Blogging, to us diehards, is still a relatively new concept. Back in the 90s, when I first began creating content for internet publishing, it was as an ezine - an electronic magazine of articles, poems, stories and even some graphics. It was around 1997 before I had a digital camera, which was around the same time I was convinced by work associates and friends to 'invest' in a mobile phone.
Skip forward a quarter of a century and the days of dial-up, pay-per-minute, chatrooms, ezines, bulletin boards, directories and even domain collecting are all but obsolete. Nowadays, it's all vlogging, social media, monetisation and sponsored ads. It's not good for small, volunteer run organisations such as Frugaldom as there's only so much time we can spare to even attempt to keep up, far less afford paid advertising.
SOCIAL MEDIA
As well as the Frugaldom forums, which are hardly used nowadays, we use Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google, Blogger, YouTube, Instagram, WhatsApp, Ko-Fi, GoFundMe, and have a Wix website plus blog at www.frugaldom.com
WE ARE REGISTERED
Hardly a soul has heard if us and fewer, still, seem to know what we do. It seems that only activities involving money count. Frugaldom is registered as a Scottish Social Enterprise. Frugaldom is registered as an Animal Welfare Establishment. Frugaldom is registered as a motorhome and campervan Certified Location. Our campervan and motorhome stopover is a CAMpRA accredited Aire. Frugaldom is also a registered agricultural holding for the purposes of keeping farm animals. We have two pet goats that we rescued / saved from death and, for each of those, I registered a walking licence. At Frugaldom, we have a residential / recreational hut plus plans to build two more. These are all in line with Reforesting Scotland's Thousand Huts campaign. The site was previously forest land bordering an old quarry. There's a small river, or burn, runs around the edge of the land, and it's joined by a stream. Much of the wetland is peat bog so it has been set aside for wildlife. The sphagnum moss is abundant in many places.
REWILDING
Where once there were non-native spruce trees farmed, we have been planting British native broadleaf trees, plus a few Scots Pine. Each year, we have been fortunate enough to be awarded free trees by The Woodland Trust and we have also purchased hundreds of alders, hawthorn, gorse, Rosa Ragusa, dog roses, dogwoods and fruit trees. Others have donated trees, herbs and seeds. Thousands of wildflower and meadow grass seeds have been sown and numerous bird boxes, bat boxes, feeding stations and wildlife corners established. These have brought in many birds, small animals and reptiles such as adders, slow worms and lizards. By digging out the pond areas, we now have hundreds of frogs, toads, newts, dragonflies and other aquatic life.
Do you know what we do yet?
Herbs, fruit and vegetables can be grown here and we do a great deal of recycling, mostly old wood and beach junk into artwork. There are currently no plans to charge an entry fee to visitors to Frugaldom and our campervan / motorhome stopovers pay by donation, some volunteer their help while here. We are totally off-grid, so you have to bring everything you need, including your own water.
COSTS
At the moment, we are caring for 9 ponies and 2 goats at Frugaldom, all of whom live very alternative lifestyles to your 'normal' field animals. They all have ad lib hay 24/7, 365 days of the year. This means we get through around 120 big round bales of hay, haylage and straw every year. Add to this the bagged feed, supplements, health care, hoof trims every 6 to 8 weeks, veterinary treatments & medications, worming, equipment... Then there are various insurance policies and service contracts just to enable us to allow you, our supporters, family and friends, access.
HOW ARE WE FUNDED?
We aren't a charity or a Community interest Company, nor are we any type of cooperative. Frugaldom's income is through sales of commissioned artwork, visitors staying over at the site and by the sponsorships and donations we receive via our social media and website campaigns. Our supporters are like family, all welcome here at anytime to help out in whatever way they can and contribute however much they can to help us keep the place running. We are volunteers.
JOIN US
We invite you all to join us as Friends of Frugaldom by supporting the project either as a friend, a sponsor or a foster / adoptive carer of one of the animals. It costs whatever you can afford or whatever you want to give, from just a few pounds each month via www.ko-fi.com/frugaldom