📣 We’re recruiting! 📣
Could you be our next trustee? We are currently recruiting for two new trustees who will play a crucial role in helping us move forwards in the coming years.🌳
Trustees work with the team to help shape the charity’s direction, ensuring our work stays true to our vision and delivers lasting impact. They support good governance, help safeguard our resources and reputation, and ensure the charity is run sustainably.🌿
You don’t need a specific professional background or expertise - we’re looking for passionate individuals who care about climate action and nature restoration, enjoy new opportunities and challenges, and have excellent engagement and communication skills that make our wonderful team of trustees even stronger. 💪🏼
🔗 You can find a detailed role description and application details via the link-tree in our bio. We look forward to hearing from you! 🌳
Planting the Heart of Echo Wood 💚🌳
Did you know an oak tree can live for centuries, with some reaching over 1,000 years old? 🌳
Their incredible longevity perfectly embodies the spirit of Echo Wood. ✨
That spirit took root in the heart of this living artwork when we welcomed Triodos Bank UK to plant one of the woodland’s central oaks - which they have kindly sponsored. 🌱
With a £3.85 million loan to purchase the land back in May 2024 - Triodos’s support for the whole Lower Chew Forest project has helped make this landscape-scale restoration possible. We’re incredibly grateful.🙏🏻
As their CEO, Mark Clayton, shared:
“Much of what we do at Triodos is about legacy and creating lasting value for people and planet… I hope our oak stands for many generations and acts as a reminder of the positive impact Triodos, our customers, and like-minded organisations continue to have in the world.”🌍
A symbol of shared values for the future and a tree that will stand for generations to come.🌳
📷 Alexander Turner
🌿Forest School magic at Hazeland!🌿
We recently had a fantastic day on site with the Youth Adventure Trust, welcoming 14 brilliant young people and their facilitators for a day of outdoor adventure.🌳
The enthusiastic group got stuck in to a day of shelter building, firelighting, and even cooking their own lunch over the fire, and of course, we wrapped things up with some well-earned hot chocolate.☕️
The Youth Adventure Trust does incredible work using outdoor adventure and one-to-one support to empower young people to fulfil their potential and lead positive lives, and it’s a privilege to be part of that.💚
This is the second year that we have run this for YAT and we’re delighted that they’re planning to return again. We look forward to welcoming them on site for more woodland adventures next year!🌳
✨ We did it - together! ✨
Just six months after launch, the landmark living artwork Echo Wood has raised over £100,000 - proof of what people can achieve when they come together with a shared purpose. 💚
Every generous sponsorship has helped bring Echo Wood to life and support the growth of the surrounding Lower Chew Forest.🌱
As Lower Chew Forest begins to take root, Echo Wood is already proving that art and community action can come together to grow something far bigger: a living legacy for generations to come.🌳
As ever, with thanks to our fantastic collaborator, Luke Jerram for making all this possible. 🙏🏻
There’s still time to be part of it. The final trees are available to sponsor, come join our woodland family! 🌳
🔗
🌱 Planting season is officially over 🌱
…and what an incredible season it’s been! Together, we’ve planted thousands of young trees to grow our woodland landscapes and create more green space for future generations.🌳
From community planting days to landmark projects taking root, this is what happens when people come together with a shared goal. 💚
Swipe through to see what we achieved together…
✨ Dawn chorus magic ✨
Come and celebrate birdsong on a guided early-morning walk at our Hazeland site.🎵
Expect a chorus of blackbird, robin, song thrush, skylark and chiffchaff, and a chance to immerse yourself in the beautiful surrounds of our Hazeland site and enjoy the sounds of nature.🌿
With expert guidance from ornithologist Jonny Cooper, you might even learn a few common calls yourself! 🐦⬛
📅 10th May 2026 ⏰ 6:30–8:00am
🔗 Book your free space via the link tree in our bio.
✨Capturing remembrance✨
A few weeks back, Break Out Voices choir gathered in Echo Wood to plant an oak tree in memory of their much-loved choir member, DB. 🌳
It was a truly beautiful and moving ceremony of song and togetherness, and there to capture the moment was local photographer, Cecile Pujol. 📸
Cecile captures her photos using a 1950s Rolleiflex camera, and the resulting images are such a timeless and evocative record of a special day that we felt they deserved a post all of their own. 💚
Thank you, Cecile, for documenting this moment so beautifully. ✨
You can explore more of Cecile’s photography on her website:
🥾Bristol Walkfest 🥾
We’re delighted to feature in this year’s Bristol Walk Fest! The programme is packed full of walking events taking place across Bristol. 🥾
As part of Walk Fest we’re offering the following walks in the beautiful Great Avon Wood:
* Early Morning Birdsong Walk at Great Avon Wood 🎵 - Come and celebrate birdsong with a guided walk at Great Avon Wood. (7:00–8:30am, 3 May)
* Spring Tree Identification Walk at Great Avon Wood 🌳 - Would you like to learn more about identifying native British Trees? Come and join Neill Talbot from Avellana Ecology who will help you identify tree species and focus on particular features to look out for in springtime. (10:30am–12:30pm, 3 May)
* Walking the New Great Avon Wood 🥾 - Enjoy some glorious countryside in springtime on this 3 mile walk in the Publow valley. (1:00–4:00pm, 29 May)
🔗 You can sign up to the walks via the link in our bio.
🥾 Visit Bristol Walk Fest website here:
#bristolwalkfest #bristolwalkfest2026 #visitbristol #thingstodoinbristol #walking
✨ A truly special day to remember ✨
Break Out Voices choir (of which two members of the ANT team are part) have spent the last few months raising funds through concerts, a crowdfunder, and generous one-off donations to sponsor an oak tree in Echo Wood in memory of their much-loved choir member, DB, after she sadly passed away last year. 🌳
A couple of weeks back, they held a ceremony and a day of planting at Echo Wood. It was a beautiful, heartfelt day. “Blackbird” - DB’s favourite song - was sung, and a song about an Oak Tree was even learned on the spot and performed as her tree was planted.🐦⬛
In addition to DB’s tree, the group put in a stellar effort planting 80 field maples and 130 hawthorn trees! The day was filled with planting, laughter, singing, and tears, a beautiful tribute to a much-loved member of the choir. 🎵
A memory to treasure forever, and a place for them to return to time and time again. 💚
📷: Cecile Pujol
Why monitor wildlife? 👀🦡
You may have noticed our very exciting post a little while back featuring camera trap footage of a badger at Lower Chew. This footage was captured as part of our wildlife monitoring. But what exactly does that entail and why do we do it? 🌿
At Avon Needs Trees, responding to the environmental emergency is at the heart of our work. While our focus remains on trees, our work is increasingly expanding to include wider nature recovery. 💚
To understand whether what we’re doing is working, we need evidence. Monitoring wildlife and ecological data helps us build a baseline - a clear picture of what currently lives and grows across our sites. If we want to successfully rewild landscapes, we need to know where we started and be able to track progress over time.
And of course…we love wildlife.🦇
From tiny soil macroinvertebrates to birds, beavers and otters, we’re always so excited to see these species making themselves at home! And of course they provide vital signs that ecosystems are starting to recover. 🌱
Nature recovery takes time and monitoring lets us see the progress as it happens. 🌳
👉🏼 Swipe to the end to see our exciting visitor caught on camera! 🦫
🌱 Help us care for our new saplings 🌱
When we plant each young sapling, we’re committed to caring for it for the long run - helping our woodlands achieve an amazing 93% survival rate. Blustery weather can loosen supportive stakes, and there’s always woodland upkeep to be done, so we need your help to keep our young trees healthy and thriving. 🌱💪🏼
There’s nothing quite like a day out in nature to blow away the cobwebs and boost your energy. Plus our volunteers are a friendly bunch so you’ll always meet new faces and enjoy a good chat along the way. 💚
Join us in the beautiful surroundings of Great Avon Wood, Lower Chew Forest & Pudding Brook Wood. 🌳
Everyone’s welcome - come and be part of it! 🌿
🔗 Sign up for our tree care days via the link tree in our bio.
📢 We’re hiring! 📢 Avon Needs Trees is looking for a new Visitor Experience Officer. 🌳👋🏽 Are you an experienced Customer Service and Operations professional with strong people and delivery skills? If so, we’d love to hear from you. 🌿
We’re looking for a talented individual to help set up our new commercial ventures at Lower Chew Forest including ecotourism and business rentals. You’ll be making sure that paying visitors to the site have a great experience at all stages of their journey. 💚 Your legacy will be a tangible impact on slowing down climate change, helping nature recover and creating social impact by communicating our vision, and the scale of our projects, to a wide range of audiences. 🌳 ⏱️Deadline: Sunday 10th May at 11pm (23:00) 🔗 Full role description and how to apply via the linktree in our bio.
