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Tir Coed Newsletter Feb- Apr 2012
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Spring 2012 February —April 2012
Green Fair Wildlife & Countryside
Extravaganza
at Teifi Marshes
Bank Holiday Monday 4th June 2012
Green woodcrafts Land art
Make your own ‘pizza Wildlife discovery
See inside for details
A Royal Presentation
As a follow-on from the reception in Llandovery with His Royal
Highness The Prince of Wales last Spring, Tir Coed Development
Officer, Gwyneth Davies, took Tutor, Bob Shaw, and four of the
young people to meet The Prince and present a gate to His Royal
Highness. The Prince was delighted with the bespoke gate, de-
signed specially for his Welsh home at Llwynywermod and incor-
porating the Prince of Wales feather emblem. The Prince spent
some time talking with both Gwyneth and the young people and
was particularly pleased to talk with Anna Thomas, who designed
the gate.
HRH was interested to learn that Tir Coed is in the process of set-
ting up WiseWoods Wales, a social enterprise with funding se-
cured from Environment Wales for a full time Manager post. The
enterprise will aim to offer progression to those young people who
have completed the training but have yet to find employment, ena-
bling them to continue to develop their new found skills. Thanks
go to The Cambrian Mountains Trust for supporting Tir Coed in
forging a link with His Royal Highness’ Estate in Wales.
Newsletter
WICKED Branching Out / Egin
New! Branching Out
at Pengelli Forest, near Eglwyswrw,
(6 miles from Cardigan)
Starting with taster sessions on 12th June
Contact Becky on (01570) 493224 or
becky@tircoed.org.uk
Inside this Newsletter:
• Communities And Nature
• Engagement Gateway
• Engagement Gateway Powys
• Monitoring and Evaluation
• Accreditation
• Green Fair
• More Branching Out/Egin News
• Other News
Accreditation Agored Cymru (OCN) Unit Level Total
Achieved
Woodcraft - Work & Finish a Simple Design in Wood
2 4
Construction of a basic Wooden Shelter
2 3
Communities And Nature
Teifi Marshes, Cilgerran - July 2011 to April 2012
The final session for the 4 volunteers at Teifi Marshes was held at the beginning of April. The group
have completed 6 bespoke picnic benches, all individually fashioned from oak from the nearby
Pengelli Reserve. They spent a wet & wild day taking the dismantled sections of the picnic benches
from their work base (the old school house), to the field above the Welsh Wildlife Centre, where they
re-assembled them. These beautiful benches serve not only as a functional addition to the reserve,
but also as an impressive example of traditional woodcraft for the numerous visitors to the Centre.
Over the 9 month duration of this programme, the volunteers have bonded well, and the close-knit
group were sad that the project had come to an end.
However, one of the group, Gary Phillips, will be joining
the new Pengelli group in June as a voluntary Support
Assistant. All of the regular volunteers from this pro-
gramme and the Teifi Marshes programme that ran last
year will be coming together to act as Support Assistants
at the Green Fair in June that has been planned to cele-
brate their achievements, see page 10 for more details.
Lead: Jamie Miller Support: Steve Parkin Tasters: 4 Sessions: 32 No. volunteer days: 158 No. volunteer hours: 948 Total no. volunteers 11 No. current volunteers: 4
Progression Training
Signed up to Furniture Making course 1
Signed up to an Animal Care course 1
Volunteering
CAN Pengelli project 1
Llandysul Paddlers 1
Communities And Nature
Ffrwd Farm Mire, Pembrey February 2012
A group of 10 young
people, all aged 16 -
19 years, spent 9 days
during February mak-
ing a boardwalk,
benches and new en-
trance fencing for this
beautiful Nature Re-
serve, just north of
Pembrey. The young
people, who were part
of a Prince’s Trust
Team Programme,
worked hard to complete all of the works within the time
allocated.
During the programme, a visit was made by a group of
Countryside Skills students from Coleg Sir Gar, who
were impressed by the work the group were undertak-
ing.
A series of Primary school visits took place in April to
promote both the Reserve and the new facilitates to lo-
cal school children; see page 11 for more details.
Agored Cymru (OCN) certificates will be presented to
the participants in May at their final Prince’s Trust Team
Presentation ceremony.
Lead: Andy Robert Support: Nigel Little Sessions: 9 No. volunteer days: 54 No. volunteer hours: 324 Total no. volunteers 10
Progression Employment
Have positions with local retailers once their PT programme is completed
2
Accreditation Level Total
Construct Ancillary Structures to Access Routes
2
5
Communities And Nature
Poor Man’s Wood, Llandovery - April to September 2012
4 young people took part in taster sessions; the group made their
own stick chairs as an initiation into the new volunteer programme at
Poor Man’s Wood. With the kind permission of Carmarthenshire
County Council, the chair-making was held in Llandovery market
square, in the centre of the town, and was very well received by local people and shop-owners; even
the Town Crier came out to announce the start of the programme.
Early bluebells welcomed the group into the stunning Poor Man’s Wood Nature Reserve, which is hid-
den away just outside Llandovery. One outcome of the Tir Coed CAN project is increased interest in
the Reserve, which, thanks to the publicity created by the project, is being discovered by local people
who never even knew of it’s existence. This enthusiastic new volunteer group, which has since ex-
panded to 6, will be making a kissing gate, entrance archway, bridges, entrance signs and benches for
the Reserve; they have already made progress with the benches and archway. All of the volunteers
will be undertaking the level 2 Agored Cymru (OCN) unit ‘Construct Ancillary Structures to Access
Routes’.
One of the young people, who has previous experience as a wood-
land manager and spoon-carver, has applied for a voluntary posi-
tion with the National Trust in Brecon.
Feedback “It is wonderful to see the town hall being used especially in encouraging our youth to learner traditional rural skills.” Fiona Walker, Chair of Llandovery Chamber of Commerce
Lead: Jamie Miller Support: Ray Miller Tasters: 4 Sessions: 3 No. volunteer days: 29.5 No. volunteer hours: 177 Total no. volunteers 6 No. current volunteers: 6
Engagement Gateway
Coed Tyllwyd, North Ceredigion - February to April 2012
A new group started work at Coed Tyllwyd in
Mid-February. The group have:
• Coppiced a small area of the woodland using hand tools;
• Carried out maintenance work on footpaths in the woods;
• Cleared areas of bramble; and • Learnt how to make craft items and gates from wood.
One volunteer left the course at an early
stage to work in a canteen, another has
dropped out during the course. Two of the
current volunteers will have progressed to
employment before completing their Agored
Cymru accreditation.
In April, the group took a stall to Aberystwyth
Plant Fair of the items that they had made. It
was a great learning experience for all in-
volved. Although there was much interest in the craft items, the best selling products were the
garden gates and charcoal (i.e. the more practical/
useful items). The stall was very useful in raising
awareness of Tir Coed’s work at Coed Tyllwyd.
Lead: Bob Shaw Support: Rob Smith & Ffion Farnell Tasters: 4 Sessions: 17 No. volunteer days: 89 No. volunteer hours: 637 Total no. volunteers 8 No. current volunteers: 6
Progression Employment
Further Learning
Prince’s Trust Team Programme 1
Volunteering at Coed Tyllwyd 3
Managing a caravan site English Teacher Abroad
1 1
Volunteering
Accreditation
Level Total
Coppice Products
2
In Progress
Engagement Gateway
Green Castle Woods, Carmarthen - February to April 2012
This project is delivered on a Woodland Trust site, near
Carmarthen.
Although 7 young people were originally referred to the
project, 3 of these have not attended any of the sessions, while the attendance of others has
been very sporadic. Consequently, it has been very difficult to develop any sense of team work
to date. However, 3 new participants have joined the group recently, with a further 2 new referrals
due to join in May.
The group are working towards the
Level 1 Agored Cymru unit
“Construct / Install Ancillary Struc-
tures”. As part of this unit 2 different
types of structure have to be built.
The first chosen structures to be con-
structed are these very unusual, large
tree guards to protect recently planted
trees.
During May a mobile sawmill will be brought in to convert a
Douglas Fir tree, which has been felled on the Woodland Trust
site, into planks to make benches for an outdoor education
area that is being developed on the site.
This group is due to continue until the end of May.
A report on the development and progression of group mem-
bers will be included in the next Newsletter.
Lead: Ben Watson Support: Louise Ellar No of taster sessions: 4 Sessions: 5 No. volunteer days: 26 No. volunteer hours: 190 Total no. volunteers: 7 No. current volunteers: 4
Accreditation
Level Total
Construct / Install Ancillary Structures 1 In progress
Engagement Gateway Powys
Lead: Colin Titley Support: Carol Thomas Taster sessions: 4 Sessions: 10 No. volunteer days: 14 No. volunteer hours: 613 Total no. volunteers 11 No. current volunteers: 6
Bolbro Woods, Abermule, Newtown - February to April 2012
The weather has been challenging but the young people have braved the sessions.
All the participants are enjoying the experience, are working well and engaging with the project.
We have had good support from a number of
local partnerships, including Careers Wales,
Powys Training, Newtown Probation Office,
Newtown 16+ Team and Newtown Youth Inter-
vention.
In addition to the project days, one young per-
son is now volunteering for Montgomeryshire
Wildlife Trust for one day per week.
One of the young people from the previous Powys Engagement Gateway group has been volun-
teering with Colin Titley (the Tutor) throughout the Winter
and is now supporting the current group as a peer mentor.
It is great to see him give advice and share his experiences
with the young people of this new group. He will be taking
up a place at Newport University in Autumn this year to
study Creative Music—hopefully his woodland experience
will influence his music!
Accreditation
Level Total
Sustainable Woodland Management 2: Introduction to Woodland Management
1 In progress
Construct Ancillary Structures to Access Routes
2 In progress
Monitoring and Evaluation
Positive feedback comments from project participants.
How do you feel this project has helped you?
Do you think you have achieved more than you expected to?
Monitoring Questionnaire
“New skills, friendships and
something to look forward to!”
“Taught me new skills & helped
me with Teamwork.
I’m more confident with what I
can do”
“Inspired me to look at
different opportunities”
“I found out I have
woodwork skills!”
“I thought I lacked the
physical energy to do the
course but I have managed
it - It’s given me confidence”
“Yes, I can use my new skills in job finding”
“Got a better idea of what I want
to do and what I can achieve
but also feel more confident that
I’m accepted for who I am and
learnt new skills along the way”
“It got me out of the house
and kept me busy!”
“Yes, definitely - I can do
things that I never
thought I could do” “Yes, learnt a lot about woodwork
& trees”
“Yes, I was nervous to begin with as
I didn’t know how to use tools &
stuff but now I can”
“Yes, learnt skills to
help me in the future”
“It’s made me realise that I
never wanna do this sort of
work but I’m grateful of the
skills I’ve learnt”
Accreditation
Branching Out / Egin participants who have recently had their volunteer hours recognised for
giving enough time to their projects to achieve 50, 100 and 200 hour Awards are as follows:
50 hours Craig Thomas
100 hours
Miles Ames
David Clark
Ben Morgan
Jet Shimidzu
Damian Ratcliffe
Patrick Robinson
Aaron Simpson
Lyall Spencer
200 hours
Jack Bluett
Gary Phillips
Daniel Massey
Well Done All!
Millennium Volunteers Achievements
Monday 4 June, 11.00 - 4.00
@ The Welsh Wildlife Centre, Cilgerran
Help to celebrate the achievements of the Branching Out volunteers @ Teifi Marshes
Try your hand at Green Woodcrafts Get creative with Land Art
Make your own ‘Ceredigion’ pizza Discover more about the wildlife on the Reserve
Activities range from free - £5
GREEN FAIR Wildlife & Countryside Extravaganza
More Branching Out/ Egin News
It was all hands on deck when young people from the Prince’s
Trust hosted 42 children from local Primary Schools at Ffrwd
Farm Mire Nature Reserve, Pembrey, where they have been
working hard to improve facilities as part of their ‘Team Chal-
lenge’. The teenagers spent 3 mornings leading groups of
children on a nature discovery trail before taking a peek at the
contents of small mammal boxes with help from Reserve War-
den, Lizzie Wilberforce.
The Wildlife Trust Reserve, just north of the village of Pem-
brey, has open access but there are no formal footpaths into
the reedbed itself, which, up until now had to be viewed from
public and permissive paths that run along the site’s boundary.
Thanks to the incredibly hard work of Prince’s Trust Team 148,
a new boardwalk has been installed that leads from the public
footpath into an open area of the wetland, where pools, water-filled ditches and fen provide a
home for wetland bird species including reed and sedge warblers, reed bunting, water rail and
also the Cetti’s warbler, with its incredibly powerful and explosive song.
The enthusiastic Prince’s Trust team also made significant improvements to the Reserve en-
trance, where a tatty kissing gate and some broken fencing has now been replaced with beautiful
oak post and rail fencing and the whole area has benefitted from some serious TLC.
Reserve Manager, Lizzie Wilberforce commented: “The way into the reserve now looks much
more welcoming and we hope that lots of people will come
and visit and learn about this nationally important wetland
and really experience the feeling of being immersed in the
reedbed.”
Prince’s Trust Team Leader, Ifor Griffiths, commented: “As a
community project, the building of a fence, benches and the
boardwalk at Ffrwd is certainly the most challenging and en-
joyable project I have been involved with and for the young
people on Team 148 it has raised a huge sense of achieve-
ment and pride. 9 days were allocated for the completion of
the project and the entire project was completed on time. The
Tir Coed trainers had an excellent manner, they were upbeat
and inspirational; their patience and understanding towards
the young people earned them enormous respect from the
group.”
Young People give access to Nature Lovers
More Branching Out/ Egin News
The Support Worker Wood Construction training
course completed with a further 7 sessions run-
ning during February. The course was developed
as a result of demand from Tir Coed Support
Workers for training in wood construction skills, to
aid the transfer of skills to young people.
The timber for the Visitor Shelter was paid for by
the Ty Glyn Davies Trust, a charity which works to
provide holidays for children with special needs.
T h e
visitor shelter at Ty Glyn Davies
Walled Garden in Ciliau Aeron is a
delightful addition to the gardens.
“We are all really pleased with the
new shelter which will be greatly ap-
preciated by all the garden users.
Thank you for making it all possible
and to everyone for making it such an
enjoyable experience.”
Ros Laidlaw, Ty Glyn Davies Trust
Participant Feedback
“I learnt lots – I want to do
more roundwood construction!
A brilliant way to get to know
other Tir Coed workers …
Well worth it, thanks.”
“It (the course) will enable me
to support other people better
having had an experience of
being supported through these
skills myself.”
“It was all great, yet another
fantastic training delivered by
Tir Coed! Thank you.”
Support Worker Training n
Cefnogwyd gan YMDDIRIEDOLAETH MYNYDDOEDD CAMBRIAN Supported by the CAMBRIAN MOUNTAINS TRUST
Other News
Tir Coed’s new social enterprise WiseWoods Wales/Coed Call Cymru - now exists!
It has now been incorporated as a company limited by guarantee and is fully regis-
tered with Companies House.
Mr Andy Bakewell, who currently runs a training company - Environment Skills Training - has been
appointed as the Manager and will be taking up his post very soon. Thanks go to Environment
Wales for their funding towards Andy’s post.
The WCVA is organising a reception at the Norwegian Church in Cardiff Bay on May 9th to cele-
brate projects that have received European funding.
Tir Coed’s Engagement Gateway project has been chosen as one of four projects throughout
Wales to be featured and to deliver a presentation as part of the Reception.
A film crew recently visited the Coed Tyllwyd group to film them at work and to interview some of
the staff and volunteers. The film, which will be shown at the Reception, will be available on the
Tir Coed website very soon.
Ffion Farnell has joined Tir Coed for April and May as part of a Go Wales Graduate Placement.
The Go Wales scheme contributes towards the cost of employing a graduate for a placement of
up to 12 weeks.
Ffion is helping Tir Coed to develop the new VINE Project (Volunteering In the Natural Environ-
ment). Ffion is carrying out consultation with local groups and organisations to evidence the need
and support for woodland sites that can be developed with and for the local community, with an
emphasis on giving local volunteers the practical skills to sustain the work over the long term.
Ffion’s report will be used to determine how best to progress the VINE Project.
The Annual Quality Review which took place in February proved to be an extremely positive &
fruitful dialogue with Agored Cymru. It was a chance to discuss a wide range of relevant issues
relating to the continuing developments of Tir Coed as an accreditation centre. There was a huge
amount of information exchanged and Tir Coed was complimented on it’s systematic pursuit of
improvement to achieve high standards; with internal standardisation format & structure being
highlighted specifically in the final report as ‘Good Practice’.
In April the External Verifier visited one of our Partner organisations to assess progress, systems
and formal agreements as well as viewing samples of learners work from both Partnership groups.
This too was a very successful visit although we still await the final report.
Tir Coed Social Enterprise
Agored Cymru News
Europe Day
Graduate Placement
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