Join us for the Teen Volunteer Session to make friends and give back to the community in person!

We’re really pleased to have secured funding from Derbyshire County Council’s Amber Valley Health & Wellbeing Partnership Fund to run a 3-hour volunteer woodland management session for young people aged 12+.

These sessions are for teenagers who’d like to get hands-on in the woods, learning practical skills while helping care for Shining Cliff woods, a beautiful ancient woodland. Activities may include:

🍃 thinning holly

🌱 removing rhododendron

🪵 coppicing hazel

🌳 thinning saplings

🥾 maintaining footpaths and ditches

🌱working on projects in the new Grith Pioneer fields adjoining the woodland

The sessions often include a chance to try simple bushcraft skills such as whittling, fire lighting and campfire cooking🔥🥘

These sessions are led by Kate, an experienced outdoor practitioner with a strong background in both conservation and wellbeing work.

Kate is a Forest School Leader and regularly runs fortnightly woodland management activities through the long-established Fettle, Kettle and Cake volunteer group. She has extensive experience supporting people of all ages to work safely and confidently in woodland settings.

Sessions will be small and supportive, with up to 10 participants, as they are run solo by Kate, allowing plenty of individual attention and clear supervision. On some dates there may also be a volunteer helper supporting the group.

The emphasis throughout is on safe tool use, teamwork, learning practical skills, and enjoying time outdoors, with plenty of space for young people to grow in confidence at their own pace.

The session will be based in Shining Cliff woods, but the location varies, so an email is sent out the week of the session to let you know where the drop-off and pick-up location will be, along with a description of the task we will be doing.

Description supplied by the event organiser.