Charity’s service users bring life and light to Corby woodland

Service users from Northamptonshire charity Teamwork Trust spent a day in the woods this week, cutting back trees and shrubs to give life and light to a piece of ancient woodland in Corby.

The group were invited to join North Northamptonshire Council’s Corby Woodland Project and spent a morning at the award-winning Hazel and Thoroughsale Woods in Corby – the largest town centre woodland in Britain – learning the ancient art of coppicing

Gary Chisholm, the council’s Heritage and Volunteer officer, said: “Coppicing adds life, light and biodiversity to woodland and it was wonderful to introduce this traditional method of woodland management to the wonderful people of Teamwork Trust. We spent a morning cutting hazel and ash poles down into lengths which will then be used, by local parks and groups – a great example of sustainability in action.”

Teamwork Trust is a Northamptonshire charity and social enterprise that supports autistic adults, people with learning disabilities and individuals with mental health needs.

Judy Caine, Working Mentor for Teamwork Trust, organised the woodland visit: “What a wonderful project to be involved with. We all know that getting outdoors is great for mental health and this green project was something our service users jumped at getting involved with. The day started with a talk from Gary about the art of coppicing and its importance to woodland. Rangers worked side with side with us all as we put theory into practise and we ended the day by toasting marsh mallows and sipping hot chocolate. Just perfect.”

Service user Michael said: “I thought it was brilliant. I enjoyed being out in the woods and learned lots of new things.”

Fellow service user James added:  “It was good to be outside helping the environment.”

The BBC Look East TV crew joined Teamwork Trust service users on the day, filming the project in action.