Friday 7th March 2025

The date of our next AGM is confirmed for the evening of Wednesday 14th May 2025.

Membership renewals are due 1st April.

Please get in touch, if you'd like to support the Friends through a £5 annual membership subscription or other donation. (You can find our Membership Form here.)

We are working on a Day of Discovery on Wednesday 25th June 2025, as part of the Festival of Chichester celebrations.

A full programme is being planned including small group walks with different foci, which will need to be pre-booked, and drop-in or self-led activities to help visitors see life in the Copse in different ways.

Please put the date in your Diary and look out for more details in April when the Festival programme goes live.

Monthly email updates and Chichester District Council-led Working Parties continue.

(If you've been in contact via email, but not heard back from us, please call or text Paula on 07788 140698 - emails may get missed in a crowded Inbox.)

Sunday 1st December 2024

We have digitised The Story of Brandy Hole Copse which gives a fascinating insight into the context of the Copse in 2001, on the cusp of it being designated as a Local Nature Reserve. The Friends of Brandy Hole Copse is the successor to the Brandy Hole Copse Conservation Group, whose volunteer efforts brought about the original protection of the Copse. A new challenge is expected in 2025, as developers progress planning for the 2 adjoining fields to the south. Outline planning permission for Phase 2 of the development of Whitehouse Farm was granted on 22nd July 2024 with these 2 fields intended to become "Country Park". Exactly how this is done will affect the resilience and biodiversity of the Copse and the ways in which people use/enjoy it. We will necessarily have to focus on the opportunities and challenges it brings as the developers draw up proposals for a "Reserved Matters" (detailed planning) application in the New Year.

The date of our next AGM has provisionally been set for the evening of Wednesday 14th May 2025, pending hall booking confirmation.

Monthly email updates and Chichester District Council-led Working Parties continue.

(If you've been in contact via email, but not heard back from us, please call or text Paula on 07788 140698 - emails may get missed in a crowded Inbox.)

Please get in touch, if you'd like to support the Friends through a £5 annual membership subscription or other donation. (You can find our Membership Form here.)

Wednesday 18th September 2024

Mostly "housekeeping" has been happening! The Friends' Committee has co-opted a new Treasurer, changed our e-mailing provider, updated our Privacy Policy and our Membership Form. We have a Committee meeting on Friday 27th September. Please get in touch with ideas/anything you'd like to bring to our attention.

Monthly email updates and Chichester District Council-led Working Parties continue.

(If you've been in contact via email, but not heard back from us, please call or text Paula on 07788 140698 - emails may get missed in a crowded Inbox.)

Please get in touch, if you'd like to support the Friends through a membership subscription.

Monday 1st July 2024

Nothing exceptional to report.

Saturday 17th February 2024

Apologies to anyone who has made contact by email or contact form and not received a reply. Please do persevere - a call or text to Paula on 07788 140698 would be welcome to help us (me!) catch up.

Monthly email updates and Chichester District Council-led Working Parties continue.

Please get in touch, if you'd like to support the Friends through a membership subscription.

Friday 5th January 2024

Have you noticed an uptick in birdsong in the mornings? This article from the Norfolk Wildlife Trust suggests now is a good time for novice birders to get their ear in before the Spring clamour! Some birds may be more visible in the Copse now too, with less foliage around - look out for goldcrests, treecreepers, and woodpeckers (given away by their drumming; a sparrow-sized lesser spotted woodpecker would be truly exciting!). And, please, record your wildlife sightings - our Wildlife page suggests websites/smartphone app.s you can use. (That page still needs LOTS of work - we'd love you to send us your photographs, articles, observations for us to include.)

Monthly email updates and Chichester District Council-led Working Parties continue.

Friday 8th December 2023

Our new Committee is finding its feet after our 5th October AGM. Monthly email updates continue, primarily focussing on supporting volunteering for Chichester District Council-led Working Parties, and hopefully this webpage is now up-to-date.

Please get in touch, if you'd like to support the Friends through a membership subscription.

AGM date: evening of Thursday 5th October 2023.

Tuesday 3rd October 2023

Attempts have been made to contact current members with details of our AGM, either by email sent on 26th September (which you can read here) or by 'phone. Some of the contact details we had for members are no longer up-to-date, or have not been provided/recorded. Please do check with us, if you've not heard from us. (Some memberships previously paid by standing order have lapsed following Nationwide withdrawing our bank account in 2022; standing orders to our account with Lloyds Bank were not affected.)

Please note that, under our Constitution, only paid-up members are eligible to vote at our AGM. (This does not include members joining on the day.) 

Please consider helping the Friends to form and support a new Committee -

new form on our Volunteer at Brandy Hole Copse page.

Next Working Parties:

Tuesday 17th October 2023, 10am to noon

*  updated date  *

a physically active session where we will be cutting laurel to control this invasive species,

open up the woodland floor to light and increase opportunity for biodiversity

Thursday 7th September 2023

Next Working Parties:

Tuesday 12th September 2023, 10am to noon

pond work (please see email update here for further information)

Tuesday 17th October 2023, 10am to noon

*  updated date  *

a physically active session where we will be cutting laurel to control this invasive species,

open up the woodland floor to light and increase opportunity for biodiversity

Tuesday 29th August 2023

Next email due soon.

Please consider helping the Friends to form and support a new Committee -

new form on our Volunteer at Brandy Hole Copse page.

Wednesday 3rd August 2023

Updated to include email:

Tuesday 8th August 2023, 10am to noon

making records of trees (please see email for further information)

Wednesday 21st June 2023

Working Parties announced as follows:

Tuesday 11th July 2023, 10am to noon

observation and records of trees and butterflies (butterflies weather dependent) – long trousers advised

Tuesday 8th August 2023, 10am to noon

activity to be advised

Tuesday 12th September 2023, 10am to noon

pond work (details nearer the time)

Email Update ...

... last sent 22nd June 2023

Wednesday 7th June 2023

AGM date confirmed for evening of Thursday 5th October 2023.

Email Update ...

... to follow after 13th June 2023.

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