A couple from Derby is helping put CP cats on the map! Can you help further?
Many of our adoption centres are off the beaten track in rural areas and, for new visitors, it can be a real challenge to find their way there even with modern tools such as satnav devices and maps from the internet. Better road-side signposting was an answer, so the Property Department at the NCC sought the help of CP volunteers to find suitable locations for direction signs.
Diane and Matthew Reed came forward to find out more. Simon Haste from the Property Department explained that, although he would deal with the business of putting up the signs, his team unfortunately didn't have the time or - more importantly - the local knowledge to carry out a thorough investigation of potential signposting locations on approach roads to particular adoption centres. As Diane and Matthew come from Derbyshire, it was a great opportunity to try to get more signposting to the Derby Adoption Centre which had already been identified as a prime candidate for better signposting.
Diane and Matthew spent a day driving round the area surrounding the Derby Adoption Centre, identifying possible locations for signposts and marking them on a map. They also took photographs which, on their own initiative, were posted to the photo-sharing website
Flickr.
All of this information, photographs and descriptions of the locations proved valuable to Simon and the Property team. Although it has not yet been possible to place a sign at every location recommended by Diane and Matthew, a good start has been made, with some signs being put up and a private landowner agreeing to a sign on her property.
To build on the success described above, we are now looking for help to research potential signpost locations on approach roads to other adoption centres, in particular those at Haslemere (Surrey); Hereford (Herefordshire); Truro (Cornwall); Glasgow (Lanarkshire); Downham Market and Dereham (Norfolk);Ferndown (Dorset); York (North Yorkshire) and Nottingham (Nottinghamshire).
For more information about volunteering with the Property Team, please contact the Property Department at the NCC, by emailing
property@cats.org.uk