The Woodland Trust: Young People’s Forest
Putting young people at the heart of woodland creation and conservation
‘Support from Pears and partners has been a game-changer for the Woodland Trust. It has enabled us to create the first Young People’s Forest and given us a springboard, enabling and inspiring us to work more with younger people. I’m proud to say youth and younger people are increasingly present at all levels and in all parts of the Woodland Trust. The Pears Team have been there at every step of the way, supporting us through both opportunities and challenges. Together we are changing lives along with the landscape, building legacies that help shore up the future for nature and people.’Dr Darren Moorcroft, CEO, The Woodland Trust
“It’s been a real privilege to work with the team at the Woodland Trust over the last six years, supporting their youth engagement work from the initial acquisition and creation of the Young People’s Forest, to now embedding young people at the centre of their work and organisational culture. They are a great example of how leadership, partnerships and organisational commitment can make existing social action opportunities and assets more inclusive and accessible.”Bridget Kohner, Deputy Director
Pears Foundation
Partner since: 2018
Core funding: Youth and schools work
Project funding: Creation of the Young People’s Forest
Invested: £2.6million
Young people consistently show a strong desire to take action on environmental issues. Pears Foundation supports opportunities that enable them to turn that concern into meaningful action, developing skills and confidence while making a practical contribution to their communities and the environment.
Our partnership with the Woodland Trust began in 2018 through the Pears #iwill Fund, when a former open-cast mining site near Heanor in Derbyshire became available. Together, we saw an opportunity to do something different: create the UK’s first Young People’s Forest, with young people involved not simply as volunteers but in shaping the woodland from the outset.
The Young People’s Forest at Mead has transformed 400 acres of former mining land into a new woodland for young people and the wider community. Children and young people have helped plant 250,000 trees and continue to take part in practical conservation, volunteering and decisions about how the site develops.
The impact of the partnership has extended beyond the forest itself. The Woodland Trust credits the successful development of the Young People’s Forest with helping stimulate a wider focus on engaging young people across the organisation. Building on the learning from this project, it established a dedicated youth engagement team and has continued to create new ways for young people to contribute to its work.
Pears Foundation has continued to support this development through core funding for the Woodland Trust’s wider youth and schools work. Today, young people are involved across the organisation through volunteering, education and conservation, while its Youth Council gives young people a voice in shaping the Trust’s work.
Our partnership with the Woodland Trust shows how a single project can become a catalyst for wider organisational change. What began with giving young people genuine responsibility for creating a forest has developed into a broader commitment to ensuring they have opportunities to contribute to the future of woods and trees across the UK.