At the turn of the new Millennium in 2000, England, Wales and Northern Ireland were greener, leafier places thanks to the Woodland Trust and Millennium Commission's Woods on your Doorstep project (WoyD).
Through Woods on your Doorstep, 250 new woods were planted in partnership with local communities to commemorate the Millennium. The project remains one of the Trust's most ambitious woodland creation initiatives - an incredible 3 million trees were planted on approximately 3,000 hectares, creating 200 woods in England and Wales, and 50 in Northern Ireland. The total project cost was £20 million.
Local communities were very much at the heart of the project. Based on a successful community woodland creation scheme trialled in Cambridgeshire, each new WoyD wood was planted close to where people live. Local people worked closely with the Woodland Trust and other partners to identify the location, design the site, fundraise and plant the trees, as well as choosing the wood name and a special millennium feature. Over 260,000 people were directly involved in the project, alongside hundreds of partner organisations and supporters.
Woods on your Doorstep wouldn't have been possible without the generous support of the Millennium Commission, the Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts, The Landfill Communities Fund, the Forestry Commission and other funders such as the Northern Ireland Housing Executive and the European Regional Development Fund, alongside many, many others. We thank everyone who took part in the project (companies, partners and individuals) who all helped make Woods on your Doorstep such a lasting success.
Celebrating 10 years of Woods on your Doorstep!
In August 2010, the Woodland Trust is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the project, with local community events happening at woods across the UK.
In just 10 years the small saplings planted by community groups have flourished into thriving young woodland, teeming with wildlife.
We are inviting people to celebrate Woods on your Doorstep by sharing their memories, stories and photographs, and appreciating their local wood today.
To find out how you can get involved in the 10th anniversary this summer, please visit our celebrate pages (www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/celebrate)
To find a Woods on your Doorstep wood near you to see what can be achieved in just 10 years, visit our map.