Hampshire Flora Group
An important announcement on the immediate future of the Flora Group
The Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust’s Flora Group committee had a meeting last week and we have now formally agreed to part ways with the Trust (as was announced in the last Flora News). From now on we will operate as an informal county botanical group, keeping our shortened name of the ‘Hampshire Flora Group’. This will be until such time that officers can be recruited to help set up a more formal group with a chairperson, secretary, treasurer, etc. This means that we will no longer be holding any indoor meetings or training workshops as the group does not hold funds to pay for hire of venues, etc., but we still intend to run a programme of field meetings which will continue to be listed on Martin Rand’s Hants Plants website (https://hantsplants.uk/calendar.php) along with other local meetings. You must contact the stated leader beforehand to book a place, and so you can be informed of any last minute cancellations. Attendance at meetings is at your own risk.
We hope to continue publishing a bi-annual newsletter, past issues of which are also available on this web site. If you would like to receive the next copy please send an email (if you have not already done so) to hampshirefloragroup@gmail.com with your name and your county of residence in the message body. This is so you can be added to a contacts list to receive Flora News and other occasional emails concerning the group, and so we can find out how many people live outside the county. Note that we do not have access to the HIWWT database which was used to circulate past issues of Flora News, so if you do not do this you will not receive future issues, but if you prefer you can download Flora News from Hants Plants and keep an eye on The Hampshire Flora Group Facebook group to see when new issues have been published (we don’t need your full postal address as unfortunately we can no longer send out printed copies). Please also use this email to send notes and articles for possible publication in the next newsletter (I will be monitoring the account but may not respond speedily to messages). Many thanks.
John Norton, on behalf of the Flora Group Committee
Activities
Participation in field events advertised under the Flora Group name are open to all with an interest in Hampshire botany on the strict understanding that you attend entirely at your own risk, and advise the leader(s) of any medical conditions or other factors of which they should be aware. To minimise risks, leaders will advise you of any hazards likely to be encountered on the route and expect you to follow their advice. Participants under 18 should come with a parent or other responsible adult.
The BSBI recorders collaborate with the Hampshire Flora Group for most of their activities. Past and current issues of Flora News can be downloaded from this site (see the Documents menu). Contributions to Flora News are always welcome and invitations for the next issue will be posted in advance here and on the Flora Group Facebook page. Also available on this web site are notes and a variety of documents on plant ID relating to past Flora Group workshopa.
With funding from private donations, we hope to continue in the short term the annual winter social meeting that has been a feature of the Flora Group's calendar for over 20 years. This provides an opportunity to listen to brief talks, look at specimens, equipment and newly published books, buy and sell (or obtain for free) second-hand items, and socialise generally with fellow plant lovers.