New Minibus Appeal

Please make a donation to support this project now!

Dear Supporter

I'm writing to you today with a very special and important request - I need your help to raise £18,000 for a new minibus to transport our volunteers to work sites in the Caledonian Forest.

Our volunteer weeks are the core of our practical work to restore the forest, and almost all of our tree planting and other conservation tasks are carried out by volunteers in spring and autumn each year. Last year, when some of our work week funding was withdrawn, I was very touched by, and grateful for, the generous donations which many of our supporters sent to help cover the shortfall. Now, we urgently need to purchase a new minibus before our Work Weeks start again in March 2005, and I hope you'll be inspired to help us with this.

Reliable transport is crucial for our Work Weeks!

Because most of the sites where we're helping to restore the Caledonian Forest are quite remote, reliable minibuses are essential to get our teams of committed and enthusiastic volunteers to the work locations. Our two existing minibuses are both more than 7 years old, and have given good service, often on rough, unpaved roads, over the years. We had been planning a phased programme of replacing them over the next 2 years, but after our autumn Work Weeks it became clear that one of the buses is no longer dependable enough for us to use - the clutch failed during the last volunteer week. Although we got that replaced, overall the bus requires more work than it's worth to keep it roadworthy. Thus, we have to buy a new minibus and have it on the road before our Work Weeks begin again on 19th March.

Please help us drive our volunteers round the glen!

We have an ambitious programme of Work Weeks scheduled for next spring, with a total of 35,000 trees to be planted on West Affric, at Corrimony and in Glen Moriston - volunteers are already booking their places! We've identified the best type of minibus for our needs and have negotiated a £6,700 discount on it from a Ford dealer - now I'm relying on supporters like you to help us raise the balance of £18,000 which we need to complete the purchase.

Here's the key details about the new minibus we plan to buy:

• It's a Ford Transit minibus with a 2.4 litre turbo diesel engine. The 17 seat capacity allows plenty of space for 10 volunteers and 2 Work Week focalisers, plus all their food, tools and luggage. This minibus also has double wheels on the rear axle, which is important for the journeys we make over rough, unpaved roads.

• We've been advised by the Community Transport Association that the Ford Transit is the minibus which receives the most positive feedback from owners, in terms of user satisfaction and reliability etc.

• The engine includes an exhaust gas recirculation system, whereby the exhaust is partially pumped back into the combustion cycle. This reduces the emissions from the engine and decreases its impact on the environment.

• Thanks to the substantial discount we've negotiated with the dealer, we only have to raise £18,000, rather than the full price of £24,700 - a saving of over 25%. As the minibus has 17 seats, we're looking for inspired and generous supporters who'd be willing to 'Sponsor a Seat' for £1,060 - just 17 donations of that amount will raise all the money we need. Everyone who sponsors a seat will be gratefully appreciated in our newsletter, Caledonia Wild!, and on a small acknowledge-ment in the bus itself. Are you one of the special people we're looking for to do this? Or how about getting together with some friends or family to make a group sponsorship for a seat? Whatever the amount, though, your donation now will help us reach our target!

This is our most ambitious appeal ever - please help to make it a success!

We're seeking to raise a larger sum with this appeal than with any of our previous ones. We have to buy the new minibus soon, as transporting volunteers is crucial to our work, so I'm counting on you, and all our supporters, to make this our most successful appeal ever. Please take a few moments to send a donation now - you will be making a vital contribution to getting our volunteers out to the Caledonian Forest next spring.

To make a donation online to this project, please go to our order form, and thank you in advance for any contribution which you can give - your gift, no matter its size, will make a significant difference to us!

Yours sincerely,

Alan Watson Featherstone
Executive Director

PS. Our volunteers give their enthusiasm and hard work to restore the forest. Please give them a chance to get to work next spring by sending as generous a donation as you can for a new minibus. Thank you!