BTCV
| Type | Social enterprise group |
|---|---|
| Registration No. | 261009 in England and Wales; SCO39302 in Scotland |
| Founded | 1959 |
| Location | Sedum House, Mallard Way, Doncaster DN4 8DB, UK |
| Key people | Prince Philip, patron[1] |
| Area served | United Kingdom[2] |
| Focus | Environmentalism, volunteering, education and training |
| Mission | To create a more sustainable future by inspiring people and improving places.[3] |
| Revenue |  £34.5m GBP (2009/10)[4] |
| Volunteers | c. 628,000[4] |
| Employees | 767[3] |
| Formerly called | British Trust for Conservation Volunteers[2] |
| Website | www.btcv.org.uk |
BTCV (formerly British Trust for Conservation Volunteers[2]) is a British charitable organisation that works to facilitate environmental conservation through practical tasks undertaken by volunteers. BTCV has 767 staff and works with a volunteer base of 628,000 people.
Contents |
[edit] Overall aims
BTCV's vision is "a better environment where people are valued, included and involved".
The organisation's aims include:
- Enabling people to make a difference in their lives and improve the places around them.
- Providing opportunities and choice for people to improve their lives.
- Local mobilisation to have a global impact (e.g. through activities to combat climate change).
- Delivering social and environmental equality.
On a practical level, BTCV enables 628,000 volunteers per year to engage in conservation work in both the urban and the rural environment.
BTCV also has a for-profit trading arm, BTCV Enterprises, which generates profit to feed back into and support the charity.[5] The company has various government contracts to work with the long-term unemployed, aiming to improve skills and qualifications.
[edit] Activities
The charity attempts to be inclusive and accessible to all, running a diverse range of activities across the UK. Many are focused around practical conservation work, but BTCV also provides extensive training, work experience and education opportunities. BTCV's projects are varied and include community gardens, food growing projects, taking care of parks and nature reserves, tree planting and woodland management, dry stone walling and projects to increase biodiversity. Projects also exist to help introduce children and young people to the environment as well as those helping to involve people with learning difficulties in environmental activities.
Some of BTCV's activities include:
- Conservation projects
- Green Gym, a programme to promote the health benefits of working in the outdoors
- Conservation holidays, both in the UK and worldwide
- Providing support to local community groups
- Providing accredited training
- Consultancy
- Environmental education and waste education programmes for children and young people
- Providing training for the long-term unemployed
[edit] History
[edit] The Conservation Corps
In 1959 the (then) Council for Nature appointed Brigadier Armstrong to form the Conservation Corps, with the objective of involving young volunteers, over the age of 16, in practical conservation work.[6] The corp's first project was at Box Hill, Surrey,[6] where 42 volunteers cleared dogwood to encourage the growth of juniper and distinctive chalk downland flora.[7] One of the volunteers present was David Bellamy, who went on to became a Vice President of BTCV.[7][1]
By 1964 the Conservation Corps had expanded its activities to include education and amenity work in the countryside. In 1966 it moved from a basement office at Queens Gate, Kensington, to new premises at London Zoo in Regent's Park. In 1968 the first training course for volunteers was held. By 1969 membership had increased to 600, and volunteers completed around 6000 workdays a year. The first ever international exchange visit to Czechoslovakia that year became the forerunner for the International Project Programme of today.
[edit] The British Trust for Conservation Volunteers
In 1970 the Conservation Corps started to operate under the new name of British Trust for Conservation Volunteers (BTCV), with Prince Philip as Patron. In 1971 the local group affiliation scheme was launched.
- In 1972 the Conserver magazine was launched.
- By 1974 there were 3,000 registered volunteers and 57 groups had registered with BTCV.
- In 1975 the BTCV Membership scheme was started
- In 1977 BTCV set up an ecological park opposite the Tower of London as part of the Queen's Silver Jubilee celebrations.
- In 1984 BTCV moved its headquarters to Wallingford, Oxfordshire.
[edit] BTCV
The organisation underwent a second change of identity in 2000, taking the former acronym 'BTCV' as its new name in full.[8]
- In August 2006 BTCV moved to its present headquarters in Doncaster. The new "environmentally friendly" building features a sedum covered roof - hence its name - Sedum House. The Scottish office is in Stirling, the Welsh office in Whitchurch, Cardiff and the Northern Ireland office in Belfast.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b "BTCV - Who we are". BTCV. http://www2.btcv.org.uk/display/whoweare#ppvp. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
- ^ a b c "Charity framework, text from governing documents of BTCV". Charity Commission for England and Wales. http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/Showcharity/RegisterOfCharities/CharityFramework.aspx?RegisteredCharityNumber=261009&SubsidiaryNumber=0. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
- ^ a b "BTCV Facts and Figures". BTCV. http://www2.btcv.org.uk/display/facts_and_figures. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
- ^ a b BTCV, Registered Charity no. 261009 at the Charity Commission
- ^ "BTCV Report and Financial Statements (2009–10)" (pdf). http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/Accounts/Ends09/0000261009_AC_20100331_E_C.PDF. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
- ^ a b "Tidying up the Nature Reserves". The New Scientist: pp. 448–449. 26 February 1959.
- ^ a b "Bellamy celebrates 50 years of volunteering with BTCV". Third Sector. 18 February 2009. http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/news/archive/881675/Bellamy-celebrates-50-years-volunteering-BTCV/?DCMP=ILC-SEARCH. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
- ^ "Companies House: Company details". Companies House. http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk/e988e778c3b46f936f2d7ba338358163/compdetails. Retrieved July 09, 2011.
