Schools had cake sales and staged protests, supporters did sponsored bike rides and walks, musicians held fundraising concerts, and a theatre group wove the story into a performance piece. Children even sent in their pocket money.
And on Friday, they saw the results when the residents of Brockley, south-east London, proudly announced they had won a race against time to raise the £100,000 to buy Gorne Wood, the closest surviving patch of ancient woodland to the City of London, from developers.
