CLA Charitable Trust grants thousands towards community woodland group’s classroom cabin project in Hampshire
Woodland charity awarded £5,000 towards its project to build a classroom cabin and volunteer base
A community woodland group in Hampshire has been awarded £5,000 from the CLA Charitable Trust (CLACT) towards its project to build a classroom cabin and volunteer base.
The Trust is funded almost entirely by subscriptions and donations from members of the CLA, an organisation which represents nearly 30,000 farmers, landowners and rural businesses.
It provides grants to charities and community organisations across England and Wales who share its vision to help connect young people who are disabled or disadvantaged with the countryside.
Andover Trees United is among the groups to successfully apply for funding this year. It has been awarded £5,000 towards its aim of building a cabin at Harmony Woods, a 10-year planting project involving thousands of children and young people in the transformation of 12 acres of land into a natural urban woodland on the outskirts of Andover.
The Andover Trees United team’s vision is to build an off-grid, sustainable, field-study base and volunteer room, sensitive to its surroundings. It currently has a portable cabin and shipping container and believes the new cabin, which it has planning permission for, will help it further its work.
Youth advisor Dmitrijs Meiksans said: “The community has been at the heart and centre of the charity since its creation, and the community's involvement with the cabin project is no less the same. All of the carpenters and volunteers are local, ensuring the charity grows and achieves its goals – with the cabin being a very important one.
"The frame has been raised, so we are now currently looking towards sourcing other companies to finish off the cabin, to get the solar panels in, the walls and more."
The work of Andover Trees United in enabling thousands of school-children to learn, understand and immerse themselves in trees and plants at Harmony Woods is central to the aims of the CLACT. We are delighted to have been able to provide funding to help with the timber pod in the woods.