20 November 2006
Unassuming woodland champion scoops volunteer of the year award
Recognition for work years of work securing and caring for community wood
Don Jones of Guilsfield in Powys has scooped the Woodland Trust’s prestigious Volunteer of the Year Award (1) for his work in helping to secure and then look after Granllyn Pool as a community wood.
The Award is shared with Liz Harvey, who has helped Don with his sterling work at Granllyn Pool over the years.
Granllyn Pool is close to the centre of the village of Guilsfield. It was acquired by the Woodland Trust (Coed Cadw) in 1998 as part of the successful Woods on your Doorstep Project to create 250 new community woods across the UK. But it was local man Don Jones, working in an unassuming way behind the scenes, who persuaded the former owner to sell the site to the Trust.
And even when the sale to the Trust had been conditionally agreed, Don and Liz did a huge amount to help get the local community behind the appeal to help raise the funding for the purchase.
And their contribution did not stop there. As the site is improved pasture land, the grass and weeds grow very fast and the Woodland Trust’s contractors have difficulty keeping up with it. Don and Liz stepped into the breech by mowing the paths on the site on a weekly basis to ensure the newly created woodland remained easily accessible to all.
Don Jones says: “It’s been a pleasure to be involved to be involved with the Woodland Trust’s work at Granllyn Pool, and to feel that together, we’re made a difference for the local environment. But this really was a team effort. I’m delighted to be sharing the award with Liz Harvey, and I’d like to pay tribute also to Roy Edwards for helping to secure the Pool as a community wood.
Anna Judson, a local vet who worked with Don on the appeal to raise funds to buy the site says: “I got involved soon after the campaign was launched and then roped Don in to some fundraising capers that I think he found a bit bemusing! What I learnt was that enthusiasm can get you a long way and if you don't ask you don't get! Don and I had a lot of fun and I really enjoyed his company. He has done a lot for the community over the years in a number of ways - mostly unknown to the world at large.”
More details about volunteering with the Woodland Trust are available at www.woodland-trust.org.uk/getinvolved
Despite its name, Granllyn Pool is actually a community woodland, though a shallow lake does occupy much of the site. The pool provides a habitat for a nationally significant population of the rare and protected great crested newt (2), and for this reason, the land has been designated a Special Area of Conservation under European law. The site includes some gently sloping land around the Pool, most of which was planted with native broadleaved trees in November 1999. In 2004, following a successful community fundraising campaign, the Woodland Trust acquired a 2 ha (5.1 acre) extension to the site, so as to increase its value both as a wildlife habitat and a local community asset.
Like almost all Coed Cadw woods, Granllyn Pool is open for the public to visit at any time, for free. It now has its own website at: www.wt-woods.org.uk/granllynpool This includes a whole range of information about the site and its management, including an interactive map.
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For media enquiries contact:
Rory Francis (Publicity and Public Affairs Officer for Wales) on 01766 832563 or 07760 171174
Afallon, Tanygrisiau, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd LL41 3RH
Email roryfrancis@woodland-trust.org.uk
or Hannah Scrase, who manages the site for the Woodland Trust, on 01686 412534
or the Woodland Trust Press Office email media@woodland-trust.org.uk or Tel 01476 581121
Notes to editors
1. The award is make on a country/regional basis. Don has won the Volunteer of the Year Award for Wales.
2. Great crested newts are one of only three species of newt native to Britain. They are also the largest, and the rarest. They have a slimy, warty skin and are blackish above with a golden yellow bellow. About 16cm long, they are declining in numbers, and are protected by law. It was only after Coed Cadw acquired Granllyn Pool in 1998 as part of its successful Millennium Woods on your Doorstep project, that it was realised how important it is for great crested newts.
Coed Cadw (The Woodland Trust)
The Woodland Trust is the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity. It has 250,000 members and supporters. The Trust has four key aims: i) No further loss of ancient woodland; ii) Restoring and improving the biodiversity of woods; iii) Increasing new native woodland; iv) Increasing people’s awareness and enjoyment of woodland.
Established in 1972, the Woodland Trust now has over 1,000 sites in its care covering approximately 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres). These include over 100 sites in Wales, with a total area of 1,580 hectares (3,900 acres). It offers free public access to nearly all of its sites. Further news can be accessed via www.coed-cadw.org.uk The Trust adopted a new Welsh language name in 2000: “Coed Cadw”. This is an old Welsh term, used in medieval laws to describe protected or preserved woodland.
