Minutes of raw meeting March 2017

“Delivering catchment management best practice to restore the Annan to its natural state”
RAW Meeting, 29th March 2017, 2pm
Rutherford McCowan Building, Crichton University Campus, Dumfries.
Note of meeting

1. Introduction and minutes of previous meeting
Minutes were agreed. The chair asked that everyone confirm attendance prior to the meeting, so can determine if the meeting is quorate.

2. RAW Project Assistant update
A tree planting event took place with 8 volunteers planting 300 trees, including 20 Aspen donated by Peter Livington
(Eadha Trees). This generated a discussion on ‘double manning’ at these events. It was agreed that there should be a
voluntary events protocol which followed a hierarchy of carrying out a risk assessment (must do), from which we can
assess whether the event needs two RAW volunteer leaders. If this is the case the organiser needs to find a ‘seconder’
before the event can go ahead. Stephen suggested that University of Glasgow students might be able to attend future
events, depending on when they were scheduled. It was also suggested that these events are a good way to increase our
email database and Sarah confirmed that people attending were invited to give their contact details. Sarah has also given a talk to Lockerbie Wildlife Trust.
The up and coming events include:
Bank protection in Moffat/kick sampling with Kirkpatrick Fleming Primary School/additional tree planting in the Moffat
valley (under Forestry Grant Scheme)/litter clean up.
It was suggested that the work with primary schools could be extended to other schools in the catchment, which is a good
idea, but resource intensive and relies on finding an interested teacher. Applegarth and Johnstonebridge were mentioned
as possibilities for Sarah to follow up with a letter, but if was agreed to start with Applegarth as the school had been
involved in several other environmental projects. The litter clean-up was also discussed in detail and it was felt that a
single site might be best to generate a baseline and then do repeated follow-ups to see how much litter is left and the
type. This is also something that could fit with elements of the University of Glasgow syllabus and so could involve the
students.
Sarah has been successful in obtaining a PhD from June. The chairman gave a vote of thanks for her contribution to RAW
and complimented her on the quality and range of work she has undertaken during her time with us. He also extended a
vote of thanks to RAT for hosting the post and continuing her employment beyond her initial contract.
Unfortunately, after June it may be difficult for RAT to continue to support RAW to the same extend (due to changes in
fishery management structures). The group agreed that it was important to keep RAW going and look for alternative
options.

3. Funding update
Several funding opportunities were discussed and it was agreed that Peter Dreghorn would speak with Amey for possible
support and he would also circulate a draft letter to be sent to the Crichton Foundation to see if they were interested in
becoming involved with RAW.
Carrifran and Biggar museum have held funding conferences, but these are very labour intensive. Crowd funding was also
considered, but if was felt that we did not have a clear ‘carrot’ to encourage donations at the moment.
The Southern Upland Partnership initiated a meeting to discuss a HLF landscape scale bid around Moffat, which may also
link with a ‘Rewilding Scotland’ project. This to be further investigated.

4. Leader Position

Sarah confirmed that have completed the expression of interest for Leader and feedback has just been sent through. A
draft of this application is required by 12 April.

5. Future scenarios
Peter Dreghorn suggested that we could organise a South of Scotland Rivers Conference and he would begin investigating
this possibility.
He also through that this would be a good opportunity to develop the RAW type approach in the upper Clyde catchment.