Funding & Fundraising for Community Tree Nurseries with John Preston of The Conservation Volunteers and Ben Luger of Rooted Chippenham CTN

Join us for another enlightening webinar hosted by the Community Tree Nursery Collaborative, hosted in March 2025.

As community tree nurseries play a crucial role in enhancing biodiversity, combating climate change, and fostering community engagement, understanding funding opportunities is more important than ever.

Our featured speaker, John Preston, Trust, Foundation, and Lottery Executive at The Conservation Volunteers, will share practical advice on where to find funding opportunities. Discover how to effectively apply for grants and secure funding from both local and central government as well as charitable foundations. We also hear from Ben Luger who has recently been involved in a Crowfunder project to raise money for a new CTN in Chippenham, Wiltshire. 

Disclaimer: All information, views, opinions and content expressed within this episode are solely of the individual guests involved and do not necessarily represent those of Fellowship of the Trees. Furthermore, all information and content provided is not a substitute for medical, legal or other professional advice, and as such, you may seek it on your own accord.

Unlocking The Benefits Of Biochar For Community Tree Nurseries with Mark Shipperlee of Living Wooods North East CIC

In this engaging recorded webinar from January 2025, Mark Shipperlee, the Operations Director of Living Woods North East CIC and a seasoned permaculture instructor, guided participants through the fascinating subject of biochar and its diverse applications for community tree nurseries.

The session provided a comprehensive overview of what biochar is and the science behind its production, emphasizing its importance as a carbon-rich substance created through the pyrolysis of organic materials. This sustainable resource not only enhances soil health but also supports carbon sequestration, playing a vital role in the growth and sustainability of community tree nurseries.

Throughout the webinar, attendees learned about the numerous benefits of biochar for tree nurseries. Overall, this informative webinar serves as a valuable resource for anyone seeking to advance their understanding of biochar and its benefits for sustainable forestry initiatives

Roots Of Engagement: Social Media Strategies For Community Tree Nurseries with Kerry Watkins from ‘Social for Good’ and Mischa Warnecke from Forus Tree.

In this session, from November 2024, we welcomed Kerry Watkins, founder of Social for Good—a social impact marketing agency dedicated to helping purposeful businesses, entrepreneurs, and nonprofits amplify their positive messaging. Kerry shares her expertise on crafting effective social media strategies tailored to the unique needs of community-focused organizations.

Additionally, we feature as guest speaker Mischa Warnecke from Forus Tree, who offers real-world insights and experiences on implementing successful social media practices within the community nursery space.

Whether you’re just starting out or looking to refine your existing strategy, this webinar will provide you with the foundational tools to develop a strong social media presence, engage your audience, and effectively promote your mission.

Rooted in Community: Exploring Permaculture Through Tree Nurseries with Mark Shipperlee of Living Woods North East CIC.

 

In this webinar which took place in September 2024, we were joined by Mark Shipperlee of Living Woods North East CIC for an insightful and engaging look into the intersection of permaculture principles and community tree nurseries. 

Mark is a listed permaculture educator and has been teaching it as both an assistant and lead for over ten years. He also ran a permaculture registered LAND Centre on a previous small-holding.

Mark gave an introduction to permaculture and how it can be applied to community tree nurseries, from understanding local environmental factors to generating compost, passive solar heating and biosecurity.

Gaining Ground: Composting for Community Tree Nurseries. With Ben Bryant from Sustainable South Hams and Jack Corin from Symbiosis Soil Lab.

In this webinar which took place on June 3rd 2024, we were delighted to welcome two wonderful guest speakers who share their experiences and tips on all aspects of composting relevant to CTNs.  Ben Bryant  who is a mentor for Sustainable South Hams, has a wealth of experience in composting, wild gardening and soil regeneration.  He is actively involved in a new community composting project in Maldon and also with the Devon Community Composting Network. Jack Corin is an ecological consultant who has specialist knowledge of soil.  He has been working with Symbiosis Soil Lab over the past two years.  This is a mobile laboratory to help people understand soil life.  He is passionate about regenerative design systems such as permaculture. For more details about Ben, please go to his page on Sustainable South Hams’ website here. To find out more about Jake, please follow the link to Symbiosis Soil Lab here.

How to set up a Community Tree Nursery. With Rod Richardson from Emmaus Community Trees, also Anisha Bhakta and Stephen Hill from Plymouth and South Devon Community Tree Nursery.

In this webinar which took place on January 30th 2024, we were joined by three guest speakers who shared on their experiences of setting up a CTN. The main topics covered include: CTN case studies; Finance and funding; Equipment needed and processes involved.  For more details about Rod and Emmaus please go to the website here. To find out more about the work of Plymouth and S Devon CTN please follow the link to the Poole Farm Facebook page here.

Community Tree Nurseries and Schools:Growing Together. With Sandra Tuck and Matt Knight in association with The Tree Council.

 The Community Tree Nursery Collaborative and the Tree Council present this special webinar with two guest speakers on ways in which CTNs can work with schools to grow trees together. The Tree Council staff Katie Rafferty shares a discussion regarding ways in which schools can be worked with and Will Fitzpatrick and Annie Heslop also share on the new Tree Council project they are launching to assist CTNs and schools to work together.  Experiences and approaches to doing this were shared by the guest speakers Sandra Tuck from More Trees BANES and Matt Knight from Shinfield St Marys school in Reading.  More Trees BANES work with a variety of schools on growing trees from seed in the Bath and NE Somerset area.  To find out more about the new Tree Council project and register your interest, please email Will Fitzpatrick, Community Engagement Officer at the Tree Council – will.fitzpatrick@treecouncil.org.uk

Making Money Grow From Trees! With Adam Owen and Alex Hewitt.

The Community Tree Nursery Collaborative presents this highly informative webinar with two guest speakers on the different types of fundraising a CTN can use to enable improved sustainability and development of the CTN.  Advice on what to include in grant applications aswell as what to not include is covered in depth.  Guidance on selling trees and community involvement is also included.  This webinar will appeal to all involved in CTNs, however big or small.  Adam Owen is Director of Moor Trees in Devon and Alex Hewitt is Programmes Officer for Thames Chase Trust.

Growing Wild – Which trees are best for Nature and wildlife?

The Community Tree Nursery Collaborative presents this insightful webinar with two guest speakers on key tree species that support wildlife and ecological recovery in a variety of landscapes.  Jasmine Atkinson from Devon Wildlife Trust shares experiences from the Saving Devon’s Treescapes Project and detailed information relating to certain tree species and the wildlife they can support.  Nick Clooney from Little Assynt Tree Nursery shares on the species they grow in the Highlands for Nature recovery and supporting wildlife.  This includes referring to trees at edge spaces (along edges of water in particular) and some remarkable experiences that he has had through the Nursery’s 10 years.  Both speakers share their optimism and encourage others to look at tree growing as a resilience practice that is ultimately a work in progress.

The Plot Thickens – from empty space to tree nursery. With Ellie Brown and James Cleaver.

/plotThe Community Tree Nursery Collaborative presents this really useful webinar with two guest speakers on the steps involved in preparing a space for Community Tree Nursery work.  Ellie Brown, from Ribble Rivers Trust in Lancashire shares advice and detailed information relating to the three CTNs she is involved with.  James Cleaver from Salhouse Community Tree Nursery in Norfolk shares the story of how he started growing trees in his garden and now has a CTN plot in a field.  He says he ‘is a just a man who wanted to grow trees and leave a little legacy of hope’.  Both speakers share their optimism and hands on experiences of their CTNs.  So that whatever the space or challenges you might face, you can feel a sense of reassurance hopefully that there are a variety of ways to make a CTN work and thrive.

We’re going on a seed hunt!

The Community Tree Nursery Collaborative is pleased to present this tree seed collecting training session with two guest speakers Jon Stokes, Director of Trees, Science and Research at the Tree Council and Sandra Tuck, Community Tree Nursery Development Manager at More Trees BANES.  They both share tips on how to collect tree seeds, how to process them aswell as more detailed information on identifying the different types of tree seeds you may find out in your local areas.  The talks are followed by a Q and A session.

Safe and Sound in the ground with Alisha Anstee and Adam Owen

 Fellowship of the Trees in association with Coeden Fach, Moor Trees, Special Branch and the Tree Musketeers community tree nurseries is excited to announce the launch of the Community Tree Nursery Collaborative. In the fourth of a series of online events, we are pleased to bring two guest speakers who shared clear and up to date information on: Tree health, key diseases of trees in the UK and practical ways to minimise the spread of these, biosecurity, the UKISG (UK and Ireland Sourced and Grown) assurance scheme and more.  Alisha Anstee is Lead Policy Advocate for tree health and biosecurity with the Woodland Trust.  Adam Owen is the Director of Moor Trees Community Tree Nursery in Dartmoor, Devon.

Engaging Volunteers with //Kabbo Hue Ferdinand and Molly Sweeney 

Fellowship of the Trees in association with Coeden Fach, Moor Trees, Special Branch and the Tree Musketeers community tree nurseries is excited to announce the launch of the Community Tree Nursery Collaborative. In the third of a series of online events, we are pleased to bring two guest speakers who have extensive experience and knowledge around community engagement and volunteer recruitment. With particular focus on Inclusivity and Diversity in a volunteer team.  //Kabbo Hue is the Inclusivity and Environment Advocate for St Werburghs City Farm in Bristol and Molly is the Volunteer Development Co-ordinator for Groundwork London.

From Seed to Sapling with Marcelo White and Adam Owen 

Fellowship of the Trees in association with Coeden Fach, Moor Trees, Special Branch and the Tree Musketeers community tree nurseries is excited to announce the launch of the Community Tree Nursery Collaborative. In the first of a series of online events, Marcelo White from the Tree Musketeers and Adam Owen from Moor Trees share tips on processing, stratifying, germinating and propagating tree seeds.

To find out more about the Tree Musketeers, please click here.                                                                          To find out more about Moor Trees, please click here   

Click here to watch any of the other events on our YouTube channel.

The Growing Diversity Project Episode 1 – Introduction to the Joint Initiative

In this introductory episode, we have Hilary Campbell Project Co-ordinator and Matthieu Baudry head of tree supply from the Woodland Trust sharing details about this exciting new project. This includes a Q&A section after Matthieu’s presentation. The event is aimed at those who are involved in a CTN (community tree nursery) in England. Please share with others this is relevant to.