Newsletter August 2023

It’s the time for giving thanks to the Earth for her abundance and for our own personal harvests as we begin to assimilate all we’ve been learning through the busy growth season. There has certainly been plenty to be grateful for at Tregovenek and heaps of growth and learning!

After some of the crew admitting to feelings of overwhelm earlier in the Summer, there was recognition that we needed to simplify for a while and so we have been trying to concentrate for the last couple of months on 3 essential tasks: Preparing to offer community shares, meeting our legal obligations and getting the bungalow ready for rental. It has been useful to have a clearer focus.

Bungalow revamp

Progress with the bungalow has been absolutely fantastic in the last month! It’s now completely re-wired and, thanks to a government grant, has an air-source heat pump, new central heating system and solar panels. Since then there has been an incredibly committed team of volunteer decorators (you know who you are!) giving the whole place a lick of paint, some TLC and a new lease of life. There’s still lots to do before we can welcome in our first tenants but it’s been a huge, huge leap forward. 

Accounts and AGM

With legal considerations in mind, we are working with accountants to submit our first annual accounts to the FCA and we will be hosting our first (basic!) Annual General Meeting (AGM)  in September. Tregovenek is a Community Benefit Society (CBS), this means it will be a member organisation – much like a cooperative, but for the benefit of the wider community (not just its members). Those people involved in shaping the vision, spent a lot of time exploring what the most appropriate legal entity would be to enable the purchase of the property and for it to be truly community owned, not just owned by a few people. 

Community Shares

Being a CBS allows us to raise community shares, meaning that the organisation is owned by the people who buy shares, its members. Its members each have an equal vote, regardless of how many shares they have. The CBS Board circle are responsible for meeting the legal and governance requirements of Tregovenek and, in the spirit of learning and going at the pace that capacity allows, have agreed to phase membership. Membership (including holding a £1 share) has initially been offered to those who are currently involved in working circles. Taking this small step will allow us to learn and gain feedback. We can then use that learning as we work on putting together our community share offer, providing the wider community the opportunity to buy shares and become members.

Community Collaborations

We’ve been enjoying collaborating with the University of Plymouth and Pensilva Primary School through the University’s Get Involved Award. University students and researchers spent time in July gathering tree data and soil samples from Tregovenek and Pentiddy to assess how much carbon is being locked in the soils and trees and how that changes as we help to regenerate the land here. Both the school and the university are really keen to build a long-lasting relationship with Tregovenek and are already coming to us with plans for more research projects next year.

Help with our next steps

On the 11th August we had a day with Bob Mehew from The Apricot Centre at Huxhams Cross Farm in Dartington who helped us with the very first stages of bringing our ideas together into something that fits with our values and principles as well as potentially being financially viable and achievable. There were still lots of feelings of overwhelm expressed during the morning so we concentrated on gathering everyone’s reflections and options for a healthier way forward. It was a really valuable and insightful day for everyone.

Hedge-laying and Bio-char weekend

The hedge-laying and bio-char weekend (25th – 26th November) is starting to book up. We have yet to hear about the funding we’ve applied for for this but places are likely to be around £100 per person for the whole weekend (with concessionary places available too). We will be able to bring the price down if we’re successful with the funding. More information about the course will follow very soon. The course will be the starting point for bringing the hedges at Tregovenek back into management for the benefit of wildlife and as a resource and learning together to make bio-char from the branches which will be used to lock in carbon and improve the soil in the field. You can register your interest by emailing ele@tregovenek-org-uk.stackstaging.com

Work Parties continue!

On a more practical note, work parties have been really well attended, hugely productive and great fun, so much so that people have been asking for more! So work parties have been extended into the afternoons and as a general rule will now be 10am – 3pm. That being said, our work party on September the 9th is being combined with the Annual General Meeting so it’s not following the usual pattern. We will be meeting at 9am for our cups of tea, check-ins and an overview of the day. We will then work in the garden and around the bungalow until 12:30pm when we’ll stop for our shared lunch. The afternoon will include the AGM, some sociocratic proposal shaping to help clarify our next steps and a thanks-giving ceremony on the land. Everyone is welcome to attend all or part of the day including the AGM but only members will be able to vote during the AGM. We’ll be concluding with celebratory cake at around 4pm for which we would welcome all cake contributions (especially if they’re vegan-friendly!)

Here’s to the coming Autumn!