thank you for getting everything done anyway :) lol

And i promise to really make sure i remember about all future meetings, and also make sure i can attend if at all possible. :)

I just called Sarah up a few minutes ago, when i realised I'd forgotten, and apologised to her loads, and she told me about your meeting and it sounds like it went really well! :)

I really look forward to meeting all the new council members you chose, and i love the idea of a camping weekend or something similar! I LOVE camping... and it would also be such a great way to get to know each other and make plans/exchange ideas. :)

I had one other thought for if we decided to prepare a stall for this Spring Watch thing... it's true that it would probably be better to have a stall that wasn't just leaflets and photos, so how about as well as an opinion poll type thing, and whatever else we came up with too, maybe some kind of simple workshop type thing, with someone teaching how to mimic bird calls... or recognise hoof prints or signs of burrowing, that sort of thing. :) i don't know if it could actually work, cos we'd need to find someone to actually teach, but it might be a good idea to help with extending the range of people who'd get interested!

Could that work? Is it too hard to arrange?

Anyway, apart from that... Oh yes! Ali, Sarah mentioned something about wanting one or some of us to prepare a presentation type thing for the new members, about the wildlife trust or the youth council (not sure which she meant!). I just wanted to say I'd be happy to help with something like that :) ... but if you wanted to do it by yourself or with someone else, no worries :) lol

Peace Out and see you all soonish!

Leah :)

p.s. Soz for writing such a long entry again. :( hope no one minds! lol

Outdoor Adventure Week

Hey

I've just read about this: Outdoor Adventure Week, 16-23 May 2009. It's a national initiative which I think we should try and get involved with. Maybe we could organise something for the Youth Council as a 'try out' for a bigger similar event in the summer holidays. Please come to the meeting at the weekend with lots of ideas as I'm getting a list of events which we could possibly take part in.

We have quite a few more applications for the elections now, but will still have time at the weekend to discuss other things - Leah I think your idea for discussion is great and I can tell you about my experiences since not specializing!

Hope you're all enjoying this fabulous weather - it's so lovely to see the landscape changing as plants spring up and new leaves take bud. It almost makes it worth having winter!

See you all on Saturday.

Sarah

Hey All... Again! :)

Wow Sarah! That Neville the Toad story is so sweet :) thanks for posting it, that definitely helps me to understand what this Living Landscapes thing means to the Wildlife Trust! I totally agree, if just all do a bit of brainstorming sometime soon I'm sure it would be really easy to come up with some great connections between that project and ours! :)

The Spring Watch thing sounds great, but what exactly will it entail? lol

The Schools Heritage and Environment Festival sounds like an amazing opportunity as well, in many ways. :)

I've been trying to think of some good ideas for activities to include anyone who is interested at any of these events we could be going to, but i haven't had much luck so far! lol

Only one little idea, kind of inspired by Neville the Toad, what about just asking people what is the very first thing they think of when the imagine the wild world, and they could express their thoughts as a poem, or a short story, or a single word, or a noise, or a picture! That sort of thing :) lol

I thought maybe it would be a good starting point, and might run well alongside some more physical, action-orientated activities! :) I know it's been done before, but maybe it could work again! lol

Anyway, enough twittering! lol

Peace Out to All :)

Leah

p.s. just had a thought... what does everybody think about the idea of having a little discussion at some point about specialisation in the wildlife arena, and what it can lead to!?!?! :)

I really am done now, lol

Summer Events

Hey guys

I've recently heard about two events going on this summer that I think we should attend with a stall/display/activity or something:
- Spring Watch, 7th June, Stanmer Park
- The Schools Heritage and Environment Festival, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 16th, 17th and 18th June, Moulscomb Primary School

It would be a good opportunity to get some interest and maybe add names to a mailing list for when we start organising trips and events.

Maybe you could all have a think about what kind of thing we could do there.

Will email soon with a rough agenda for Sat 22nd - let me know if there's anything you would like to be discussed at the meeting and I'll add it to the agenda.

Thanks
Sarah

Living Landscapes

I know I keep going on about the Living Landscapes, but I think it's something we could really do something with.

Neville the Toad explains it quite nicely...

Neville lives under an old shed in a garden and eats moths. The gardener likes Neville and sometimes throws him a worm. But Neville’s lonely. Sometimes he wonders if he’s the last of his kind.

When his grandfather was alive there use to be thousands of toads, hopping across the meadows to breed in spring time. Making the nearby lane into a big new road stopped that. Then a new housing estate filled in the main pond.

Bit by bit the woods and meadows where the toads lived and spawned disappeared and Neville was cut off. But one day men came to build a special toad tunnel under the new road. One of the farmers dug a new pond to store water for his fields.

Local school children helped plant a hedgerow to shelter small animals. People built ponds in their gardens in the new housing estate. For the first time in his life, Neville found he could wander and meet other toads. Soon there were more toads in the neighbourhood. And other wildlife too.

People and wildlife found they could live side by side after all.

Living Landscapes is basically about joining our landscapes up by creating habitat wherever we can (gardens, school grounds, verges, hedges etc) and making it possible for animals and people to live in the same place. Do any of you have any ideas for a project we could do to get this message and some actions across to young people in Sussex?

Sarah

:)

Wow, a bearded lizard is cool :) I love all reptiles- I really wanted a corn snake last year!

One of my friends was really interested in applying, but was put off by the fact it had to be for 2 years- hopefully she will though, so I won't be the oldest xD

Ali x
d

Righty Ho!

Leah Here!

Ok Tim, thats a very good reason you can't bring him along, lol :) no worries!

You could maybe bring a photo though, if Jeffrey (Great name, by the way!) doesn't mind :)

Bummer about the computer Sarah! I really hope it's sorted soon!

Anyway, just to let you know, i'm planning to help liven up the blog a little soon with some new photo's... just as soon as i've taken them, lol :)

Peace Out

It's Tim again
answering your question Leah I would love to bring Jeffrey, did I say I called him Jeffrey but anyway he's cold blooded and the habistat (specially made heating machine) is in his Vivarium, so I can only really have him out for about an hour at maximum :(. But I can tell you were he comes from, it's Australia. He lives in desert like places so you can imagine in his habitat he would be very warm.

p.s So sorry to hear that you can't star your laptop Sarah.

What to do?

My laptop is boken. Which is why I haven't been in touch for ages. Or it feels like ages anyway.
Leah, in answer to your question, the only way we can have an idea of how well the elections are going is by the number of applications that I've received. The total so far is five! Not great, but I don't know what else to do. Information has been sent to ALL schools in Sussex, 7 home education groups, more than 20 Youth Forum/Youth Centre contacts, over 2000 letters have been sent to WATCH members, it's on the SWT website, and the marketing team are doing a great job of sending out press releases. I'm hoping that over the following three weeks the applications will come flooding in, but in the meantime if any of you can think of anywhere else we could advertise please let me know!
I'm currently trying to work out what's wrong with my computer. There's an internet cafe round the corner from my house, luckily. But if I don't post for another couple of days, you know why :)

Sarah