Campaign News

The folk of St Andrew’s Church are organising a coffee morning on Saturday 7th September (10.30am-12.30pm), with the proceeds being donated to Save Beane Marshes. All are invited.

It all has a “b” for Beane theme, with bagels, bacon butties and banger baps, plus Bagatelle, Bop-it, Barmy golf and a Banagram quiz.

I’ve been to a few of these, and can vouch for the excellent coffee and cake available. It’s all child friendly, and entry is free! Donations are taken for refreshments.

Hope to see some of you there!

We are delighted that Hertfordshire and Middlesex Wildlife Trust (HMWT) has accepted the donation of Beane Marshes subject to satisfactory conveyancing etc.
This is very important for our group as HMWT will ensure the land is managed correctly for the community. We hope as soon as the legal agreement is in place we can move forward with the process of donating the land to them.

Thanks to everyone at HMWT that have made this possible so quickly!

The great news is that we have reached our first target and raised the £90,000 for the first payment together with our legal fees. This is an amazing accomplishment.
Thank you to all of you for helping us get this far. The balance to raise stands at just over £70,000, but the good news is we have 8 months to raise that amount.

What next? Our priority is to get the legal documentation in place to secure the land. The time frame for this is slightly out of our control but we have lawyers working on it and expect to sign that in about a month. At the moment the land remains in the ownership of the original sellers. They continue to be committed to selling it to the community.

What are the fundraising plans? The £90,000 mentioned above has been donated almost in its entirety by local residents, which is amazing! We will continue to spread the word about the campaign within Hertford. We haven’t yet tapped into local businesses and developers. We’re applying for a variety of grants, have a few events in mind and continue to welcome suggestions for ways to fundraise the balance.

Come along to our Summer Sizzler Garden Party and help us to Save the Marshes. Find out more about the campaign while enjoying drinks and canapés with friends and neighbours. Join us in a beautiful, mid-Bengeo garden for a relaxing afternoon. All proceeds will go to help save the Marshes. Children under five admitted free. Only £5 for 5-18 year olds and £15 for adults. Tickets can be purchased at: https://savebeanemarshes.eventbrite.com

We are pleased to announce that we are setting up a new company limited by guarantee. This will allow us to become a registered charity. Thanks to the kind help of a Bengeo Resident we are able to avoid weighty legal fees. The new entity will be called simply “Save Beane Marshes Ltd”

I am really excited that our project is moving along so well thanks to all the helpers and donors. It is really a privilege to work with so many talented people, and although we still have a fundraising mountain to climb I am very confident that with your help we can do it.