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Troubador Publishing Ltd - Sally Munn

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95 pages

English

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From almost her first day, Sally knew she did not want the Iver Nature Study Centre (INSC) in Buckinghamshire to be 'just' an ordinary centre. She wanted it to be one where she could create activities which would inspire all visitors - young, old, able-bodied and those with special needs - to appreciate our natural world.This is the amazing story of how so many people, the majority out of curiosity, visited INSC before becoming one of a special band of volunteers during the eighteen years Sally was the manager. Each gave their time, expertise and professionalism to help provide visitors, young and old, with interesting, enjoyable, innovative, hands-on, fun and memorable activities, all of which were related to the environment. Working together, they would make sure the many visitors and users would enjoy learning from the variety of environmental activities, adapting these to suit participants' needs. No one was turned away.Laughter was the wonderful sound echoing throughout the INSC site. It was most frequently heard from children having their first encounter with a real bat, or learning apples grow on trees and potatoes in soil but not in supermarket displays,discovering the fun, educational side of space exploration, stroking snakes and being amazed by the length of a blue whale when standing alongside a life-sized jigsaw which they put together in their car park. Adults visiting out of curiosity, attending an open day, learning a new skill, doing a bit of gardening or just enjoying a stroll around the garden, often followed by afternoon tea on the patio, always included laughter in the mix. The Iver Nature Study Centre really did offer something for everyone.Be prepared. This story of life at INSC is a unique experience!

Sujets

Philosophie et théologie

Memoir

Environment

Informations

Publié par	Troubador Publishing Ltd
Date de parution	28 octobre 2022
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781803134154
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	3 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0350€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Copyright © 2022 Sally Munn

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.

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ISBN 978 1803134 154

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Matador is an imprint of Troubador Publishing Ltd

Everything which was achieved at Iver Nature Study Centre would not have been possible without the extraordinary array of talents, goodwill and hard work provided by the volunteers. To each and every one of them, I dedicate this book.

Foreword
What was it about Iver Nature Study Centre which made it so special? After all, there were hundreds of environmental centres dotted all over the country. Roger Ferrin wrote in my retirement card, ‘I look forward to reading your book’. I knew what he meant because he had been pestering me (in the nicest sense) to write about the true Iver. There was something about this particular Centre which was unique and, every time I saw Roger, usually on Tuesday mornings when depositing his daughters from the car, he would say, “Have you started the book yet?”
I retired from the Centre in 2009 but, despite having made a start not long afterwards, only now have had both the time and opportunity to tell the full story of a wonderful place which made people give of themselves so readily, so generously and in such extraordinary ways.
Finally, I have written my story and achieved my goal. I hope you enjoy the journey.
Sally Munn
2021

Contents
Foreword

One
1991 In the Beginning
Iver Nature Study Centre’s background. Activities offered during the early years. Our initial education packages.

Two
Volunteers and ‘Experiences’ The Ladies in the Office
Introducing some of INSC’s many volunteers along with details of our ‘Experiences’. The ladies who helped organise both the office and me.

Three
Volunteers’ Thoughts
And some comments of my own.

Four
My Twelve Years as a Slave Volunteer
Volunteer Kareth Paterson’s side of things.

Five
Extras
An overview of some of our activities.

Six
Volunteer Kareth Paterson’s Reminiscences
How INSC changed my life through colleges, collages, computers and cakes.

Seven
The National Grid Graduate Scheme Horticultural Therapy EnBrief Magazine
Introducing some of our graduates and horticultural therapy people. ‘E n Brief ’ – National Grid’s in-house magazine.

Eight
‘I’m Bored’ 1992-2008
A selection of themes and a few stories from our school summer holiday week for five-to-ten-year-old children.

Nine
2009 My Farewell
A personal tribute to each and every INSC volunteer.

Ten
Highlights over the Years 1990–2007
Memorable moments and occasions.

Eleven
Companies, Firms and Groups which supported Iver Nature Study Centre

Acknowledgements

One
1991 In the Beginning
Iver Nature Study Centre’s background. Activities offered during the early years. Our initial education packages.
Iver Nature Study Centre’s background
To start at the beginning…
Iver Nature Study Centre (INSC), Buckinghamshire, was the brainchild of one, Wendy Varcoe, who worked for the Denham-based environmental charity, Groundwork Colne Valley (GWCV), now called Groundwork South. Her idea was to create a place where special needs people could enjoy the countryside and observe nature in a safe environment.
National Grid, then known as the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB), owned a two-acre piece of land which lay between their substation and Mansfield Farm. The site, once the home of Mansfield House, had become derelict by the time they took it over, with their intention to use it as offices. However, the condition of the building did not make this feasible.
I believe it took two years to gain the necessary planning permission, re-landscape the area and put in a visitors’ cabin. On 21 September 1990, local residents, the esteemed actor, Sir John Mills CBE and his playwright wife, Lady Mills (Mary Hayley Bell) did the honours and declared Iver Nature Study Centre open.
Meanwhile, I was living in Pinner, Middlesex with my husband and two small boys and decided I would like to become an environmental volunteer. I drove to Denham Country Park where I met Geraldine (Gerry) Alexander in the publicity department of Groundwork and, following an informal chat, became an official volunteer. One of my first duties was to interview the Project Officer who was running Iver Nature Study Centre, then write a piece to publicise the place.
I went along for my first site visit and was shown the visitors’ cabin, small meadow, ‘The Secret Garden’, ponds and the rest of the grounds. As I looked around, my immediate thought was, ‘what a fabulous place’. My mind was racing with what I could do with it. Anyway, I wrote the piece, thought nothing more of it, until the telephone rang one day. It was the lovely Judith Hammond, Office Manager for GWCV.
“Why don’t you apply for the job?” she asked.
“What job?”
“Project Officer at INSC. The current one is leaving to go back to Scotland.”
A few years later Judith, after leaving the Denham office, became one of the four secretaries I had the pleasure to work with in the Study Centre’s office over the years. Each is detailed in The Ladies in the Office in the next chapter.
Although the advert in the local press stated they wanted a graduate, I was offered an interview, despite having no degree. In fact, I had left school when I was seventeen years old, having scraped though five ‘O’ levels and realised, in no way was I ‘A’ level material. It was my first interview in over a decade and I was astonished to be offered the job, but reluctantly had to turn it down on being told it had gone from part-time to full-time. I did not want my boys to be latchkey children. About a week later, they called me back to the Centre and asked if I would consider running the place part-time until they could re-advertise in the national press. Yes, I would, as I wanted the job so much.
When I arrived home that afternoon, a freebie magazine had been delivered. I pondered, opened it at the agencies page then dialled one of the numbers.
“I don’t suppose you have someone who could come between 3.30pm and 6 on weekdays to look after two delightful boys?”
“Yes, we do,” came the reply. “A grandmother has recently come on the books …”
Ironically, it transpired I had met this lady a few months before, at a local county hockey trial. She was there with her grandson and I with my elder boy and we had spent the whole afternoon discussing the state of education!
I telephoned Groundwork. “Can I change my mind?”
I became Manager of INSC on 13 January 1991 and stayed for eighteen wonderful years which changed my life.
*
My first day.
I remember opening the gates, unlocking the cabin door, dumping my bag in the tiny room which served as an office then walking around the site and thinking, ‘what have I done?’ The task ahead of me was enormous, and there was only me to do it. The one thing I knew was that I had to make things exciting. I did not want just another environmental study centre where people wandered around, not taking anything in. As a friend advised, “Give them something interesting and the rest will follow.”
I had been at the Centre for about a fortnight when I arrived one morning to find the inclement weather had caused a burst water-pipe. The cost of repair was rather high which did n