Last week eighty forest educators came together at Bishops Wood Centre to increase their skills and knowledge in forestry at a conference run by England’s Forest Education Network (FEN). Sylva Foundation played a key role in developing the forestry theme of the conference and helping deliver the conference in its role as one of six national organisations on the FEN steering group.
We have welcomed in the New Year in the best way possible: inviting hundreds of young people to plant trees in the Future Forest.
Hundreds of schoolchildren are poised to visit the Future Forest to help plant trees. Luckily they will be assisted by the Sylva Tree Team.
Start-Up is our new flexible hot-benching system at the Sylva Wood Centre, aimed at people of all ages who would like to try their hand at setting up a wood business without the burden of taking on a long-term lease. Users can also gain access to a shared machinery workshop which means they don’t have to spend large amounts of capital to get started.
An innovative week-long programme of outdoor and indoor education about trees, forestry and wood — Wood Week — was developed and tested with one lucky primary school. Sylva Foundation’s Education Manager Jen Hurst teamed up with Forester Paul Williams, Carpenter Julian Angus and staff at Combe Church of England Primary School to provide children with a…
We were lucky to have the support of children from one of the primary schools taking part in planting the Future Forest. Seven children from Willowcroft Community School came to see the bare arable field, where they will return after Christmas and help plant 7,500 trees.
Sylva Foundation calls for votes to bag a share of £12.5million carrier bag charge fund. The charity is bidding to bag a massive cash boost from the Tesco Bags of Help initiative. The Big Future Forest Plot Project will see over 300 children from 10 primary schools local to the Sylva Wood Centre in Long Wittenham choose and plant trees on 10 plots this winter. As the Future Forest grows schools will be offered the opportunity to use it to Forest School sessions and children and their families can visit ‘their’ school plot to see its progress and enjoy the new green space.
We are pleased to offer two half-day workshops in the autumn, designed for Forest School Leaders and any educators interested in learning new skills with wood.
Explore our new education resource on the TIMBER! website. It offers teachers and educators inspiring resources about British trees, forests and timber. Many of the resources have been developed from the Sylva OneOak project, with new materials provided by environmental educators across Britain. It’s also a platform for anyone to upload their resources. www.sylva.org.uk/timber
We are delighted to welcome our latest tenant to the Sylva Wood Centre, particularly as it heralds a new level of collaboration with a local further education college.