Westonbirt Arboretum invites community to help with replanting project

The arboretum announced that it has raised more than £350,000 - nearly half of its £750,000 target - towards the new Silk Wood Community Planting Project which has been set up to restore an area of woodland within its reserve.

This includes a £249,359 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, £50,000 from Garfield Weston Foundation, £50,000 from the Friends of Westonbirt Arboretum, £5,600 from MillerKnoll and £3,000 from D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust. 

All this funding will go towards replanting around 9,000 new trees in the Silk Wood area, following the death of the Chalara ash in 2020.

Staff at Westonbirt want to use this project to engage the local community over the next three years.

They would like young people, people from disadvantaged backgrounds, those with neurodiversity and people of a broad range of ethnicities, to be part of this journey.

Local residents will be invited to participate alongside Westonbirt’s team in the design, selection of trees, ground clearing and preparation, tree planting and future care of this beautiful woodland.

Project manager at Westonbirt Oscar Adams (Image: Friends of Westonbirt Arboretum)

Project manager at Westonbirt Arboretum Oscar Adams, said: “We are thrilled to have received this support for our Silk Wood Community Planting Project and thank all the funders for their support.

"Having secured this money, we can now recruit project staff and plan our start on the restoration of Silk Wood. 

"We are so excited to be making this a community project and are looking forward to working with volunteers, local community groups and schools to design, plant and restore this beautiful woodland for future generations.”