How is the Trust structured?
The Woodland Trust is governed by a Board (made up of its trustees). However, the trustees delegate the day to day running of the organisation to the Trust’s employees made up of:
The management team
The management team is responsible for the day to day running of the Trust. It consists of the chief executive, director of corporate services, policy director, woodland operations director, fundraising director, director of supporter marketing and director of communications and engagement.
Woodland operations
Operations, which manages our estate, is split into: Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Northern England and Southern England.
The department also incorporates the land and property team, which includes the legal team, and provides advice on property, legal and rural estate management matters. Their work includes acquisitions of land, resolution of legal issues and the management of the Trust’s non-wooded estate, in particular, through grazing.
Public affairs
This department leads on the Trust’s conservation policy and campaigning activity. As well as political lobbying of elected representatives and civil servants across the UK, they provide advice and work on detailed policy issues like agriculture, planning, biodiversity and forestry policy.
They also run high profile campaigns on issues like climate change, aviation and woods under threat and key projects, such as restoration of ancient woodland sites planted with non-native conifers, and the Northern Ireland ancient woodland inventory – Back on the Map.
Communications and engagement
This department raises awareness of our cause by increasing the number of individuals who engage with the Woodland Trust overall. It includes public relations, electronic communications like the website and e-newsletters, the photo library, the volunteer photographers’ scheme, the design and print team which produces publications such as Broadleaf, the voluntary speakers’ scheme, and learning which covers projects such as Nature’s Calendar (Phenology) and Nature Detectives.
Plus, there’s all the other major public participation projects, like Tree For All, the Ancient Tree Hunt, and the Community Woodland Network. The volunteers’ team are also part of communications and engagement, reflecting this team’s focus on enabling many people to help us achieve our aims.
Supporter marketing
This department nurtures the relationships with over 300,000 members and supporters as well as increasing their numbers overall. It is responsible for around 60 per cent of the Trust’s annual income. It oversees direct marketing, supporter services, legacies and woodland dedication services.
Fundraising
This department also generates much of the income that we need to achieve our aims, helping to raise awareness along the way. The money is raised by developing relationships with companies, charitable trust’s and grant-giving bodies, major donors and regional fundraising sources.
Corporate services
This department keeps things running smoothly behind the scenes. It includes human resources and facilities, information systems and finance. Human resources and facilities are responsible for supporting all of the Trust’s staff. Roles include recruitment, staff welfare, training and health and safety. Information systems manage all the in-house IT systems. Within the department, the Geographical Information Systems team provides a service to other parts of the organisation by producing maps and other ‘spatial’ data. Finance manages all the systems which keep money controlled and secure and help staff to make effective financial decisions.
For more information about the Woodland Trust's activities please see our Annual Review.