The Boxford History Project submission for registered charity status was approved by the Charity Commission in April.
Charity registration number: 1182817
Charity name: Boxford History Project
Author: boxfordparish (Page 4 of 11)
First of all, sorry about the break in transmission but WordPress websites were upgraded and the subscription configuration to the blog was lost in the ether! Anyhow now all fixed by our webmaster.
We have had a huge response to the call for volunteers – now over 80! It’s really great but we have to restrict numbers on site each day, so have started a waiting list for any latecomers.
We are all looking forward to August and the great reveal!
Following generous donations from individuals and organisations for this year’s dig at Mud Hole our funding total now stands at over £46,500 – ever closer to full funding. We have just received notification that the Greenham Trust has awarded the project a Reactive Grant of £1,000 and ASPROM the Association for the Study and Preservation of Roman Mosaics have awarded their maximum grant of £500. Updated funding information is available on the Boxford Mosaic page of the Good Exchange.
https://app.thegoodexchange.com/project/12262/boxford-history-project/the-wondrous-boxford-mosaic
We are advised by the land agent that our most likely start date is during the week of 19th August but as always it’s weather and harvest dependent. We are still hoping to be excavating for 3 weeks followed by a week of recording but it all depends on full funding.
Volunteers have been coming forward and in some numbers. It looks like we will be oversubscribed which is great but we will have to regulate numbers on the site each day. So if you would like to join us for the dig, please complete and return a volunteer contact form asap even if you have been on Boxford digs in the past, or if you prefer email: boxfordhistoryproject@gmail.com
Many thanks to many of you who have been helping in so many ways.
Joy
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN OF A GENERAL MEETING OF THE BOXFORD HISTORY PROJECT AT 19.30 ON TUESDAY 12th FEBRUARY 2019 IN THE BOXFORD HERITAGE CENTRE
AGENDA
- To approve an application to the Charity Commission for Charitystatus
- In accordance with Charity Commission model document Charitable Associations:
a) To adopt a new constitution
b) To initiate a Register of Members (Membership is invited from Boxford and neighbouring parishes)
c) To elect 6 trustees
d) To elect officers viz Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer
3. To approve the inspected accounts for year ending December 31st 2018
Photo courtesy Richard Miller
This remarkable image is part of the amazing Roman mosaic found last summer in the parish of Boxford, West Berkshire. The mosaic has been examined by experts and described as the most important Roman mosaic find in Great Britain for the last 50 years. It received widespread national and international coverage when it was discovered in 2017.
The project to fully uncover the mosaic will be led by the Boxford History Project (BHP) using a volunteer workforce from the local community, with valiant assistance from archaeology groups most notably from the Berkshire Archaeology Research Group (BARG) and all overseen by professionals from Cotswold Archaeology. As usual on an agricultural site, we have to wait until harvest is finished and we have been informed that we may be able to start the 3rd week of August depending on the weather.
If fully funded we plan to work for 3 weeks uncovering the Boxford mosaic, the bath suite and the floor plan of the villa. A fourth week will be spent recording the mosaic in minute detail as it will be covered again at the end of the dig for its own protection. We are looking for volunteers to help with this unique project – you don’t need previous experience, just enthusiasm and genuine interest…..and an ability to smile through all weathers! There are a variety of tasks for volunteers – don’t worry, topsoil is removed from the site by a JCB but thereafter it’s hand digging and looking out for finds; finds then have to be washed, sorted, weighed, photographed and catalogued. So please get in touch if you would like to volunteer by emailing: boxfordhistoryproject@gmail.com
Over £38,000.00 of the £60,000 needed has been raised so far! Greenham Common Trust has offered to match fund pound for pound, donations up to £5000 through The Good Exchange funding platform . More detailed information about the project and fundraising can be found on the Good Exchange website https://app.thegoodexchange.com/project/12262/boxford-history-project/the-wondrous-boxford-mosaic……………………and you can also make a donation if you wish – it’s really easy………….and don’t forget Greenham Common Trust will double it! Grateful thanks to those who have already made a donation.
Personal Data – Collection
- All the residents, past and present, of the civil parish of Boxford, West Berkshire and its neighbouring parishes are eligible to be members of the Boxford History Project (BHP).
- A Membership Register is maintained of all residents that have become members (normally by completing a simple form).The personal data consists of name, postal address, a telephone number (either home or mobile) and email address if provided. This data is maintained on an Excel spreadsheet.
- In addition, BHP may collect personal data for any individual who volunteers to work on an archaeological site. Personal data consists of name, postal address, telephone numbers (both home and mobile), and email address if provided. Information about medical conditions/medication is collected on an as required basis only for volunteers at risk who work on the archaeological site, as part of Health and Safety requirements. The medical information is shared only on a need to know basis, is kept securely by the Chair and is destroyed when no longer required.
- Personal data is used to further our objectives by allowing us to inform members and volunteers of upcoming events and activities of interest. Where members and volunteers have given us permission to send information to them via email, this is our primary method of communication. Emails are sent using blind copies, so no individual can see the email address of others. Where email consent is not provided, event information is conveyed by phone.
- Members and Volunteers give us consent for collection of this information as part of joining the Project or as part of the volunteering process.
- We also retain data for some people who have indicated a particular area of interest or desire to volunteer for specific activities of the BHP. This information is not kept current, but may be used to contact a specific individual to ask for some assistance.
- Name and email information is infrequently used to invite all our members to apply to join the BHP committee when a vacancy arises.
- Currently the Secretary holds the Membership Register and the Chair holds contact details of all volunteers.
Activity Data
- For each activity that the BHP organises, an attendance log is maintained that includes only names of the attendees.
- This is created by the Chairman and is kept for three years on a password-protected spreadsheet.
Retention Period
- Membership and volunteer data is kept up to date.Data is retained for 3 years after the initial date to make it easier to re-commence volunteering. However, any member or volunteer may request that his/her details are deleted immediately. All discarded paper records with personal data are shredded.
Data Security
- Membership data is maintained by the Secretary. Volunteer data is maintained by the Chair. Both are on an Excel spreadsheet. It is backed up regularly. In addition, email addresses are stored on the email contact list to make the sending of emails easier. The Secretary also retains a paper copy of the membership forms in a file.
- No other Committee members retain any personal data.
- Personal data is never accessed on portable devices and is only shared with non-Committee members on an anonymised and/or summarised basis. However names of members and volunteers may appear in archaeology reports with their permission, to express appreciation for their support.
- No other Committee members retain any volunteer data.
- Personal data is never accessed on portable devices and is only shared with non-Committee members on an anonymised and/or summarised basis. However names of members and volunteers may appear in archaeology reports with their permission, to express appreciation for their support.
- We do not share data with any other organisation.
Rights of BHP Members and Volunteers
BHP complies with the new General Data Protection Regulations, and all our members and volunteers have the rights outlined in the legislation.
For BHP, these rights are as follows:
- The right to be informed – A copy of our Data Privacy Policy is available on the Boxford website.
- The right of access – Our volunteers can email or write to the Chairman to obtain a copy of their personal data. This will be provided within a month of the date of the request.
- The right to rectification – Our members and volunteers can have their data corrected by emailing or writing to the Chairman. This will be done within a month of the date of the request.
- The right to erasure – Our members and volunteers have the right to have their data deleted.This will be done within a month of the date of the request.
Data Controller
- The Data Controller currently is the Chairman.
About 75 -80 people turned up for the postponed lecture given by Anthony Beeson. It was a triumph of scholarship and interest – packed full of comparisons of the mosaic with others in the Roman Empire – showing quite why the Boxford mosaic is indeed unique and a national treasure! We are now in the process of fundraising so that we can uncover the whole of the mosaic in the late summer of 2019 so if you can help with fundraising, especially with corporate sponsorship, please let us know. We are looking at finding £55000+ – this seems a lot but this time we will have to cover the villa to prevent damage to the mosaic from the elements as well as unwanted visitors. Donations left last night amounted to £161.50 so many thanks to all who contributed. Over £1000 has been raised from donations so far for the 2019 dig. (By the way someone left a very nice red and beige shawl/scarf with green tassels in the village hall last night – please email joy@appleton.uk.net if it was you.)
The Boxford History Project AGM will be held in the Heritage Centre on Monday 26th March at 7pm. We are looking for new committee members – if you are interested and there is plenty to interest – please email me.
Many thanks.
Joy Appleton
Boxford History Project
DCIM101MEDIADJI_0052.JPG Photo courtesy of Richard Miller
We are very fortunate that one of the leading UK iconographers, Anthony Beeson, will be giving a talk at Boxford Village Hall on Saturday 3rd March at 7pm entitled The Triumph of Bellerophon. The Boxford Mosaic, a unique survival from Roman Britain. Places will be limited on a first come first served basis because we anticipate a full house. So please reply to joy@appleton.uk.net This mosaic was discovered last summer by locals supported by local archaeological groups, overseen by professionals and has been described by experts as the most important discovery of a Roman mosaic in Britain in the last 50 years.
For those of you who might be interested in the background of our speaker, who after his visit to the site last year conducted an incredibly thorough research looking at mosaics throughout the Roman world.
Anthony Beeson was born in 1948 into a well established Brighton family. Having worked at the Courtauld Institute of Art Library, he moved to Bristol in 1972 to become Fine Art Librarian, and over the following thirty-seven years developed the Bristol Art Library into one of the finest British public collections of art books. He is a noted classical iconographer who has written extensively in academic journals, lectured on Romano-British art and appeared on the television programme Time Team.
Many hands make light work and all that – so we were pleased to have the primary aged children from Grafton’s Holiday Club to lend a hand – greatly assisted by Lindsey of course, at this summer’s Boxford dig. They came on a very auspicious day when the mosaic experts visited the site, so stuck close to Matt when taking a look for themselves.
Just in case you hadn’t heard, the mosaic story has hit the national papers and ITV and BBC even Russia Today!! Matt was on the Meridian News this evening with a few seconds of video of Alice explaining the mosaic at the Open Day – video courtesy of Richard. What a world!! The photos from the blog have been used by the papers too. Hard copies of the Times, Telegraph and Mail are available but the rest as far as we know is online – John even found a Greek post!