Community environment group takes on new helpers to lead work parties.
The Heart of England Forest is celebrating National Volunteer’s Week by welcoming four new Volunteer Leaders to its growing team. Despite the pandemic putting volunteering opportunities on hold for five months during 2020, the team were still able to dedicate a total of 2,343 hours to help maintain the Forest and are set to branch out with more activity in the coming months.
Bringing a combined fifteen years’ worth of experience to the roles, the four new Volunteer Leaders will help to lead and direct volunteer work parties across the Forest. From tree planting, wildlife surveying and assisting with education, they will play an important part in creating and managing the long-term future and growth of the Forest throughout 2021 and beyond.
Commenting on the new appointments, Volunteer Manager, Jonathan Saunders, says: “With lockdown restrictions suspending our practical volunteering activities last year, we were able to use this time to re-think, develop and futureproof our 
“As regular Forest volunteers already, we were extremely impressed with the enthusiasm, skill, and knowledge that they each demonstrated throughout the application process and are confident that they will continue to flourish within their new roles.”
As well as celebrating four new appointments within the team, the charity is running an extensive activity programme to mark Volunteers’ Week 2021 (June 1st–7th). Aiming to commemorate the tireless work carried out by the charity’s team of over 100 volunteers, the events planned range from taster sessions for budding recruits to forestry activities and practical botanical surveys.
“We are so grateful to all of our generous volunteers for the time and effort they dedicate to working with us – especially after coming through the unique challenges we’ve all faced during the pandemic – and are delighted to be marking National Volunteer Week with these four new appointments!
“Recruiting these roles is part of our Green Recovery Challenge Fund project, and we will also be shortly looking to recruit and train a further two Volunteer Leaders, to continue to scale the scope and potential of our volunteer programme. These important positions will allow us to have dedicated groups of volunteers out working across the entire Forest, enabling us to achieve even more progress with our plans for future growth,” added Jonathan.
Situated in the heart of South Warwickshire, the Heart of England Forest is an ambitious charity, with a vision to create and conserve a 30,000 acre Forest for the benefit of the environment, people and wildlife. The Forest itself covers a mosaic of habitats across 7,000 acres of land in Warwickshire and Worcestershire, including 4,000 acres of new woodland and 600 acres of mature and ancient woodland: to date, the charity has planted nearly 1.9 million trees.
To learn more about The Heart of England Forest, visit its website.