Agenda item

The Committee to receive a report of the Epping Forest Heritage Trust.

The Committee received a report and presentation from Peter Lewis of the Epping Forest Heritage Trust.

During the discussion, the following points were made:

a)    The Chairman emphasised the usefulness of the Epping Forest charity’s partnership with the Heritage Trust as the Trust were able to apply for complementary grants that the charity was unable to apply for.

b)    The Chairman noted financial support and other benefits in kind made available to the Epping Forest Heritage Trust from the City of London Corporation, including the City Bridge Foundation’s award of £67,500 over two years (£33,000 and £34,500 respectively) in March 2023 toward a 0.4 FTE Conservation Officer to enable a more diverse community of volunteers to support Epping Forest, as well as associated project and management costs.

c)     The Chairman also highlighted the Central Grants Programme award of £14,700 in February 2024 for a one-year bespoke community engagement exercise to increase and involve the diversity of people attending Epping Forest. The Chairman has also recently supported an application to the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

d)    The Committee considered how the Trust was measuring a sense of belonging and stewardship to the Forest. Peter Lewis responded that feedback was gathered from every session but accepted the need for more work to be done of analysing visitors’ connection to the Forest.

e)    It was asked whether employer days were advertised to Corporation staff and suggested making partner organisations and contractors aware of this. Officers responded this had been done at The Commons on several occasions, with less at Epping Forest due to staff resourcing constraints.

f)      Discussed what work was being done with schools. The Deputy Chairman advised that through the Natural Environment Division’s learning team 40,000 pupils had been involved in outdoor learning programmes in the last year, mostly funded by the City Corporation.

g)    It was emphasised by the Chairman that Epping Forest was also helping to facilitate the Duke of Edinburgh awards, Army Cadets’ training, the Scouts and sports provision, showing the enormous value delivered for young people in particular.

h)    Concerns were raised regarding littering in the Forest. Peter Lewis responded that content was included at events to highlight appropriate behaviour and the Forest bylaws.

i)      Members suggested the City Belonging Project may be a way of encouraging organisations to engage with the Corporation through corporate volunteering days.

j)      The Committee discussed potentially involving prisoners undergoing rehabilitation and linking that to the apprenticeship scheme at the Forest.

k)     It was considered whether the Trust had used NPS to look at visitor trends. Peter Lewis confirmed it was used for walks; trialling was underway to use it once visitors had signed up for events on Eventbrite.

l)      Members of the Committee expressed the need to build diversity objectives into the membership of consultative groups.

RECEIVED.