BET was formed in 2005 to buy Jubilee Stone Woof
In October 2004, the woodland which became Jubilee Stone Wood (JSW) came on the market and members of the Wildlife Wardens combined with local Backwell residents to attempt to buy the 10 acre woodland for the community. In early 2005, Backwell Environment Trust (BET) was formed with the aim of raising the necessary funds to buy JSW.
On May 10th 2005, BET became a Registered Charity, with Bill Charnock as Chairman and a group of 9 enthusiastic trustees. BET made a number of offers for JSW, starting from £20k, with a final accepted offer of £34k. By then around £7k had been raised leaving a rather large gap. Luckily a source of funding became available in the form of a tax on local quarrying – the Local Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (LALSF). BET made a strong application for a grant and was successful, but there was a catch – the money would not be made available for some time. BET was therefore incredibly fortunate when local residents Gary and Nicola Lake stepped in to buy woodland and hold it in trust for BET until the grant money came through.
This happened in the September – and then the legal process took a further three months to complete, BET finally received title to Jubilee Stone Wood in January 2006.
Constitutional Objectives
- To promote for the benefit of the public the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment by promoting biodiversity and the understanding of past and present human activity and its impact on the environment.
- To advance the education of the public in the conservation, protection, improvement and history of the physical and natural environment.
Badgers Wood was bought in 2009
With the transformation JSW well underway, BET approached the owners of Coles Quarry to try to buy 15 acres of woodland on the opposite side of Cheston Combe. After some negotiation, a price of £75k was agreed and BET made a successful application for a grant from the Landfill Community Fund. Unfortunately the owners decided to retain 3 acres of woodland which included the Backwell Cave. BET finally received title to the 12 acres of Badgers Wood in August 2009.
More details of the purchases and early days of BET can be found in the 20th Anniversary edition of the BET Bulletin.
BET was recognised with the prestigious Queen’s Award in 2010
Backwell Environment Trust was awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the MBE for voluntary groups, in June 2010.
Brian Tanner, representing the Lord Lieutenant of Somerset, Lady Gass, presented the prestigious award to Bill Charnock, Chairman of BET.
The presentation by the Jubilee Stone, on Saturday, 11th Sept 2010, was attended by about 60 people.
On July 20th 2010, four trustees also attended a Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace with The Queen, Prince Philip, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall.