Scout About
Since February, Westonbirt has been running a joint programme with the lovely young people from 1st Dursley Scouts. Over the five sessions, they worked towards their Forester and Naturalist badges, as well as our very own Westonbirt Award. They really got to know Silk Wood well by taking part in tree planting and aftercare sessions with the Silk Wood Community Planting Project (SWCPP), spending a day coppicing and creating deer protection fences at the Community Shelter, enjoying a scavenger hunt and Kelly kettle fire lighting challenge, as well as learning to identify British native trees and completing the Biodiversity Trail.
A few Saturdays ago we held an ‘end of programme’ celebration event and award ceremony. The young people invited their parents/carers and siblings to share what they have been doing over the programme and their achievements.
After a look around the Community Shelter and refreshments, SWCPP Project Manager Oscar Adams welcomed everyone and talked about the work we do here at the Arboretum. For their Naturalist badge, each young person had chosen a woodland organism to study and took turns to present their findings to the audience. Then, the District Scout Leads awarded each scout, Westonbirt volunteer and staff members with their Forester and Naturalist badges. Finally, Oscar and the pack leader presented the scouts with their Westonbirt Award certificate.
Following the award ceremony, Oscar led a guided walk to the Community Woodland so that the scouts’ families could see the trees they had planted and tended. Meanwhile, our Community Programme volunteers prepared a delicious BBQ lunch. After lunch, the young people showed their parent/carers the coppicing area by the Community Shelter. It was a joy to hear them explaining what coppicing, layering and the deer protection fences are all about, as well as the benefits of coppicing for wildlife and what the wood is used for!
At the end of the event, we asked the young people for some feedback, and here are just some of the great responses:
What did you enjoy about coming to Westonbirt?
“I really enjoyed the tree planting and the cool things that we did.”
“Using wheelbarrows [to transport mulch] and learning about animals and plants.”
“I enjoyed coppicing.”
“Planting trees and being outside.”
“I enjoyed learning about the woodland animals.”
Did you learn anything new during your time at Westonbirt?
“I learnt how to plant trees.”
“The bark you put around trees is called mulch.”
“I learnt how to plant trees and about coppicing.”
“Different types of leaves”
“What a compost toilet is!”
“Coppicing and how to make deer fences.”
“Exploring woodland is really fun.”
“I learned coppicing and really enjoyed shouting “timber!”.
We also asked participants how coming to Westonbirt had impacted their health and wellbeing:
- All 14 scouts said that the programme had a positive impact on their ‘Connection with outdoors/nature’
- 12 said that the sessions had positively impacted their ‘overall happiness and wellbeing”, and
- 10 said the programme had positively impacted their ‘level of physical and mental activity’.
We also had some lovely feedback from the parents/carers:
“I really appreciate the effort from all the volunteers and staff who clearly put a lot of effort and passion into running such a special set of sessions. We are so lucky to have such a wonderful place near us. Thank you!”
“He’s been so motivated/enthusiastic about attending sessions – I might be able to persuade him to spend more time outdoors and doing these activities with the family.”
“The event was really fun and appreciated hearing about what the scouts got up to while they were at Westonbirt. Really good to see the future is being looked after with consideration of the species of trees and plants that will prosper in the future.”
“They have loved this opportunity and has attended all the sessions. And today has been great – I’m so pleased to see what they have been working on. It’s lovely to feel an extra connection now to Westonbirt and work done here. THANK YOU!!”
Many thanks to all of the 1st Dursley Scouts and their leaders for all their hard work and enthusiasm - you should all wear your new badges with pride!
