Appeal for support from Kingston Environment Centre:
You may have seen that we have started an urgent campaign to "Save KEC". The background is that Kingston Council became unresponsive to our requests to renew the lease after initially being encouraging. We had no explanation about it and because the lease expires on 18th April we felt we should launch our petition.
We have known for more than a year that the Council was moving from making grants to voluntary organisations towards creating a "contract for services" type of culture, where organisations compete for available funds. When we were asked to bid for the sum of £45,000 over 3 years this was the same budget we had previously commanded. The process of bidding is an exacting one and consumed a huge amount of staff time by our measures. We employed a worker for 3 months in order to complete the questions, and at the same time we organised a range of activities and initiatives. The result came out yesterday and we were not successful. The contract to deliver "Green Infrastructure, Energy and Water" was awarded to the Environment Trust. This does not mean they will take over the Centre - they will still work from their base in Twickenham.
We are very sorry, we tried our hardest to win the contract But it leaves the Environment Centre in a precarious position. The Save KEC campaign is vital if we are to make a case in the council chamber about the value of retaining an environmental hub in New Malden. During the past intensive months we have forged new alliances and feel that what we do is more than ever valued and valuable.
As members I would like you to consider the following
1 Sign our petition. From our home page at
http://kingstoneco.org.uk/ you also get an option to print our a paper version if you don't like the thought of logging on at the council website.
2. Speak or write to your local councillor, or write to them.
3. Elections are coming up so speak to your local candidates who come knocking
4. Share our campaign with other organisations you are in touch with.
5 Share your other ideas for campaigning on the KIngston Environment Centre facebook page,.
6 Retweet our petition prompts @KingstonEco1
All the very best
Jean Vidler MBE