Country Days Quiz night 2023
Thank you all so much for supporting our Country Days Quiz last night. We hope you enjoyed yourselves as much as we did. A special thank you to the generosity of Pete @thesunpub and his staff who made the best bangers and mash ever - their hard work enabled the event to become a huge success raising £1750. The funds will go towards our courses held in the nature reserve next year. Thank you all again and congratulations to the winning team
National Lottery Community Fund
We are thrilled to announce an award from The National Lottery Community Fund. We are truly delighted & we have lots of exciting new plans for the future. A huge thank you to all the National Lottery Players out there who made it possible!
Country Days Family Fun Day
High Sheriff Award
We are so proud to have been awarded the High Sheriff Award, given to people and organisations who devote time and energy to improving communities in Bedford.
Maltby's Miles
On Sunday 4th June 12-4pm, we held our first ever Family Fun Day. The event surpassed all expectations and we raised an amazing total of £1,654.04! It was great to see so many families having so much fun exploring our beautiful nature reserve. We would like to say a huge thank you to our fantastic fundraising committee, patrons and trustees for making it all possible.
Over twelve months, Hugh Maltby cycled 10,000 miles, the equivalent of going from Bedford to Adelaide (Australia), through wind, rain, and snow to raise money for Country Days. He raised an amazing £6,050, more than £1,000 over his target! In recognition of this amazing achievement, he was awarded the Bedford Independent Everyday Heroes Award in the Fundraiser (individual) Category. Well done Hugh, we are so proud of you and incredibly grateful for everything you have done for Country Days!
Virtual 10km Challenge 2021
Thank you to our team of Fabulous Felmersham Fielders who ran, walked and cycled 10k for Country Days. Thank you also to everyone who sponsored us - we raised nearly £3,000! Thanks to your generous support, we will be able to equip our science sheds with new pond-dipping equipment ahead of our Easter course.
Country Days fundraising dinner
Finally after the pandemic quashed our plans (twice!) our first dinner for Country Days went ahead and it was very much a case of third time lucky! With the generous support and determination of our new Patron, Susan Lousada, and our committee, we set out to create the event our wonderful late Patron Brian Woodrow envisaged and it proved to be a very special evening indeed. 80 guests consumed a delicious dinner in Stagsden Village Hall, bought raffle tickets, took part in a lively auction led by Russell Beard, and listened to an inspiring speech by the intrepid Arctic explorer and environmentalist Pen Hadow. We were thrilled by the response and the £5, 000 raised means our aim of doubling the number of places available for children on our courses next year can become a reality! Many thanks to all who came and gave their generous support. Special thanks go to Susan and Simon Lousada, Nick and Caroline Waterfall, Majestic Wine, and Portfolio Caterers who made the event possible and ensured we have got off to a flying start for next year.
Virtual 10km Challenge 2020
We are so pleased to announce that the Country Days Virtual 10k Challenge in December raised £7,000! Thank you so much to our fifty fabulous runners and to all our generous supporters.
Covid 19 has been tough for us all and becoming more active has become increasingly important for mental well-being and the increased physical resilience needed to tackle this pandemic. Sadly, we were not able to offer our usual activity courses last summer so instead we ran a Virtual Fieldwork course providing free online learning with follow-up challenges to complete in an outdoor space. This year, we are planning two courses (during the Easter and Summer holidays) at the Leys Nature Reserve. In order to comply with social distancing measures and run these courses safely, we need:
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2 more compostable toilets
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An additional landing stage and science hut for pond dipping
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Our own pond dipping equipment
Your donations will enable us to make this happen! We are immensely grateful for all your ongoing support.
Harpur Trust rain shelter 2020
We are so grateful to The Harpur Trust for their incredibly generous donation which enabled us to build this fantastic new rain shelter. We were very excited to show our patrons, Brian Woodrow and Lionel Stewart, and honoured to be visited by Susan Lousada, the High Sheriff of Bedfordshire.
Bedford Harriers Half Marathon 2019
Thank you so very much for sponsoring our team of runners for the Bedford Harriers Half Marathon on Sunday 1st December 2019. The total raised was just over £3,315!