The Trust seeks business support to help make the VisitWoods website a reality.
The first ever interactive, searchable online database of over 24,000 publicly accessible woods across the UK is to be created by the Woodland Trust.
During the summer the Trust took a giant step forward when the project secured grant funding of £1.2 million awarded by Natural England through ‘Access to Nature’ - funded by 25 million from the Big Lottery Fund’s Changing Spaces programme.
This funding has enabled the Trust to recruit a specialist team which has been tasked with creating the ground-breaking website by autumn 2010.
However, the Trust is still seeking sponsorship from companies, who would be able to promote their support for the information service, which will benefit communities throughout the UK.
Dave Bloor, from the Woodland Trust’s corporate partnerships team, said: “VisitWoods is an incredible opportunity for companies to get involved with because it will revolutionise the way people choose their days out.
“Our aim is to excite a whole new audience with the possibilities of woodland. Once we have attracted your interest through our wide reaching communications campaign, by simply typing a post code into the site, the VisitWoods website will find all of the woods near to you and inspire you with a wealth of ideas.
“The Trust’s aim is for VisitWoods to become a vital public service and we would like companies to share the publicity benefits of being involved in the Trust’s largest ever communication campaign.”
VisitWoods will work with at least 20 partner organisations representing young people, older people and people with disabilities to bring woods to new audiences, including working particularly with Action for Children and Walking the Way to Health Initiative.
As part of a five year campaign, the VisitWoods website will provide local information, searchable maps, inspiring ideas, free downloadable resources, comments and pictures provided by wood visitors plus direct links to thousands of woodland websites.
The Trust calculates that over 33 million people in the UK live within 4km of a large wood that welcomes visitors. Many of those who would most benefit from a trip to the woods, especially children, older people and people with disabilities, are amongst those least likely to be aware of this amazing natural resource and how to access it.
By creating innovative new partnerships and understanding the barriers potential visitors face, VisitWoods aims to help give people the inspiration, information and confidence they need to get out and get visiting, explained project director Jill Attenborough
"We are passionate about getting more people out into the woods," she said. "We believe it creates a relationship with the natural world that is crucial to our wellbeing and the wellbeing of the planet."
"We know that, once in a wood, people make a strong emotional connection and find what they need, whether it’s play or adventure, rest and tranquillity, an inspiration for new hobbies, exercise or simply contact with nature."
"It has now been widely identified and enshrined in Government policy that everyone should have the opportunity to access the natural environment. It’s official, woods and green spaces are good for you."
VisitWoods will also recruit and train a network of volunteers to generate inspiring new content on woods throughout the UK and provide peer-to-peer online support for new visitors.
Designed to create new relationships with local woods that will last well beyond the project lifespan, VisitWoods contributes directly to Government strategies on obesity, physical activity, play, digital inclusion and access to nature
Notes to editors
For media enquiries contact:
The Woodland Trust Press Office on 01476 581121, email: media@woodlandtrust.org.uk
The Woodland Trust:
The Woodland Trust is the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity. It has 300,000 members and supporters. The Trust has four key aims: i) No further loss of ancient woodland; ii) Restoring and improving the biodiversity of woods; iii) Increasing new native woodland; iv) Increasing people’s understanding and enjoyment of woodland.
Established in 1972, the Woodland Trust now has over 1,000 sites in its care covering approximately 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres). Access to its sites is free.
1. These new grants bring the total of flagship projects for the Changing Spaces programme to three with funding previously being awarded to:
Mosaic, a project that will be run by the Campaign for National Parks to develop Community Champions within black and minority ethnic groups in 20 cities as currently people from these groups make far fewer visits to National Parks than any other groups in society, and:
Let Nature Feed Your Senses, a new partnership between LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming) and the Sensory Trust that will develop greater understanding of the relationship between nature, farming, food and our everyday lives.
2. Access to Nature is run by Natural England and is part of the The Big Lottery Fund’s Changing Spaces programme launched in November 2005 to help communities enjoy and improve their local environments.
3. It manages this £25 million Lottery-funded programme on behalf of a consortium of twelve national environmental organisations comprising BTCV, British Waterways, Environment Agency, Forestry Commission, Greenspace, Groundwork UK, Land Restoration Trust, The National Trust, Natural England, RSPB, the Wildlife Trusts and the Woodland Trust.
4. Through this programme, it is Natural England’s ambition to create opportunities for people from all backgrounds to have greater access to our natural environment and bring a lasting change to their awareness and understanding as well as improved links to the natural world, which many of us can take for granted.
5. For further information about Access to Nature visit www.naturalengland.org.uk/accesstonature
6. For further information about the Big Lottery Fund, its programmes and awards visit www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
For further media information contact the Natural England press office on 0845 603 9953, out of hours 07970 098005.