Forest of Bradford developed from the BEAT Woodlands Group, which began in 1995, with a group of volunteers who wanted to create a greener Bradford District. Volunteers were and still are, very much the roots of the Forest of Bradford project. We regularly host placement students and volunteers and organise Carbon + Team Building Days for organisations such as Abbey National, Pace, Yorkshire Water, HMRC and Bradford Council .
We provide our volunteers with opportunities to gain valuable practical experience, develop their skills and broaden their employment opportunities. We have supported many students through their NVQ I & II in Environmental Conservation. We have also provided undergraduate and postgraduate placements to students from local Universities. We are proud that seven of our long-term volunteers have gone on to secure paid employment in the environment sector.
There are opportunites available for all ages and abilities.
Ancient Woodland Researcher
Thanks to an award from the Heritage Lottery Fund we have the exciting opportunity to survey the district for rare ancient woodland sites. We need help from people to search archive records for old maps and any references to these special woodlands, that will give a clue to their age. No experience is necessary, just the enthusiasm and time to help us with this valuable and ground breaking project. Find out more about the project.
Other Volunteering Opportunities (Wednesdays all year / Saturdays from November to March)
We have regular opportunities to volunteer on Wednesdays thoughout the year and Saturdays throughout Winter. Saturdays are always focused on tree planting. Click here for Saturday planting dates where you're welcome to come along and help us reach our target of planting 1 million trees. On Wednesdays a variety of tasks are undertaken including dry stone walling, fencing, coppicing, hedge laying, footpath construction, bird & bat box building and wildlife survey techniques.
Office Based Roles
There are various opportunities for office based work to support the project such as
Marketing and promotion
We, like other charities do excellent, valuable work in the community and you could help us let more people know about it and raise our profile. You could help us by:
Fundraising
We have to fundraise for all of our activities, we do this by applying to grant making trusts, obtaining corporate sponsorship and donations, offering advice and services and getting donations from the public. Here are some ways you could raise money for us
Project development
As a project we want to raise the profile of the importance of trees and woodland in Bradford District. This may be by developing new projects that benefit our biodiversity, help reduce the effects of flooding or promote the health benefits of trees in terms of filtering airbourne pollutants, providing shade from UV rays and promoting general well being through the promotion of a green, tranquil environment.
If you have the time, skills and commitment then we'd like to hear from you.
Volunteer from home
If you would like to help from your own home, why not create a small nursery to supply us with trees? This helps us to reduce the amount we spend on trees, enabling us to plant even more! If you'd like to help us grow trees but don't know how, then we can provide you with the know-how.
Your contribution could be two or three oak seedlings in containers or, you could grow several hundred native trees every year as does one of our most enthusiastic supporters, Joan Milligan of Shipley. Thanks Joan!
If you are interested in helping out in any of these roles please contact Ian Butterfield on 01274 253440.