Eco benefits

Yesterday at the Eco Conference Centre, the Soil Association hosted a special seminar about one of the latest scientific studies showing that organic farm holdings support a better diversity of wild plants and animals compared to ‘conventional’ farms. This is the kind of event that feeds into policy change at a national level.

The serious setting of the rooms and facilities, however, is balanced by the inspirational location, great food and areas where people can chat and relax between sessions. Delegates met in the Beech Room, dined alfresco in the Physic Garden and took a farm walk in the summer sunshine. Butterflies danced through the grass, a skylark sang on high. Does anywhere beat this?

• > Bring your event to Sheepdrove
• > Biodiversity on the Soil Association website
• > Biodiversity at Sheepdrove 

Barn Owl network celebrates

Now 21 years old, the Barn Owl Conservation Network celebrated its ‘coming of age’ at Sheepdrove Eco Conference Centre.

Juliet Kindersley welcomed 120 delegates from across the UK and Ireland for the Barn Owl Conservation Network Symposium 2009.  Juliet established the Sheepdrove Trust, which funds the BOCN – a Network of dedicated people who strive to save the nation’s favourite owl.

“What you do for barn owls all over the country is very important work.” Juliet told the audience.

She recalled how, back in the 1990s, her owl nestbox set in a new barn very soon attracted a Barn Owl. Juliet and Peter Kindersley contacted the BOCN and the expert advice helped them to develop the provision of nestboxes and habitat across the farm as it grew.

Today up to five breeding pairs of Barn Owl live at Sheepdrove Organic Farm and all five British owl species use its rich landscape. Sheepdrove’s success story echoes the many examples that the Network advisors have achieved nationwide – working  in partnership with farmers, landowners, agencies and volunteers.

By promoting creation of the essential rough grass habitat that barn owls require, and the careful location of nestboxes, the Network has recorded a rise in Barn Owl populations wherever they have worked. Overall, the emerging evidence suggests a significant population recovery – a scientific national survey is needed to confirm the growth. However, the Barn Owl is still vulnerable and remains on the Amber List of Birds of Conservation Concern.

Knowledge shared through the BOCN has advanced the understanding of the ecology of the owls, based on many years of monitoring and study by many dedicated groups and individuals.

Speakers delivered presentations about a range of topics and reflected what has been learned from over two decades of Barn Owl conservation and study.

Bob Sheppard summarised 25 years of owl conservation in Lincolnshire, Mark Grantham (BTO) looked at 100 years of bird ringing, Alex Copland and John Lusby (BirdWatch Ireland) explored the latest knowledge about the Barn Owl in Eire, Paddy Jackson investigated double brooding, Karen Davies (FWAG) highlighted the best options for owls in Environmental Stewardship (the grant scheme for farmers),  Bernard Wright and Roy Leigh summarised 25 years of work in Cheshire, and Colin Shawyer reviewed the work of the BOCN.

Symposium papers will be brought together with county-based reports from the Network, and published as a collection to illustrate the progress made by the Barn Owl Conservation Network over its twenty one years.

Wren tour and lunch

One of our clients today was WREN – Waste Recycling Environmental Ltd – who brought their local network to Sheepdrove Eco Conference Centre for farm tours and lunch.

A tractor and trailer took everyone around the organic farm enterprise, guided by agriculture expert Faye. Spring lambs, piglets, chickens and cattle all looked wonderful in the warm sunshine. They followed the Organic Farm Tour with a Reedbed Ramble, led by our resident naturalist Jason Ball. Everyone was impressed with the reedbed, which treats all our waste water and is packed with life – today’s springtime stars being the frogs gathered to breed at the wildflife pond.

Lunch today was organic Shepherd’s Pie, or Gardener’s Pie for vegetarians, with seasonal roast root vegetables and spring leaf  salad. Dessert was Lemon Pudding with cream.

What is WREN?

Advisory members, with knowledge of the the area’s environmental needs, participate in the WREN network to help ensure the best allocation of local grants. WREN receives the majority of its funding from the landfill tax levied by Waste Recycling Group.

“the best visit we have ever done” – Peter Trentham

Green materials at the Eco Conference Centre

Go to any exhibition on ‘eco building’, and you soon notice that more and more companies are trying to sell their goods and services by using a big ‘environment friendly’ message. Everything from PVC to concrete. But not all eco materials are born equal!

Sheepdrove Eco Conference Centre, with its Douglas Fir timber frame, Cedar shingles and weatherboards, re-used foundations, and rammed chalk wall, is an outstanding example of eco architecture. The SECC won a special award for its sustainable design in the 2005 Civic Trust Awards, for its efficiency in energy and water use, as well as the eco-friendly materials used in the unique construction, interior and furniture.

Juliet and Peter Kindersley had a strong ethical vision for the building, and a sense of the cultural atmosphere that the conference centre should have when it came to life. As a result of the creative input from Juliet and Peter, there are many beautiful touches to the interior design, some of which draw attention to the eco-friendly materials around you.

The grand, white wall of chalk is reused material, originally being dug out to clear the way for the west wing of the building. The bathrooms are adorned with panels made out of recycled shampoo bottles and toothpaste tubes – and the sinks sparkle with thousands of fragments from recycled CDs! The green credentials of the toilets are completed with the water-saving taps and loos, and even the paints are environment-friendly and water-based.

Our recycled plastic sinks and loo panels were supplied by Smile Plastics (www.smile-plastics.co.uk) whose products also feature in the Kitchens of Recycled Content (www.milestone.uk.net/eco/recycledkitchen.htm). How brilliant that these products are now more available than ever to mainstream consumers! To any green-minded kitchen makers and interior designers, Revolve-UK’s coasters made of recycled yoghurt pots might be of interest too.

The construction industry might soon use recycled plastic shuttering made by 2k Manufacturing. Why would that be better than wooden shuttering? The key to a green star for this EcoSheet is that, if broken, it can be reconstituted and used again. The special processes employed by 2k Manufacturing means that the shuttering  would not be thrown away – as happens with the marine plywood on most building sites.

Jason Ball at Sheepdrove.com

Why a sustainable conference venue?

Why build an eco-friendly conference facility?

In the case of Sheepdrove Eco Conference Centre, it was because we wanted a ‘green’ conference centre that reflected the ethos of Sheepdrove Organic Farm; the key messages being sustainability, eco-friendliness and biodiversity. And it’s like no other conference centre you’ve ever been to (in a good way, we promise!) – the first of its kind in Europe, we held our first conference in 2003 (for DEFRA) and have grown more successful with every passing year. Visit our website at http://conferences.sheepdrove.com  for more details about the building and its ‘Green Features’.

Just another conference centre?

Mention the words ‘conference centre’ or ‘external meeting’ to a friend or colleague and they will probably groan and cite harsh strip lighting, uncomfortable chairs, depressing or drab town centre venues, uninspired catering and a lack of parking as major bugbears when they have to attend them. But it doesn’t have to be this way!

Thousands of the happy, invigorated delegates who have passed through the doors of Sheepdrove Eco Conference Centre would tell a very different story – here are some of the things they love about us…

Built for comfort

How does a huge, squashy sheepskin beanbag instead of a chair sound to you? Twelve live permanently in the Rook’s Nest – a quirky, circular room much beloved of groups wanting a cosy bolthole that will inspire creativity. A dozen more are dotted here and there throughout the centre and delegates are welcome, in fact positively encouraged, to make use of them if they wish during meetings.

Many regular clients request ‘the beanbag layout’ time after time and it’s lovely to see a group relaxing in our rooms, happily ensconced in the beanbags. But don’t worry if this doesn’t appeal – we do have chairs too! They’re ergonomically designed to prevent fatigue and encourage good posture.

Unique rural location

We’re situated on a 2,250 acre working organic farm. How many other conference centres can say that? High up on the Berkshire Downs, we’re in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and have a wonderfully remote feel. Even so, we’re just 15 minutes from junction 14 of the M4 so we’re easily accessible (even delegates flying into Heathrow can get to us in an hour).

Being right at the heart of the farm means that delegates very often see our organically reared chickens, sheep, cattle and pigs grazing at close quarters – they love to see the chicks sunning themselves in our specially built conservatories, or watching our lambs and piglets charging about wildly! We even have three resident alpacas who graze the land and are employed to guard our sheep and chicken flocks against fox predation, and we offer tours of the farm on specially adapted trailers…

Nourishing, seasonal organic food

We serve only the finest organic, seasonal food – our vegetables come from our own garden and our meat is reared on the farm. Cooking in harmony with the seasons ensures delegates eat only what’s freshest and most abundant at the time of year.

Our current winter menu makes good use of our delicious, nutty squash & pumpkins, vitamin-packed kale and leafy cabbage and sweet, earthy beetroot, parsnips and celeriac. Our divine desserts might include sticky toffee pudding, chocolate fondant and seasonal fruit crumbles. Carnivores will devour our fabulous beef tagine, pork & apple casserole, sausage and mash made using proper Sheepdrove bangers or our creamy chicken & ham pie – that’s real comfort food! Vegetarians don’t miss out either – as well as all of those fresh vegetables, we make wonderful meat-free tarts, roulades and pies.

Delegates rave about our breakfasts! Companies can pre-order breakfast for hungry delegates; they can help themselves to our Sheepdrove bacon butties – freshly baked, still-warm rolls packed with our own organic bacon, or the more substantial ‘Breakfast on the Run’ – a portable feast of bacon, sausages, scrambled egg, rolls and muffins that’ll really set them up for the day. And that’s not all – mid-morning, they are treated to mouthwatering, home-made biscuits and, if they still have room, scrumptious home-made cakes in the afternoon!

Inspiring rooms, fabulous ambience……..

Our spacious, light, naturally ventilated rooms inspire and delight our delegates. The groundbreaking architecture of the centre is amazing and the most common reaction from delegates upon entering the centre is ‘WOW!’.

No harsh lighting, noisy air conditioning or dull rooms here – the spaces are sympathetically lit with daylight and highly energy-efficient bulbs. There are plenty of windows so you truly do have ‘a room with a view’. The room temperatures are naturally comfortable because the building’s design makes the most of natural ventilation and light whilst being well insulated. But despite the natural feel of the rooms, each has the very latest audiovisual technology in situ – and everything, from the lighting to the lectern PC, is operated at the touch of a button – it’s foolproof!

Like what you’ve read?

Give us a ring to find out more or, better still, come up to the centre and see us – we love having visitors and showing people around. Our small, dedicated conference team is passionate about the centre and once you’ve seen it, we know you will be too. We’ll even throw in lunch! Now how can you resist an offer like that…? Call Kate on 01488 674737, or email us at myevents@sheepdrove.com. See you soon!