All in a day's work...
No two days are the same for me at Westonbirt, & I have to say that the great variety of my role is something that I do enjoy.
On the 14th February 2014, yes Valentine’s Day, I was asked to attend a seminar at nearby Highgrove as one of the facilitators, the event was entitled ‘The Future of Learning and Development in the English Woodland Sector’.
It was impressive to see lots of influential people were there from across the woodland & forestry industries, his Royal Highness The Prince of Wales was also in attendance. Firstly, we heard some very interesting presentations on the subject of England’s Working Woodlands, including ‘An Historic Overview’ from Oliver Rackham OBE, the well known academic; ‘The Present Situation’ from Graham Taylor, who is the Managing Director of Pryor & Rickett Silviculture; & ‘Future Opportunities’ from Dr Peter Bonfield OBE, who is the Chief Executive of the BRE Group.
We then heard about Coppice Apprenticeships from Rebecca Oaks of the National Coppice Federation, as well as stories from some amazing young people that have successfully entered the profession through The Woodland Heritage ‘Woodland to Workshop’ course, The Prince’s Trust ‘Get Into Woodlands’ programme & Forestry Apprenticeships. His Royal Highness also presented the Prince of Wales Award to Nina Williams from the South Downs National Park Authority, who is working hard to promote all sorts of woodland skills opportunities as a career choice.
After lunch there was a workshop whereby each table held discussions answering pre-set questions based on the theme of the day, when we were all asked specifically what more our individual organisations can do to promote learning & skills development in the woodland & forestry sectors. A great deal of knowledgeable debate followed & lots of valuable ideas were put forward, it is now the job of colleagues at the Forestry Commission England national office based in Bristol to collate these suggestions & importantly work out the next steps.
