Clubs and organisations

Governance: Friends of Perton Library was set up in August 2018 by individuals and community organisations that use Perton Library. Friends is constituted as a small charity, whose core purposes are to support the work of Perton Library as a hub for lifelong learning and to raise awareness of the work of Perton Library, including opportunities for volunteering. Friends is affiliated to Support Staffordshire.

Management Committee: Friends works through a 7-person management committee: Gillian Davis, Phillip Davis, Helene Elder (Secretary), Keith Elder (Chair), Michael Hayden-Guest, Yvette Hicken (Place of Welcome Coordinator) & Sean McCann (Treasurer)

Priorities: Friends have prioritised working to improve communications between Perton Library, and the local community and so our first project became the installation of a noticeboard outside the library. Following the donation of a second-hand noticeboard and funds to renew and install it were received from our County Councillor a noticeboard was installed in 2019.

Friends went on to sponsor in 2019 a STEM (Science, technology, engineering & science) club for young people one evening a month, after receiving financial support from the Staffordshire Police & Crime Commissioner.

Friends have also sponsored ‘A Place of Welcome’ at Perton Library, run by volunteers and designed to welcome members of the public visiting the library with a friendly face and refreshments each Monday morning.

Both the Place of Welcome and the STEM Club had to close because of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, but during the pandemic Friends continued to meet online. Two new projects arose because of these online meetings. Funds were raised through Staffordshire County Council for a safe outside space – the Garden Room’ where members of the public could gather. Plus, an online talk about the excavations of RAF Perton by Archaeology in Mind, which attracted over fifty local people.

With guiding girls have fun, adventure and the space to discover their potential
They go to their first ever sleepover, canoe on rivers, learn about body confidence, and lead their own camp. Or sometimes they simply have fun and try new things with friends.

Girls take what they do in guiding with them as they grow up. Everything from working in a team, to taking the lead, to speaking out on issues they care about. It helps them develop the skills and confidence to become the young women they want to be. And to make a difference to the world around them.

We are a conservation charity that focuses on practical work to improve habitat for trout across the UK and Ireland. Although we are a small team, we have a big impact because we work in partnership with Rivers Trusts, Wildlife Trusts, local conservation volunteer groups, fishing clubs, landowners, Government Agencies and many more. Our role in these partnerships is to provide expert advice and practical project delivery as well as to inspire others and give them the advice and practical skills to improve and maintain their lake or river for the benefit of trout and all wildlife.

Most of our members, supporters and staff are anglers, but we are not an angling organisation. We simply love wild trout and the rivers they live in; the trout are an indicator that much in and around the river is well. We want to make sure that trout and all that they stand for are there for future generations.

Our approach to habitat and ecosystems is based on science and refined by experience of the practical application of habitat improvements. We have considerable expertise on our own staff, and we are supported by a group of advisors who form our science ​‘knowledge network’.

We do not engage directly in lobbying, but work closely with the Angling Trust and other angling and conservation organisations to ensure our views are represented on key issues such as dredging, abstraction, diffuse pollution and hydropower.

Find more about what we do and the advice and help we offer.

Link to the River Penk – Perton report undertaken 2021

https://dulavx8rjuiml.cloudfront.net/avreports/River-Penk.pdf

River-Penk-report-2021.pdf