TYFU GYDA'N GILYDD

Stories

Breathing new life into a community site with Bulldogs BCA

9 Awst 2022

This group is a mix of local people who have self-referred, referrals from our Social Prescribing and Local Coordination teams, veterans who have reached us via Bulldogs BCA and Beaver and Scout leaders who are attending for their own wellbeing and to gain knowledge to take back to their groups.

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Wildlife, weaving and working together - an immersive day for social prescribers

3 Awst 2022

Interlink Staff were able to experience what we offer in our woodland wellbeing sessions and to see the real benefits of delivering activities in open green spaces.

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Volunteers' Week 2022 - Meet Tony

2 Meh 2022

I find volunteering has many physical benefits and spending time with others has helped to reduce stress levels and the health effects on my body, but more importantly it is so good to see the fitness of some of the walkers improve as time goes by to the extent that some have joined other walking groups which offer advanced walks and some have become walk leaders in their own right and I have many of these walkers in my group.

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Volunteers' Week 2022 - Meet Julie

30 Mai 2022

This year, SWA is marking Volunteers' Week with profiles of some of our own amazing volunteers, without whom we could not operate as we do today. Most of our volunteers work at the Green Wood Centre, helping us to maintain the site, or at local woodlands and community projects close by. In Wales, volunteers are essential for assisting us to run numerous social forestry programmes throughout the country. 

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The launch of Bendigedig!

18 Mai 2022

Earlier today, we were delighted to watch Dafydd, a woodland owner from Ceredigion, launch ‘Bendigedig’ - a S&S 43 yacht he has been refitting to compete in a round the world sailing event and raise money for Coed Lleol.

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Naturefix - new films released!

28 Mawrth 2022

Following on from the release of Woodlands for Wellbeing, we are delighted to introduce the rest of a series of films in collaboration with the LEADER Rural Development Programme.

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Woodlands for Wellbeing

10 Mawrth 2022

To mark social prescribing day on 10th March, Coed Lleol is raising awareness of the benefits of green social prescribing with a short film – ‘Woodlands for Wellbeing’ - showcasing our work across Wales.

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International Women's Day 2022 - Women in the Woods!

8 Mawrth 2022

International Women's Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity.

At Small Woods, we are proud to employ women in a wide range of roles throughout the organisation. Here's Anna, an engagement officer who works for Coed Lleol (Small Woods Wales) at Craig Gwladus in Neath, to tell you what it's like to be a woman in the woods in 2022.

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Our first outdoor health strategy meeting of 2022

3 Chwef 2022

Last week, some of the team got together for our first outdoor health strategy meeting of 2022. Not only was this a welcome opportunity to meet face to face (some of us for the first time!) but also a chance to reflect on our strengths and start developing the strategy for outdoor health with this new funding in mind.

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£1.5m of funding secured for our nature-based programmes

4 Tach 2021

Coed Lleol (Small Woods Wales) has secured £1.5m to help fund nature-based programmes

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Update
spring

Spring is sprung! Walking in the woods this morning, the spring flowers are pushing through the undergrowth, the birdsong in the trees is reaching fever pitch and the mammals large and small are on the move; attracting the attention of the kestrels and buzzards overhead. This is such a magical time of year and never fails to inspire and fill the mind with thoughts and plans for the year ahead.

We are getting this year off to a great start with two events this month that should prove to be very interesting. On 16-17 March we are hosting two Forestry Commission sponsored “Woodland into Management” events at the Green Wood Centre. The event will showcase some of the many ways that small woodland managers and owners can use some of the smaller-scale equipment available to them to improve woodland management in a sensitive, sustainable and cost effective way.

We are very much looking forward to the event as it provides us with an opportunity to look at the lessons coming from the SIMWOOD project, where we are again collaborating with the Forestry Commission, along with another 27 woodland management organisations from across Europe. Our principle in both initiatives is that the “wood that is valued is the wood that stays” and we know that Small Woods members value the woods where they work for a wide range of reasons. The addition of new techniques and ideas that promote management will make the 25-30,000 hectares of British woods for which Small Woods members are responsible across the UK more likely to be managed well. To say there is clearly demand from members for these events is an understatement – the first day sold out in 3 hours and the second in an evening. We are looking forward to two vibrant days exchanging experience and ideas.