Pioneer Camp will be a space for Pioneers (and their group leaders) to feel part of a bigger movement, meet new friends and take part in fun and adventurous activities in stunning surroundings. For those who haven’t experienced a ‘big’ camp before this will also be a great opportunity for Pioneers and volunteers to have a taste for what village life is like in the build up to Camp 100.  

At the camp we will take part in adventurous activities such as rock climbing, bushcraft activities led by the bushcraft group, wide games, campfires, activities to get us ready for Camp100 and exploring the local area of outstanding natural beauty.

Book your group in now!

We really hope you can join us at Pioneer Camp this summer. We ask that group leaders use the form above to book in for their group. To find out more check out our info pack here.

If you have any questions please get in touch lauren@woodcraft.org.uk. 

The post Pioneer Camp 2024 appeared first on Woodcraft Folk.

We’re fundraising for Adventures for All, to support more children and young people to take part in Woodcraft Folk camps and adventurous activities. During the Christmas Challenge campaign (28th November-5th December), every donation to Adventures for All will be doubled!

bit.ly/AdventuresForAll 

Our goal is to raise £15,000, with the help of our match funder, the Reed Foundation. We’ll be spending it on discounted camp places; volunteer training; residential centre upkeep; and more. We want to do everything we can to reduce financial and geographical barriers to attending Woodcraft Folk camps, so that children and young people with the most to gain can benefit from our adventurous outdoor education. Sometimes that’s as simple as providing access funds to Pioneer Camp, but there are also bigger changes we need to make. We want to reach out to new communities with Camps for All from Scotland to the Way Valley to London; provide residential training for group volunteers in new districts; and improve accessibility and reduce carbon emissions at our centres.

Young people across the UK want more opportunities to have adventures away from home (DCMS Youth Review 2021), and want to do more to look after the environment (Children’s People and Nature Survey for England 2022). Aside from being fun and educational, we know that after accessing outdoor learning experiences, children and young people are better at working together, more confident, and happier (Adventures Away from Home 2023). Since 2020, that’s become all the more important, as we have seen mental health issues rise sharply in children and young people, and for 17-19-year-olds the figures keep rising (NHS Digital 2022). Woodcraft Folk residentials and camps are a brilliant answer to these problems for many young people. Each trip funded by this campaign is an adventure for a child who otherwise would not be able to attend, full of co-operative play, social action, environmental & peace education.

Woodcraft Folk aims to host 30,000 night stays in 2024: by donating this Christmas, you can help more children have the adventure of a lifetime.

Find out more and donate here to give a child a Woodcraft Folk adventure in 2024:

bit.ly/AdventuresForAll

If you’re not able to donate, or if you’d like to help us more, please share this campaign with your friends, family and colleagues. Could your company donate, or are you a member of a trade union? Let them know why this campaign is important to you, and ask them to donate.

If you’re on social media, follow us by clicking the buttons below to keep up to date with the campaign and find posts you can share with your friends:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• LinkedIn
• Twitter

Supporters’ Update

We are holding a special Supporters’ Update on Monday 4th December all about our residential work and how Adventures for All will be helping. You can join the Zoom meeting here:

https://woodcraft.org.uk/events/supporters-update-december/

The post Christmas Challenge: Adventures for All appeared first on Woodcraft Folk.

What to expect

Campers can expect to be split into villages. The campsite has a long gravel track running through the whole site and the villages are based along it. Each village contains roughly 100 people, made up of several districts and groups.

All campers will help with activities such as cooking, cleaning and helping to create a cooperative atmosphere during the event. Each village has a KP who organises food within the village, but the menu is set centrally along with the food pick up. This is picked up every day by a few people from the cooking clan. The villages also need to provide their own first aid lead, safeguarding lead and village coordinator, more information on what each of these people do and how you can get involved will be published closer to camp.

Each afternoon there are activities in the central area which are all free and welcome to all to join. The exact activities which are being run will be announced on camp. Most activities are workshops hosted in tents (called Centres), along with some other activities such as Cinema Tent, and cafes.

The evening program is also hosted centrally, this includes evening/late afternoon workshops and The News, which is hosted in the main marquee.

Head over to the Venturer Camp website to find out more and all the information you need about booking with your group. If you are not part of a Woodcraft Folk group but would like to get involved or participate as a distanced member please get in touch to lauren@woodcraft.org.uk

The post Venturer Camp 2023 appeared first on Woodcraft Folk.

The post Christmas Challenge: Residential Adventures appeared first on Woodcraft Folk.

Play is getting left out of the budget. Between 14th-28th June, donate here to help us give London children co-operative play and outdoor adventures that the cost of living doesn’t allow for. 

Woodcraft Folk aims to help as many children and young people as possible participate in co-operative play and environmental education. Since the pandemic, and particularly in combination with the cost of living crisis, many children and young people have been deprived of opportunities for play and the great outdoors, resulting in a huge rise in the number of children seeking mental health support. 

Over the next year, we want to support and engage those children across London through free Play Out sessions and residential experiences, sharing the activities that Woodcraft Folk groups take part in with more people. To provide these opportunities free of charge and to as many children as possible, we’re running a Champions for Children fundraising campaign. Donate here between 14th-28th June, and all donations will be doubled by our generous match funders at the Childhood Trust, meaning twice as many children will get to play in the great outdoors! https://bit.ly/WoodcraftChampions

If you’re not able to donate, or if you have and you’d like to help us more, please share this campaign with your friends, family and colleagues. Could your company donate, or are you a member of a trade union? Let them know why this campaign is important to you, and ask them to donate.

If you’re on social media, follow us by clicking the buttons below to be updated when we launch to the public in June.

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram
• LinkedIn

If you volunteer with a Woodcraft Folk group, could you help by putting on a fundraising event, spreading the word or sharing your Woodcraft stories? Follow this link to find out how you can help.

The post Champions for Children appeared first on Woodcraft Folk.

The Reignite project was delivered over 2022 and targetted groups and Districts in the following London Boroughs:

• Croydon,
• Hammersmith & Fulham,
• Merton,
• Southwark
• Wandsworth

The project team worked with existing and past volunteers as well as recruiting new volunteers to lead groups, attend leader training and network with new and old venues for group meetings. The project saw Development Officer deliver outreach sessions in schools and attend local events as well as deliver many taster sessions in target areas.

We are proud to have reopened our Peckham Elfins group (for young people age 6-10) and White City Elfin and Pioneers.

If you are interested in being part of a rebuilt Woodcraft Folk group in any of the listed areas get in touch to info@woodcraft.org.uk

The post Reignite appeared first on Woodcraft Folk.

The project was launched in March 2020 with a Climate Science Fun workshop delivered in partnership with the Perimeter Institute looking at the causes and impacts of climate change. COVID has interrupted project delivery, but the project continues to:

• Develop and promote good quality climate education material including the Climate Action Now series
• Amplify the voices of young people as they share their views on the climate emergency and lobby for change

Over 2022 the project has supported young people and educators to engage in environmental activities, online webinars and COP26.

During 2022 project activities included:

• Young educators training took place 11-13 April 2022 at Cudham Environmental Activities Centre, find out more about the Carbon Literacy training residential here.
• Workshops delivered by our young educators at Woodcraft Folk groups, schools and at Woodcraft Folk’s international camp Common Ground.
• Teacher training in climate change and the climate emergency

Woodcraft Folk will be working closely with the Association for Science Education to engage with teachers and schools.

All Change T-Shirt Competition

At the start of 2022 there was a T-shirt competition for young people to design a shirt for the young educators to wear whilst delivering workshops this year. The theme of the designs were what does climate change mean to young people. At the All Change residential in April, participants voted on their favourite T-shirt design, the one that was chosen was designed by Taylah, 14 from Bromley district. The T-shirt design was made a reality and young educators wore their shirts with pride whilst delivering sessions over the summer of 2022.

2023

In January 2023 Woodcraft Folk’s Development Officer, a volunteer and two young members attended the Annual Conference for the Association for Science Educators in Sheffield. Find out more about the event here

The post All Change appeared first on Woodcraft Folk.

COP26 is a summit that will bring together world leaders to discuss the future of climate action across the world. This will be the 26th Climate Change conference and this year it is taking place in Glasgow. The summit is due to take place between 31 October and 12 November. The conference will see a lot of issues being discussed by leaders around how to fight climate change and stop temperatures rising. 

Check out this video made by a group of young people. The group includes some of Woodcraft Folk’s very talented young members. The video gives a really great explanation of what COP26 is, what it hopes to achieve and how it is viewed from the perspective of a child

Woodcraft Folk’s Position

“Woodcraft Folk supports our young members in taking action to address the climate emergency through lobbying, peer education and social action. We are committed to amplifying their voices and demands for climate action and accountability by our decision makers.

As an organisation committed to children’s rights we support their right to freely express their views and will support them in taking action to ensure that all children’s rights are respected and protected, especially their rights to life, to food, to a safe environment and to a future.” – Woodcraft Folk General Council (Trustees) Read their full statement on COP26 here.

How can I be involved?

There are many ways that we can make change happen. Whether you can be involved in COP26 in person in Glasgow, at a local hub or by joining digitally there are many ways to have your voice heard. Conversations and actions that come out of COP26 will affect everyone, across the world and their future.

In Glasgow for COP26?

Friday 5th November – Fridays for Future march for striking school children and young people as well as those supporting young people’s voices being heard.

Join Woodcraft Folk Scotland in the Youth Bloc at the Global Day of Action march and rally on Saturday November 6th -There will be feeder marches from the West End and from the Southside who will meet at George Square and then proceed to Glasgow Green. Wrap up warm, wear sturdy footwear, bring food. Marchers meeting from 11:30am – check out the Facebook event for more information

Woodcraft Folk will also have a presence at the Youth day at the People’s Summit – Sunday November 7th. Woodcraft Folk will be running a big wide game on Sunday 7th November, 11.45am to 13.15pm at the Fred Paton Centre, 19 Carrington Street, G4 9AJ. Join for a fun, active, running-around game to explore our influence on climate policy and share understanding of the direct impact of government and leaders’ decisions. All welcome, all ages. There are other activities for children and young people throughout the day. 

Woodcraft Folk will also be running this game on Sunday 7th November, 9.30am to 11am at the courtyard at the Deep End, 21 Nithsdale Street, G41 2PZ.

Not in Glasgow for COP26?

Find your local hub and join others in marching and demonstrating for a more equal, green and healthier future for our world.

Virtually join the World Climate March and have your voice heard online with thousands of others during the COP26 conference

Advice for protesters

Whether in Glasgow or elsewhere here is some really useful advice from COP26 Coalition around your rights when protesting and what is useful to bring with.

What is the People’s Summit?

While world leaders meet to discuss our future at COP26, the COP26 Coalition will be building power for system change together. The People’s summit will Bring together movements to discuss, learn and strategise for system change.

Join in online from anywhere in the world, or in-person in Glasgow. There are also many local hubs being set up around the UK on the Global Day of Action for Climate Justice (November 6), find your local hub now.

What is the COY16?

The Conference of Youth (COY) will happen in 2021 the week before the Conference of the Parties (COP) in Glasgow. The event will happen between 28-31 October. This year will be the 16th COY to take place. Thousands of young people will come together from 140 countries around the world to discuss change and how the climate crisis affects their future.

How can I have my voice heard at COY16?

Make your own youth statement either in a group of young people or as an individual. Set out your demands and use this toolkit to help you create your own statement. Share with us by emailing it to Debs@woodcraft.org.uk and we will share with COY16. See our statement from General Council (our trustees) as an example. 

What can I do?

You could get involved by:

• Finding your local hub
• Join the Moths to a Flame campaign. A mass participation art installation engaging thousands of people in creative activity and conversation inspired relationship with nature, and the climate emergency. Help to make 20,000 moths to display at Glasgow’s glorious botanic gardens during COP26.

Activities for groups

If you work with young people at a Woodcraft Folk group, school, as a parent or guardian or at another youth group you can check out our activities around the environment in the activities section. Also check out our WE:CAN activity pack full of resources to help young people learn about the climate crisis.

More activities to do with your group:

• Climate negotiations
• A hat debate about the climate emergency
• Take the adaptation quiz

Share what you are doing with us using #WoodcraftFolk_Cop26

The post COP26 appeared first on Woodcraft Folk.

Having ESC volunteers join the Woodcraft Folk team helps to bring a new dimension to our work and the experience is beneficial for the organisation, our young members and the volunteers.

Our Current Volunteers

Noemie Taupin – Cudham/Biblins Volunteers (April – September 2023)

Noemie joined us in April 2023 to help support the Centres team. She will split her stay between Biblins Youth Campsite and Cudham Environmental Activity centre as well as supporting other projects such as Camps for All and visiting our other centres. During her placement she will work with another volunteer to welcome groups to the centres, lead activities and support the centres to continue to bring brilliant experiences to young people including supporting Vcamp 2023. Noemie says “I am very excited to be a part of this amazing charity, discover England and its culture! I have been a scout most of my life and I love being outdoors and get crafty. Meeting people from all around the world and living new experiences is a really important part of my life, leading me to always seek new -cheap and ecofriendly- travelling opportunities. My other centers of interest are advocating for women’s and LGBTQIA+ rights, as well as mental health awareness.”

Sabrina Padilla – Cudham/Biblins Volunteers (April – September 2023)

Sabrina is joining Noemie on the project which will see time split between Biblins Youth Campsite and Cudham Environmental Activity centre as well as supporting other projects such as Camps for All and visiting our other centres. Sabrina is 28 years old and has 2 nationalities (Bolivian and Spanish). Sabrina’s experience in forestry engineering in Bolivia will be a real positive during the project. “I’m very glad to participate in this project with Woodcraft Folk organization because I like volunteering and the nature.” – Sabrina

Previous Volunteers

Eva Chatrain- Communication Volunteer (Feb 2022-Feb 2023)

Eva joined the Woodcraft Folk team from France and lived in London for 12 months, staying with a host family. She spent her placement supporting the communications team and local Woodcraft Folk groups with the preparation, planning and delivery of activities as well as working with the development team on school and community outreach. Eva is passionate about working with young people and is motivated to learn new skills and to be part of the team.

Sara Panni – Cudham/Biblins Volunteer (Oct 2022 – Dec 2022)

Sara joined us in October 2022 to help support the team at Cudham Environmental Activity Centre. She will stay at Cudham for 6 months and then move to Biblins Youth Campsite for the remainder of her stay. During her placement she will welcome groups to the centres, lead activities and support the centres to continue to bring brilliant experiences to young people. Sara says “I chose to apply as a volunteer in Woodcraft Folk because it reflects my values and principles such as: social solidarity, cooperation, non-judgment, acceptance of other cultures and environmental sustainability. As an Italian pedagogist and social worker, these are the ideals that I pursue and that Woodcraft Folk allows me to deepen and put into practice. I’m grateful and glad that Woodcraft Folk gives me this opportunity.”

Luisa Knust – Lockerbrook Volunteer (Nov 2021 – Nov 2022)

Luisa joined us to help support the team at Lockerbrook Farm Outdoor Centre. During her stay she welcomed groups to the centre, lead activities and supported the centre to continue it’s decarbonisation work. Luisa is passionate about fighting the climate emergency and says “Woodcraft Folk is so significant and I am happy to be a part of it now and to work with lots of different people on various environmental topics!”

Sandra Kourtsounioti – Common Ground 2022 Volunteer (Oct 2021 – Oct 2022)

Sandra joined us from Athens, Greece. She was with Woodcraft Folk volunteering for 12 months. Sandra’s role involved supporting the planning, preparation and delivery of Common Ground International Camp which took place in August 2022. Sandra was keen to get involved with all aspects of the camp, learn new skills and also meet lots of new people along the way.

Common Ground Volunteer Team (July – August 2022)

Over the summer of 2022 we welcomed 20 volunteers from Spain, Austria, Belgium, Finland and Germany to support the delivery of our Common Ground international camp. The team worked together with the central volunteers and organising team to help build and maintain the camp, assist with programme delivery, translation, stewarding and much more.

Lauren Halley – National Programme and Summer Camps Volunteer (July-December 2021)

Lauren joined us from Waterford, Ireland. Lauren’s role wass supporting the Membership and Programme team with national events. The national events Lauren has worked include our national summer camps hosted at Biblins Youth Campsite, Lockerbrook Farm Outdoor Centre and Cudham Centre and our Autumn Camp at Biblins 2021.

The post ESC Volunteers appeared first on Woodcraft Folk.

Kids Got Rights focused on child participation and the empowerment of children through self-organisation and claiming their own rights. The project involved children from 8 to 13 years old in six international meetings and several national activities, besides a parallel research action, aimed at raising awareness and training children and adults around the topic of children’s participation rights. The young people throughout the project have contributed to the Children’s Rights Education Toolkit which can be found here.

The specific objectives of this project are:

1. To educate and raise children and adults awareness on children’s rights, with a specific focus on the participation rights
2. To support children in critically assessing the state of children’s rights in their everyday lives (schools, families, organisations, etc.) through the development of quality standards for the mainstreaming of children’s rights.
3. To empower children to facilitate their self-organisation in groups to claim their rights and make a complaint when their rights are violated.
4. To build knowledge on the state of child participation rights in children’s organisations, as well as the impact of the self-organisation of children on their development as citizens in a European context.

The project activities

In February 2021 each partner organisation formed a national group of around 15 children age 8-13, so-called Children’s Rights Superheroes.

April 2021 Kick-off Meeting – The main objective of this meeting was to train coordinators and children on how to use co-design methodology for the self-analysis. It focused on discovering aspects for self-analysis and aims to raise awareness about it. In this meeting, we also went through the project tasks and timeline with the children. This was a great chance to virtually meet others from the partner organisations

Children Self-Analysis (April – July 2021) – One of the project outputs will be a research paper on the impact of children’s self-organisation on their development as citizens in a European context. This activity would carry out a Self-Analysis by the children about their realities and situation in relation to children’s rights in their local context, including their organisations.

Sharing realities (August 2021) – An international sharing meeting where partners shared (physically and virtually) educational practices and the results from the Children Self-Analysis.

Forming of Kids Hubs (October 2021)– Start with children forming kids hubs in their national context. The hubs have two main streams: The First stream, training the children on participation rights and self-organisation to equip them with the necessary competencies to set up self-organised spaces to claim their rights. The second stream, The Kids Hubs, will conduct workshops from children to children and workshops from children to adults on Children’s Rights, especially children’s right to participate.

Delivering sessions (November 2021) – The young people involved in the project delivered the sessions they developed over our residential weekend to both their peers and adults.

Check-in Meeting (March 2022) – Children’s rights superheroes from all project organisations came together at the Check-in meeting in Barcelona in March 2022. This was an international meeting where the project will monitor what has happened so far in the project and check in to advance the project plan and activities.

International Kids Hubs meeting (April 2022) – This meeting took place in Austria and compiled all the workshops and the training implemented in the Kids Hubs into one toolkit of educational activities for children’s rights education by children for children and by children to adults. Additionally, the meeting planed and designed two social media campaigns to raise awareness on the EU level on mainstreaming children’s rights and complaints procedures for children when their rights are being violated.

Social Media Campaign (July – Oct 2022) – Implementing two social media campaigns at the European level to raise awareness on children’s participation rights as developed during the International Kids’ Hubs Meeting: one campaign targeting children (promoting the use of the complaint procedures developed in the handbook) and one targeting adults (sensibilisation and information to raise awareness on the need to mainstream children’s rights

The Children of Europe Conference (August 2022) – The conference took place at Common Ground 2022 and was a place for the children to share experiences and raise awareness, to both adults and children, on mainstreaming children’s rights, mainly the rights to spaces to be heard, the rights to set up and join groups, the right to access information and to be taken seriously in the public decision-making processes.

The final steps of the project were to use all the learnings to create a handbook for group leaders wanting to do activities around children’s rights, especially the participatory rights. Watch this space for the publication of the handbook in February 2023.

The post Kids Got Rights! appeared first on Woodcraft Folk.

The post The Ingenious Project appeared first on Woodcraft Folk.

The Green Influencers Scheme is about helping young people realise their potential to positively impact the environment through youth social action. 

In 2021 Elaine Brown our Green Mentor worked with over 90 young people or Green Influencers. In Leeds with Rosebank Primary School (Burley), Co-op Academy Nightingale (Harehills), Richmond Hill Academy (Richmond Hill), IntoUniversity Leeds East (Harehills) and IntoUniversity Leeds South (Beeston) and in Bradford Co-op Academy Grange and we look forward to working with Co-op Academy Southfield soon. 

There were many different projects from making air pollution detectors, bird feeders, seed bombs, bulb planting, litter picking to a trip to a microgreens farm to learn about sustainable food and where our food comes from and litter picking on the beach and writing to and interviewing local MPs about climate change and local sustainability problems.  

This helps young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to learn new skills, spend time outdoors and  gain experience and confidence as they take action on the issues important to them. 

The Green Influencers Scheme is funded by the National Lottery Community Fund and the Department of Culture, Media & Sport are each investing £25 million seed funding to create the #iwill Fund. The Ernest Cook Trust is acting as a match funder and awarding grants on behalf of the #iwill Fund. We also received extra funding from Keelings (fruit growers) and Westlands (peat free compost).

Woodcraft Folk are really happy to announce that the Green Influencer scheme has been extended by 6 months meaning that Elaine Brown our Green Mentor will be able to engage lots more young
people in youth social action and connect to nature.

In the summer the Green Influencers in Leeds was very busy. We were lucky enough to be
awarded with £10,000 of extra funding from the Ernest Cook Trust to help the young people
achieve their green action projects.

In 2022 the Green Influencers at Coop Academy Grange were awarded £5000 to create a new school garden (the school has never had one). They planned their garden, came up with ideas for the funding application and then with the help of Hyde Park Source (a local community gardening charity) they built their school a beautiful garden with a tent for reading, balance beams to play on and lots of raised beds for vegetables and flowers. They also had financial support from Keelings (a food producer for Co-op) to fill the garden with plants to connect children to where food comes from.

The other big project from the summer of 2022 was with Breaking Down Barriers a cross community youth group in East Leeds who planned a built a community garden on a derelict concrete yard with £5000 of funding from the Ernest Cook Trust and support from Hyde Park Source on how to create a brand new garden. The group worked over the hottest days of August to transform the space and had a fantastic community garden opening with lots of brilliant feedback on how the garden can be used as a community hub.

Elaine has now worked with around 160 young Green Influencers and is getting started on
working with Co-op Academy Beckfield in Bradford in the Autumn of 2022.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram 

The post Green Influencers appeared first on Woodcraft Folk.