Severus Hill

A very warm (if a bit rainy) welcome to July. We’re aware it’s been several weeks since we’ve provided an update to you and all our kind supporters. It’s been a busy June for the Severus Hill project so we’re excited to update you all on progress and developments.

Getting together - June events

After the incredible fundraising effort of so many (1200 people!) throughout April and May we have continued to receive donations throughout June taking us to, at time of writing, a total of £99,535 (including GiftAid). Many of these further donations have been linked to a series of celebration and exploration events we’ve run throughout June. Each focused on a different aspect of the Hill: History, Heritage, Wildlife and Environment. Across the 7 events we’ve had the pleasure of engaging with 250+ people, including many of you. These events have been a wonderful way of celebrating the campaign so far and hearing people’s ideas and reflections. They have also helped to engage new audiences and people who have perhaps heard about the crowdfunder but not had a chance to hear the story.  Each of the events has been overwhelmingly positive and inspiring and we have a few more lined up for July, so keep an eye on our communications. Thank you to everyone who has supported us with one of these events, it has been our pleasure.

Grants and Support

Alongside the money raised by the community we’ve always been clear we would require further funding from grant providers or separate donations, and this has been a big priority for our volunteering team throughout June. We have approached 18 grant providers/charitable trusts as well as many SME and larger businesses locally and regionally. We’re currently in 5 positive conversations with grant givers for either immediate support or longer-term funding. However, each of these require a lot of time, paperwork and criteria matching before funding can be committed and subsequently released. The efforts of the community, support shown through the crowdfunder, and recent survey have been the ‘ace up our sleeve’ in each of these applications, so again thank you for the part you have played so far.

Next step - timescales

If you’ve followed the campaign since the start you’ll know we’ve been working to an end of June deadline to formalise a bid for the site. This bid incudes the accumulation of the crowdfunder support, separate donations and further grant support. However, another part of us formulating our bid is to ensure, as the purchaser and potential future owners, we’re aware of the site’s specifics (surveys and required site checks) to ensure we achieve a successful outcome for all parties. If you’ve ever purchased a property, you’ll be aware these can take time and therefore we are appreciative to the landowners for their flexibility throughout July to ensure we can complete these activities.

Community Involvement

We’re excited for these next steps and the future of Severus Hill. It’s important to say that if we are successful in securing the site as a community, then the wonderful support and kindness of so many will be able to become part of the stewardship of the site going forward. Our plans to become a charity are well on the way and alongside this we will be keen to build a supportive group of Trustees and proactive group of volunteers who are willing to give a little of their time to plan, protect and promote the hills unique values. As we become clear what this will look like we’ll share more, if however you are definitely keen to be part of one of these groups we would love to hear from you. You can contact us through social media (@severushill) or by email ([email protected])

Thank you again for your ongoing support of this incredible community effort to Save Severus Hill. It’s not too late to share the story with your family, friends and neighbours. 

Friends of Severus Hill Team

Ps. If you don't follow us on social media you may have missed the wonderful written piece by fantastic Yorkshire Poet, Miles Salter - watch below or by clicking here WATCH HERE (YouTube)