Education United Kingdom Project #48531

Off-grid Eco-friendly Woodland Classroom

by Andover Trees United

Project Report | Feb 27, 2024
Winter Update Nov. 2023-Feb. 2024: We are IN!

By Wendy Davis | Trustee & Project Leader

Inside looking out Dec. 7th 2023

Hello again, dear supporters, Thanks to your ongoing donations, additional fundraising, talented builders and an incredible team, we really are nearly there. And we are 'nearly there' enough to be able to have moved in! WORK PROGRESS in the six weeks following our last report was phenomenal and fundraising and donations kept pace to the point where, by the all-important weekend of 8th/ 9th December, the following had been achieved: - ALL the internal walls were up and ALL the doors were in (and working!). - The staircase was fixed in place AND had banisters (no more going down backwards!). - Power was more problematic and caused the electricians many headaches, still not fully resolved but, as the days lengthen and the sun returns, we do have enough solar power stored to run basic lights, sockets and chargers. - 'Shutterbridges', that are the movable, external walls that raise to secure the rear of the building around the large veranda and lower to allow access and provide additional outside flooring are still a work in progress, but one section was fully operational (though we are looking to replace the winches for ones that are better geared). - The internal floors were either oiled or varnished, though the in/outdoor floors in the porch and veranda will have to wait until spring and, hopefully, drier weather before they can be scrubbed, dried off and finally sealed. - The wood burner was installed and, now that fire-lighting issues have been resolved, heats the kitchen and restroom beautifully - The kitchen won't be fully finished for while - well, until we have raised more funds again to be precise - but there were worktops, makeshift cupboards and drawers and taps that worked, the latter alone being enough to transform tea making as it means no longer having to bring in containers of water from off-site. And, in the first month of 2024: - The guttering has been connected to the underground pipework that we dug in two years ago, so that rainwater from the roof now feeds the nearby wildlife pond. - The porch has COAT HOOKS (a first in the more-than ten years since the group has been in existence), muddy boot storage and a log store (which even has logs in it!). - Storage areas upstairs are also almost complete. - Resources and equipment have been moved from their decade of 'temporary' residence in volunteers' home offices and garden sheds and, thanks to a generous donation of storage boxes from local DIY store Wickes, are neatly stored away. Our lives really are being transformed! CELEBRATING BEING 'NEARLY' FINISHED On Friday 8th and Saturday 9th December to celebrate the hard work of the last three years, funders, supporters and volunteers were invited to an inaugural pre-Christmas event in the nearly-finished Cabin. The long days and late nights of the six weeks leading up to the event, that had resulted in the work progress outlined above, was admired by all who came, including the amazing timber framers from the Carpenters Fellowship who started us off on this journey exactly 3 years ago in 2023 when we met in nearby Harewood Forest to mark up the newly-felled logs that were to become the magnificent framework of the building. (If you take a look back to the first reports, you will see the start of this incredible journey.) CABIN WINS AWARD! On December 12th 2023, a group of volunteers including charity Trustees Liz, Tim, Sue and Wendy, Test Way walkers Andrew and Shane and of course carpenter/ builder Ben attended the Hampshire CPRE Awards in Kings Somborne where we received our certificate and saw for the first time the video that had been made by CPRE about the Cabin build. You can link to it below: ATU Receives CPRE Hampshire Sustainable Communities Award. We hope you enjoy it. WHAT'S NEXT and THANK YOU! As ever, this comes with our heartfelt thanks for all your donations and your help - you really can now see what you have helped to create. And it's brilliant! So, what's next? Well, the kitchen of course and we need to double the size of the solar array and battery storage if we are to provide the basic power needed to keep the lights on. Landscaping is essential to join up the building to its beautiful surroundings, especially paths so that winter wet and mud is not constantly brought inside; the shutterbridges need finishing and we need to come up with a security solution that is more robust and attractive than the now wind-battered heras fencing. We might be 'in', but work continues And, as we edge ever closer to the project's conclusion, we hope that you will want to stay with us to the finish line and help us to cross it.

You can do a lot in 2 weeks!

And then it looked like this!

Receiving Hampshire CPRE Award 12th Dec. 2023

Almost there and time to celebrate 7-8 Dec. 2023

Incredible builder/ carpenters come together 8 Dec

This is what the Cabin makes possible.

... and this, our 1st crafts workshop 24 Feb. 24

Links:

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Oct 30, 2023
Summer update 2023 - nearly there!

By Wendy Davis | Trustee & Project Leader

Test Way walkers Ben, Andrew and Shane

Hello, dear supporters

Thanks to your donations and additional fundraising, we were able to resume building in late July, with a view to being able to move in in December this year. Not long now and everybody is working really hard to ensure we can meet that deadline.

WORK PROGRESS:

Pigeons! With just one small section of boarding, high up in the eaves, not completed earlier in the year, local pigeons had discovered our build as a great place to overwinter and raise chicks in the spring... but they were making such a mess and just had to leave. So the first task was to evict our uninvited feathery friends and board up their entrance. In one of the images, you will see them perched on the ridge considering their options as, above the scaffolding, you will see their access point finally boarded up.
Windows and Shutters. The bespoke Ash windows and metal shutters were handmade by a local carpenter and with the build restarting, we could finally fit glazing and the all-important handles and stays that made them usable. It was a landmark moment to finally be able to bring light into the space.
Fascias. The raw ends of the insulated roofing sheets had remained exposed until the wooden fascias could be fitted; once fascias were in place, the trim could finally be added - one of those small finishing touches that made a huge visual difference, as you will see from the image below.
Walls, ceiling and wiring. Insulation has been fitted, 1st fix wiring for the solar-generated electricity installed and the timber sheets providing our ceiling and walls in the main room screwed into place. We have a room
Floorboards. This was a huge job - not so much the fitting but their processing. Back in 2021, when the locally-felled cedar and larch logs were milled in the wood to produce the main timbers, the boards created in the process had been set aside and stored for this very purpose. Painstakingly planed and finished over many days, the floorboards could finally be fitted. Another milestone reached!

WALK FOR THE CABIN

Our dedicated and talented buider, Ben Startup, together with two of our wonderful volunteers, Andrew Whitney and Shane Pike, created their own fundraising page and gave up 3 days to walk the 44-mile long-distance track 'The Test Way'. Trustee Elizabeth Scrace and volunteer Annette Hobbs also joined the walk for part of the way. Together, their efforts and your support and sponsorship pushed us closer to achieving our project goal. You can read about their fundraising efforts and share some of the wonderful landscape they walked through in the link below.

CPRE AWARD

Congratulations! We have just heard that The Cabin project has won CPRE Hampshire's Sustainable Communities Award. This is a huge achievement and your support and donations have played a major part. There is a link below that will take you to the CPRE Awards webpage and the chance to vote for our Cabin project as overall winner - we hope you will!

AN INVITATION TO CELEBRATE

Please join us on Saturday 9th December to celebrate the opening of the Cabin. The project will need to continue beyond this, but the community areas of the Cabin will be ready to use and, if you possibly can, we hope you will pop along to see what you have helped to create.

We will need to know numbers, so please email wendy.davis@andovertrees.org.uk if you'd like to be there.

THANK YOU! As ever this comes with our sincere thanks for your help and, as we edge ever closer to the project's conclusion, we hope that you will continue to support us.

Evicted pigeons consider their options

Insulation is fitted

Looking beautiful - roof details are finished

Looking west, windows glazed, 1st fix wiring

Main room walls, ceilings and floorboards fitted

Links:

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Jul 3, 2023
Wonderful news! We are about to resume building!

By Sharon Vennall | Project Contributor

Jo and Sharon at The Cabin

As you know, The Cabin has been a project very close to our hearts. A lot of love, sweat and donations have gone into it and we are super keen to complete so we can offer it as a local community hub.

As you will know from our last report, funds had run out and, having made the Cabin weathertight and secure, things were put on hold till additional funds had been raised - though we were able to recruit a lovely team of volunteers who joined the Big Help Out for the King's Coronation in May and tackled some of the smaller carpentry jobs. So, it is with great pleasure and heartfelt thanks that, come mid-July, we are able to resume building!

Once The Cabin is complete, it will become a major part of Andover Trees United and offer a sheltered area in Harmony Woods, providing an off-grid, sustainable classroom, field-study base, community and volunteer room. One that is sensitive to its surroundings and sits well in the landscape... and one that works well for coffee and a natter!

To keep things moving, we are asking for donations for this third and final phase - fitting out the inside:

- floors, walls and ceilings, doors, banisters and safety rails

- insulation

- electrics and plumbing

- a wood burner

- storage areas

- a workshop space, volunteer rest area and a kitchen

- additional solar panels and battery storage

A successful Auction of Promises in May helped to swell the coffers which, together with some generous grants and donations, has meant that we are able to start building again. We still have a way to go though, so if you are able to donate, please do. Know that anything you are able to give will go towards creating a community space that will be widely used and will remain in the community for generations to come.

We are always looking for volunteer carpenters, plasterers, building trades people who would like to help with the final phase of this community hub. So, if you fall into one of these categories and are keen to give back to the community, let us know by emailing wendy.davis@andovertrees.org.uk

If you have not already, please join our mailing list to receive the Andover Trees United's newsletter.

'Big Help Out' May 8th - working on the windows

'Big Help Out' May 8th - nailing the floorboards

Trustee Sue thanks Ben for all his hard work

Links:

Andover Trees United website

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