societies
Launch of the OPAL Grants Scheme 2010
This is an important week for me - the launch of the next round of the OPAL Grants Scheme. A big part of my work on OPAL is supporting all sorts of different wildlife groups including natural history societies and recording schemes. There are hundreds of widllife groups all over the country, but a lot of people don't even realise they exist. You can find a group near you by searching the NHM's Nature Societies Online website, or by contacting your local Wildlife Trust or Biological Records Centre who will be able to tell you about some of your local groups. My job is to publicise these groups, but more importantly help them to publicise themselves locally and to support their work. I run a scheme which awards small grants to wildlife groups to help them to develop publicity materials, run public events and all sorts of different activities. You can see the groups that we funded last year and read about their projects here. If one of these groups is near to you, why not get involved?
So now I'm busy answering phone and email enquiries to help people develop their applications, and we've already had two application forms submitted even though the grants scheme only opened earlier this week and the deadline isn't until May!
I'm looking forward to seeing how the societies we funded last year are getting on with their projects, and where I can I'm trying to attend the events that OPAL grants have paid for - first up is a butterfly recording conference in Sussex this April. Case studies of the funded projects will gradually build up on the website as projects get into full swing, so keep an eye out for those.
Bye for now, Lucy 
- The Natural History Museum
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Funded societies 2009
The recipients of OPAL's 2009 grants
Through the OPAL Grants Scheme in 2009, OPAL awarded 28 grants of between £500 and £2,000 to support the work of amateur natural history societies across the country.
The grants are being used in a variety of ways, from improving websites and buying new equipment to organising family days and conferences.
This page lists all the societies that benefited from the 2009 award scheme and briefly explains how they are spending their grant. See our case studies for a closer look at some of the projects we helped fund.
2009 case studies
Discover more about how OPAL grants helped the following societies
Interested in support for your society?
As well as small grants, OPAL can also provide support materials and reimburse your costs when taking part in OPAL events.
Grants awarded by OPAL in 2009
Amateur Entomologists Society in partnership with the Tachinid Recording Scheme
Grant awarded: £2,000
Project: Buying new cabinets, drawers and unit trays to re-house the Tachinid Recording Scheme’s reference collection.
Website: www.tachinidae.org.uk.
Amateur Entomologists Society (AES)
Grant awarded: £800
Project: Supporting the AES’s Uncovering Insects project in celebration of its 75th year. The grant will pay for computer equipment to modernise membership handling, and banners for public events.
Website: www.amentsoc.org.
Auchenorrhyncha Recording Scheme
Grant awarded: £2,000
Project: Developing a new website for the recording scheme. Auchenorrhyncha are bugs (Hemiptera) that include the leafhoppers, froghoppers and cicadas.
British Arachnological Society (BAS)
Grant awarded: £2,000
Project: Developing a recording scheme website for spiders, opiliones and pseudoscorpions. The site will include distribution maps, information on local sites and species of interest, and a forum so the public can post pictures and seek expert information.
Website: www.britishspiders.org.uk.
British Pteridological Society (BPS)
Grant awarded: £500
Project: Ferns and Fossils at Manchester Museum - a free family-friendly event to promote ferns and the work of the BPS. The day will include talks, living ferns and fossils from the museum’s collections, demonstrations on growing ferns, and children’s activities.
Website: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/hosted_sites/bps/
Buglife in partnership with the Cranefly Recording Scheme
Grant awarded: £1,350
Project: Bringing together specialists and new recorders for a species identification and survey training workshop. Grant money will buy a digital microscope so that species identification features can be shown to large audiences via a projector.
Website: www.buglife.org.uk.
Buglife in partnership with the Ephemeroptera Recording Scheme
Grant awarded: £800
Project: A meeting of the relatively few Ephemeroptera specialists in the UK. Other members of the scheme will be invited to attend and be coached in fieldwork and identification.
Website: www.buglife.org.uk and www.ephemeroptera.org.uk.
Butterfly Conservation Sussex Branch (BCSB)
Grant awarded: £1,914
Project: Preparing for the launch of a Sussex Butterfly Atlas. This includes developing a recording section of the BCSB website, publishing a butterfly recording booklet to encourage participation, providing training and holding a butterfly recorders’ conference.
Website: www.sussex-butterflies.org.uk.
Derbyshire Amphibian and Reptile Group
Grant awarded: £1,905
Project: Producing exhibition and training materials and buying a laptop, to promote the group, publicise its current projects and volunteer opportunities and to raise awareness of native amphibians and reptiles.
Website: www.derbyshirearg.co.uk.
Dorset Bat Group
Grant awarded: £1,945
Project: Providing bat survey equipment for the Bats in the Belfry project, which will work alongside Dorset Wildlife Trust’s Living Churchyards and Cemeteries project to engage local communities in the management of their churchyards for the benefit of wildlife.
Website: www.dorsetbatgroup.org.uk.
Friends of Baddesley Common
Grant awarded: £825
Project: Conducting a public consultation with the local community and other users of Baddesley Common to make sure the actions of this new group will meet their needs. The consultation will include focus groups, a household questionnaire survey and a public meeting.
Friends of Burgess Hill Green Circle Network
Grant awarded: £1,909
Project: The group has recently extended its remit from managing one site in the Burgess Hill area to managing 13. This grant will support the purchase of equipment for surveys and training across all 13 sites.
Website: www.bh-green-circle.org.uk.
Friends of Markeaton Park
Grant awarded: £1,901
Project: Teaming up with other local wildlife groups to run a mini Bioblitz, for children and adults to record a wide range of wildlife in the park.
Website: www.fomp.org.uk.
Gloucestershire Naturalists’ Society
Grant awarded: £1,640
Project: To support the Gloucestershire Bird Atlas project, by producing digital bird species distribution maps and by holding a county-wide event to report on progress of the atlas and show the results to date.
Website: www.glosnats.org.uk.
Hampshire Fungus Recording Group
Grant awarded: £1,760
Project: Buying and developing display materials, such as a compound microscope and projection screen, to promote awareness of the role of fungi in the natural world and the activities of the local group and national fungus groups.
Website: www.hampshirefungi.org.uk.
Hampshire Ornithological Society
Grant awarded: £1,901
Project: Developing display materials to promote the fun and conservation value of bird watching and recording. The grant will also support the Grey-Roosevelt Centennial Walk, celebrating 100 years since Lord Edward Grey (naturalist and Foreign Secretary) and Theodore Roosevelt (naturalist and US President, 1901-1909) walked a section of the Itchen valley and New Forest, and comparing their bird records of 1910 with those recorded by the public in 2010.
Website: www.hos.org.uk.
The Hardy Orchid Society
Grant awarded: £1,934
Project: Attracting new members by upgrading lecture audio equipment, producing new leaflets and increasing the print run of the society's quarterly journal. The society will also enhance its conservation activities by providing workshops on the germination of legal wild orchid seed.
Website: www.hardyorchidsociety.org.uk.
Horsham Natural History Society
Grant awarded: £620
Project: Producing new, high-quality membership leaflets and laminated posters to publicise the society in Horsham and the surrounding areas.
Website: www.hnhs.org.uk.
Lincolnshire Naturalists’ Union
Grant awarded: £836
Project: Producing four high-visibility banners that will stand out and attract the public at busy events, and give the society a more professional image.
Website: www.lnu.org.
Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists’ Society
Grant awarded: £1,520
Project: Updating the society’s promotional materials, including new membership leaflets and children’s nature checklists. The society is also developing a countywide mass participation survey to map the distribution of the Common Frog and Common Toad, in partnership with the Norfolk Amphibian and Reptile Group.
Website: www.nnns.org.uk.
Orpington Apiary Club
Grant awarded: £2,000
Project: To install an observation hive close to the apiary, allowing a close-up view of the bees and how they operate inside a hive. At Saturday sessions, the public will have an opportunity to try bee-keeping themselves.
Quekett Microscopical Club
Grant awarded: £1,650
Project: To investigate the potential for widnening access to recorded lectures via DVD or web streaming. The grant will support the club in gaining professional advice and training, developing skills that it can share with other societies.
Website: www.nhm.ac.uk/hosted_sites/quekett.
Risley Moss Action Group
Grant awarded: £1,400
Project: Buying equipment and producing promotional leaflets to run a series of wildlife training and recording sessions. These will promote awareness of the diverse range of wildlife found on Risley Moss reserve and encourage participants to take a more active role in surveying and recording.
Website: www.rimag.org.uk.
RSPB Gloucestershire
Grant awarded: £1,600
Project: Buying a laptop and digital projector so that inspiring wildlife talks (once on 35mm slides) can be brought to a wider audience. Publicity leaflets will promote these talks and the wider work of the group to the local community.
Website: www.rspbgloucestershire.co.uk.
Shropshire Bat Group
Grant awarded: £1,200
Project: Buying a harp trap (a portable 'live' trap for catching bats without causing them damage) to complement existing bat detector surveys. The harp trap will allow the group to gather data on numbers, sex, breeding condition, age and health, which is not provided by sound recordings.
Website: www.naturalshropshire.org.uk/SpeciesGroups/ShropshireBatGroup/tabid/66/Default.aspx.
Shropshire Botanical Society
Grant awarded: £2,000
Project: Expanding the social networking aspects of the Herbaria at Home web-based citizen science project, in which volunteers record enormously valuable information from historical herbarium sheets. The project will make it easier to add and edit biographies, find out where a particular collector was on a given date, and add handwriting samples.
Website: www.shropshire.bsbi.org.uk and www.bsbi.org.uk/html/herbaria.html.
Sorby Natural History Society
Grant awarded: £1,214
Project: Enhancing the existing series of identification and training workshops with improved digital and teaching microscopes. Subjects include ichneumon wasps, mammal bones from pellets, snail-killing flies and botanical illustration.
Website: www.sorby.org.uk.
Sussex Amphibian and Reptile Group
Grant awarded: £499
Project: Improving the group's website by creating new content, improving functionality and making it easier to find information. A postcard will promote the new website and encourage people to send in their records.
Website: www.sussexarg.org.uk.
Hello from the Natural History Museum
Hi Everyone!
We are the OPAL team based at the Natural History Museum in London, and we've decided to start a blog to keep you up to date with all our activities. This photo shows three of our team (trying to identify a dragonfly!). From left to right there's John Tweddle, Lucy Carter (me) and Gill Stevens. I'm sure the other guys will put up their pictures and introduce themselves to you soon.
Here at the museum we work on quite a few different aspects of OPAL (which means we're always super busy!). We run outreach activities both in London and around the country, we support natural history societies, wildlife groups and recording schemes to get involved with the project, and we also do lots of 'behind the scenes' work for OPAL such as the media and publicity side of things and the website.
Keep checking back as I'll try to update this as often as I can with all the exciting things we've been doing. Last weekend I attended two worm-related events - a bioblitz and the World Worm Charming Championships! As soon as I sort out a good photo I'll tell you all about those....
Bye for now,
Lucy
- The Natural History Museum
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Funding for your nature or wildlife group
OPAL has just launched a brand new small grants scheme for natural history societies and recording schemes in England.
The Natural History Museum will be distributing grants of between £500 and £2,000 to both local and national groups to help pay for equipment, events or promotion.
There are more than 1,000 groups in England that collect information about our wildlife, and run active programmes of talks, walks and fieldtrips to enjoy the outdoors while sharing their knowledge and enthusiasm for nature with others.
We hope these grants will support such groups in continuing their current work, and make it easier for them to expand their activities or to try something new.
Applying for a grant is quick and simple. See the OPAL grants scheme page for more information and an application form.
OPAL can also help societies by providing support materials and offering reimbursement for taking part in OPAL events.
If you are interested in joining a nature or wildlife group, you can use the Natural History Museum's online directory to find one.
OPAL Grants Scheme
Apply for grants of up to £4,000 to help your society
The OPAL Grants Scheme aims to help natural history societies and recording schemes grow and flourish. We are awarding grants in 2010 and 2011 to support and enhance the day-to-day operation of societies and schemes, as well as for projects that develop these groups' activities or expand their outreach into the wider community.
Who can apply?
The Grants Scheme is open to all national and local natural history societies, recording schemes and similar groups that are active within England, including regional branches of national organisations. The group’s primary focus must be biological. See the downloadable guidance notes for further details.
Extending your reach
The theme of the 2010 Grants Scheme is: Extending your reach – inspiring a new generation of nature enthusiasts.
This 'new generation of nature enthusiasts' could be children, teenagers or adults. We want to support public-facing projects that will help increase public awareness of your group, provide opportunities for new people to become actively involved with your work, and encourage new members to join.
An OPAL grant could be used to run public events, pay for new equipment, websites or promotional materials.
How to apply
The deadline for applications has now passed. Keep checking back for details of the successful groups and our next round of funding.
You must have Adobe Reader version 7.0 or above in order to complete the application form. This can be downloaded free from the Adobe website.
Email completed application forms to lucy [dot] carter [at] nhm [dot] ac [dot] uk. The deadline for applications is 12.00 on Tuesday 4 May 2010.
Get in touch
Lucy Carter, OPAL Project Officer, Department of Botany, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD.
Call 0207 942 5188 or email lucy [dot] carter [at] nhm [dot] ac [dot] uk.
2009 grant recipients
Twenty-eight groups received an OPAL grant in 2009, funding a diverse range of exciting projects.
Discover more ways OPAL can help your society
In addition to our Grants Scheme, OPAL can provide supporting materials and reimburse expenses for OPAL events. We are also gathering views on what else OPAL can do for your society.
Naturalists wanted!
Do you have a passion for dragonflies, amphibians, aquatic plants or invertebrates? We're looking for enthusiastic people to help out at OPAL water survey events in your area during May, June and July this year.
You don’t need to be an expert, just have a little knowledge about the aquatic world and a willingness to share this with others. If you're interested in helping out for one or more days, email lucy [dot] carter [at] nhm [dot] ac [dot] uk.
Interested in joining a local nature or wildlilfe group?
Joining a natural history society or recording scheme is a great way to learn more about your local wildlife, improve your identification skills and help the environment.
How OPAL can help your society
OPAL can provide support, funding and equipment for your society
A major goal of OPAL is to promote and support natural history societies and recording schemes, and ensure that they benefit from the funding, outreach and publicity opportunities that OPAL offers.
Our support programme will run until 2012 and has three main elements:
1. The OPAL Grants Scheme for natural history societies
OPAL is offering grants of up to £4,000 to help pay for equipment, events or promotion. We are now accepting applications for our 2010 Grant Scheme and we encourage both local and national societies to apply.
2. Publicity and new members for your group
OPAL can provide opportunities and funding for natural history groups to meet potential new members, spread the word about all the fantastic work they do and explain the benefits of membership.
By attending OPAL events you can share your expertise and enthusiasm with interested members of the public and attract new members to your society. We'll also reimburse any travel and subsistence costs associated with taking part.
3. Support materials
We will be providing a range of free supporting materials for societies. These will be designed primarily to support smaller or local groups. Keep checking back, as these materials will be developed over the coming months.
Naturalists wanted!
Do you have a passion for dragonflies, amphibians, aquatic plants or invertebrates? We're looking for enthusiastic people to help out at OPAL water survey events in your area during May, June and July this year.
You don’t need to be an expert, just have a little knowledge about the aquatic world and a willingness to share this with others. If you're interested in helping out for one or more days, email lucy [dot] carter [at] nhm [dot] ac [dot] uk.
Run your own nature survey and collect results on your website
Indicia is an online application that lets you run your own nature survey and collect and map your results online. Funded by OPAL, Indicia requires little technical ability and has a supportive community to help with installation on your website.
Tell us about your society and help our support programme
Since December 2008 we have been involving societies and recording schemes in a consultation to assess the challenges they are facing and the ways that support from OPAL can help to overcome these.
If your group hasn’t yet completed our questionnaire and would like to, please contact lucy [dot] carter [at] nhm [dot] ac [dot] uk.
Thinking of joining a local nature or wildlilfe group?
Joining a natural history society or recording scheme is a great way to learn more about your local wildlife, improve your identification skills and help the environment.
Natural History Museum
Exhibitions to visit, eco-friendly bio-buses and help for local nature groups
The Natural History Museum is heading 6 OPAL projects. Follow Lucy Carter's blog for all the latest news on OPAL activities at the Natural History Museum.
1. OPAL Exhibitions and community led celebrations
j [dot] tweddle [at] nhm [dot] ac [dot] uk
OPAL will be organising themed exhibitions, demonstrations, training workshops, talks and other community events. A range of publicity materials will display OPAL’s achievements, including a temporary exhibit within the Natural History Museum.
2. OPAL Bio-buses
g [dot] stevens [at] nhm [dot] ac [dot] uk
The Museum is supplying a fleet of OPAL branded, low-emission vehicles so that scientists and groups taking part in OPAL projects can travel throughout their region. These bio-buses will improve access to our study locations, especially for people and communities who would otherwise find it difficult to get there.
3. Supporting and enabling amateur natural history societies
lucy [dot] carter [at] nhm [dot] ac [dot] uk
One of OPAL’s key objectives is to support amateur naturalists and voluntary groups, and help more members of the public become aware of them. This project will bring amateur natural history societies together in a countrywide network. It will also offer expertise and funding.
4. The Naming of Things: OPAL Taxonomic Support Programme
lucy [dot] carter [at] nhm [dot] ac [dot] uk
OPAL aims to open up the richness of UK biodiversity to a wider range of people, and promote a greater interest in natural history. The Naming of Things programme will be developing online and printed guides about UK plants, animals and environments - and how and why scientists study them. OPAL will also put local groups in touch with experts who can assist with identification where needed.
5. OPAL website
c [dot] howard [at] nhm [dot] ac [dot] uk
The OPAL website reports news and gives details of activities from all OPAL partners. Results are collected for the five national surveys on the website and displayed in real time. The site also points to online resources and local societies so you can develop your interest in nature even further.
6. OPAL Communications Office
l [dot] stowe [at] nhm [dot] ac [dot] uk
We want everyone to know about OPAL. The Communications Office aims to raise the profile of OPAL through the planning and implementation of a comprehensive communications strategy. A Communications Officer will act as a mentor for partners so they are able to make the most of media opportunities in their area. The Officer is also responsible for developing and managing the OPAL brand.
Explore Nature
This is where you can explore your interest in nature further.
Join in our BioBlitzes, or get help with running your own
BioBlitzes are an exciting race against the clock where scientists and members of the public work together to find as many species as possible. Not only are they great fun, but they also collect useful scientific data.
See our BioBlitz page for information on upcoming BioBlitzes that you can get involved in, and read about OPAL's very first BioBlitz in Wembury.
We've also produced a guide for those of you interested in running your own BioBlitz.
Discover Classification - free teacher resource pack
The OPAL team at the Natural History Museum has developed a free resource pack to support the teaching of biological classification in secondary schools.
Aimed at Key Stage 3, the resource pack includes a series of three lessons on classifying species, two extension lessons and supporting PowerPoint presentations. The pack also serves as useful revision for Key Stage 4.
Free Darwin Guide
Learn to explore and record wildlife just like Charles Darwin. Co-authored by Darwin's great-great-grandson, The Darwin Guide has been produced by the National Biodiversity Network (NBN) to inspire people of all ages to record and enjoy nature.
It's completely free and can be downloaded or ordered from the NBN website.
Find out how OPAL can help your society
One of the main goals of OPAL is to promote and support existing natural history societies and recording schemes.
OPAL is running a grants scheme for societies, as well as providing other funding and support. If you are already a member of a society or recording scheme then get in touch and find out how we can help.
Join the Earthworm Society of Britain
Get to know more about earthworms with the help of experts, take part in field trips to improve your identification skills and help scientists with ongoing research.
The Earthworm Society of Britain has been created to give everyone the chance to learn more about these fascinating creatures.
Watch Nature Live events
Nature Live events give you the chance to meet experts and learn all about the natural world. They are hosted and run by the Natural History Museum.
We have arranged a number of Nature Live OPAL specials and they are all available to watch again here. See the videos from our recent bat weekend and learn more about these incredible animals.
Join a local nature group
Fancy getting more involved in nature? Want to help the environment and meet like-minded people?
Joining a nature society or wildlife recording group is a great way to learn more about your local wildlife, improve your identification skills and help the environment. Activities can range from wildlife recording to practical conservation tasks.
Join in the urban tree survey
What trees are growing in your garden or local park? Submit your findings online and help the Natural History Museum with a nationwide survey.
Taking part is quick and simple, and there's a free identification guide on the Museum site to help you.
2010 - International Year of Biodiversity
The International Year of Biodiversity (IYB) aims to raise worldwide awareness of biodiversity loss, as species and habitats are disappearing at an alarming rate.
Hundreds of organisations are showing their support by staging events across the country that you can get involved in.
Explore the IYB website to learn more about the issues and find out what's happening near you.
Get chatting in the bug forum
Curious about caterpillars? Amazed by ants? Or just wondering what that strange-looking bug in your house is?
Join the Natural History Museum’s bug forum and you can upload photos of a bug you’ve spotted and the Museum’s scientists will help you identify it. You can also ask all your bug-related questions. Insects, spiders, centipedes and any other creepy crawlies you find are all welcome.