Replies to letters

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[Derek]

I had a reply from Draper tools today, which is a start

they say they will put warnings in the documentation

That is better than nothing but I will be writing back to them pointing out that most people don't read the instruction book every time they use a strimmer and have very short memories and  a bright sticker on the handle of the strimmer draws attention to the dangers much better

But at least that have acknowledged the problem & the first step is always the hardest

letter attached

[Hedgehogirl]

That's a start Derek, all we need now is to target more of these tool places to put the warning sign on the strimmer itself.
Great that we are starting to see some results, I am finding Emails for the companies, so far nothing. But I won't give up.

[Mouse]

Derek, that's a massive step; the tip of the iceberg.  You should feel a lot more hopeful now, we all should. 

Well done you, what a fantastic response.

I think we all need to contact Draper now as if one manufacturer changes its ethos the others will soon follow, especially as the 'green theme' is sooo topical.

That is a fantastic start and just the beginning. 

Well done again, fantastic 

[Linda]

Hi, my family and I have all signed both your petitions.  That's great news you've received a positive response to your letter.  I am planning to write similar letters myself and will report back if successful.  Keep up the good work.

[P.S.  Is it my imagination, or has the text on all the threads changed to bold lettering?  It really hurts my eyes trying to read the threads now]

[Derek]

[P.S.  Is it my imagination, or has the text on all the threads changed to bold lettering?  It really hurts my eyes trying to read the threads now]

I haven't   changed anything on the forum here so perhaps you have changed a setting at your end

EdiT:

I have just switched to IE browser & I see what you mean

I am looking into it

[Derek]

OK thanks for alerting me, I found the problem & cured it

When I was altering the news- info item at the top today I forgot to put a closing tag in so in IE only it made everything bold

[Derek]

Hi, my family and I have all signed both your petitions.  That's great news you've received a positive response to your letter.  I am planning to write similar letters myself and will report back if successful.  Keep up the good work.

That is the first response and I hope that others will also respond soon & do something

we need to keep up the pressure and  all write to all the manufacturers

sample letters are on http://www.thehedgehog.co.uk/strimmers.htm

[Linda]

That was very quick, thank you    I can read properly now!

I hadn't realised you had gone to all the trouble of drafting up sample letters too. A BIG thank you for that, I will use them most definitely.  [Perhaps I missed reading about your sample letters on the main site  ]

[Mouse]

I am intending to write to all the manufacturers this weekend Derek but need to ask you something first.  Can I link myself to you in a sense as your injury figures are horrific and if I use 'we' is it ok to mean 'us'.  Hope that makes sense.

Can I use the pictures too please?  Poor little things, it makes me want to weep 

I'll write to the lady reporter who printed a couple of articles for me last year too.

Ali x

[Derek]

You can use any of the pictures, link to anything on the websites and use anything you think will get the message over

[Leanne27]

Hi Derek,

Have you checked out Draper's environmental policy on their website? It contains lots of well-meaning text such as:

Draper Tools recognises that in our day-to-day operations we inevitably have an impact on the environment in a number of ways and we wish to minimise the potentially harmful effects of such activity wherever and whenever possible

and

we will...support through our quality programme the promotion of environmental protection

and

we will...encourage the implementation of sound environmental practices with all interested parties

You could argue that by them promoting the message to watch out for hoggies and other wildlife when using their tools fits in nicely with their policy. Obviously their main concern will be the cost to them of changing the packaging/adding stickers to tools etc. If they are not prepared to do this (yet!) why not suggest they put a link on their website to your strimmer campaign and a bit of text about the issue (say under their environmental bit), and maybe also sponser one of your hedgehogs? You get more interest/exposure for your campaign and then continue to pressure them for changes to packaging, they look like they care, everyones a winner!

Leanne

[Derek]

Good idea I will mail them about it

Focus DIY have also emailed me to say

Dear Derek and Sandra
Firstly can i thank you for taking the time and effort to write to us, we very much appreciate this. And thanks for bringing this problem to our attention.
We understand that this is an awful occurance, and appreciate your anxiety at getting a public awareness message issued for this.
I have been speaking with the buyer of our garden products, including strimmers and lawnmowers, and he agrees that this is something that we should be actively getting involved in.
He is going to speak with his suppliers to put across your concerns and urge them to pull together ideas to make this more visible in the public eye when using their products.
I must stress that in this instance he is liaising with supplier to see if they can pull ideas together, and it will take some time for us to get any changes made to the packaging etc to highlight this.
But please rest assured that as a company we will do everything we can to ensure that our customers know about this going forward, and as soon as we can we will be speaking with suppliers to come up with ideas.
Thank you very much for getting in touch with us, we appreciate your time and effort.
I hope when we next speak I will have some positive news for you, but in the mean time please note that we will be bringing this to the attention of our suppliers.

which is also a good step in the right direction

Much as I would love for all of them to change packaging & put warnings on yesterday, I am realistic & know it will take while but hopefully not long

What is very disappointing is the lack of even an acknowledgment of receipt of the letters from the really big manufacturers & suppliers who should be very ashamed of themselves

I would have thought that the 2 biggest names in  these Bosch & Black & Decker would have at least replied even to say Piss off we aren't interested

And the same goes for B&Q  and Homebase

those 4 would have the biggest impact so need the most people to write to them

It is disgusting and shows a complete lack of care & courtesy to not even bother to reply at all

Shame on them

[Leanne27]

Well done Focus, at least they are showing an interest. Once you have the backing of a big supplier or store and you can say your campaign is supported by such and such it will give you more clout.

Another thing you could try is ask Focus, B&Q and the like if you could put some small signage/posters up near where they sell the strimmers etc, see what the local store managers say. You would have to be careful about the design as they wouldn't want to put something up that would put people off buying a strimmer.

Leanne

[Mouse]

Thats an excellent response from focus.  I am convinced that the timing is right for change what with all the green issues being the focus of many tv ads.  All it needs is a small chink in the armour of the suppliers and everyone will jump on the bandwagon.  Hopefully, focus is that chink.

I didn't write the letters this weekend as I was bogged down with homework but it's top of my list for next week which is half term. 

I cannot believe that people have been strimming already this year (my neighbours included) as I've barely got any grass left after all the rain so goodness knows what they're strimming. 

Derek, I was wondering if you've got any A4 sized posters of the large green strimmer poster as I could laminate loads and stick them to telegraph poles.  If you have, could I have some please (even to photocopy myself) as the others are too big to laminate.  I'll send you the postage, etc., as I know it can be expensive to post stuff these days. Another project in mind for half term!

As I type this, all I can think of is the image of your beautiful little hoggie with the strimmed nose and wonder why the hell anyone would want to use a tool that could inflict that sort of damage on any living creature - its beyond me.

You're an inspiration Derek.
Ali x

[Derek]

Ali

I will sort you out some A4 posters & get them sent to you either tomorrow or Monday

[Mouse]

Thank you Derek xxx

[Mouse]

Today I've sent letters to all the companies on the list.  IF I get any replies I'll scan them and put them on here.

Thank you for the posters Derek, they arrived yesterday.

Ali x

[Mouse]

I've had a reply from Draper tools today.  They said they have recently had a letter from Epping Forest Hedgehog Rescue    highlighting the impact of strimmers on wildlife and have changed their documentation (same as yours really Derek).

It has to start somewhere and Draper are large enough to make a difference, even if it only encourages their rivals to jump on the band wagon and add warnings to their tools.

Ali x

[Mouse]

...and an acknowledgement from Wickes today!

[Derek]

At least they are replying:

I wrote to various groups also for help

RSPB have replied & they are doing what they can ( sounds hopeful)

[Derek]

Husqvana who sell Flymo & Mcculloch so one of the really major sellers are not quite so good and worried it will spoil their sales
But will be putting something in their documentation


As they suggest in their letter we need to write to The Flymo Project Manager, Mr Peter Roughhead so everybody needs to do that as well please


All attached

[Sarah_and_Mart]

just a thought - would it be worthwhile setting up adverts on the website as links to the companies that have responded favourably, and negative ads for those who won't (perhaps their logo with a big red cross through it); or a whole new page titled "Hedgehog friendly companies" and "non-Hedgehog friendly companies" to both reward those who are taking action and perhaps motivate those who aren't

[Derek]

I don't think we can recommend or advertise any brand of strimmer or power tool

So far NONE have said they will put any warnings on the tool itself and only a few have replied saying they will put something in the instruction booklet

To my way of thinking Anything in the instruction booklet although a step in the right direction is just about completely useless

Yes a user MIGHT when they first get the strimmer out of the box glance through the leaflet and if you are very very very lucky notice the small print on page 4 saying be careful

However after first use the instructions get thrown away or lost  & unless something is staring them in the face every time they get a strimmer out, then they don't remember or think about the animals that might be hiding in the grass
 

[Sarah_and_Mart]

I was referring to the companies main logo, not adverts for strimmers or any product

I thought it might be a source of motivation for some companies, if you see a webpage like this:

Companies who put a large prominent stickers)/label(s) on their strimmers/mowers
X
Y
Z (along with their company logo and a link to the company homepage)
"Will YOU be the first company on this list ?)
"Many thanks to these companies for helping to show they care about preventing harm to wildlife (etc.)

Companies who mention the dangers in the instruction booklet
J
K
L (logo but no link)
Thankyou to these companies, but please please consider using large prominent stickers on the tools (etc etc)

Companies who won't respond or even bother to talk about it
A
B
C (logo with a big red cross through it, no link or a link to the strimmer campaign)
These companies cannot even be bothered to respond to concerns about alerting users to the dangers(etc).  Would you buy your power tools from them ?

especially if it was made all big and bold and publicised

[Derek]

That is worth looking into & see if we can do something

good idea Sarah /Martin

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