Volunteers in Action Appeal

Dear Supporter

As I write this, it is our prime busy season here at Trees for Life, and the office is buzzing with activity. Like most weeks in the spring and autumn, we have two volunteer groups working to help restore the Caledonian Forest, and this week one group is in Glen Affric, while the other is in Glen Moriston, where the volunteers are planting birch trees on the Balnacarn Estate. Each tree that is planted represents not only another step forward in the return of the forest, but also an act of positive empowerment for the volunteers, who often leave our weeks having had a powerful, transformative, and sometimes life-changing, experience.

Our progress in restoring the Caledonian Forest since 1991, when the first Conservation Holiday took place, is due in large part to our volunteer programme. However, maintaining that success this year is a challenge, because of the unexpected withdrawal of some of our funding. In order to meet this challenge, I'm writing to you today to ask for your help in raising £17,408 towards the costs of our Conservation Holidays this year.

Conservation Holidays are the heart of our project

One of the things which makes Trees for Life unique amongst conservation groups in Scotland is that we have both a clear geographically-targeted vision for the return of the Caledonian Forest, and are engaged in practical hands-on work to translate that vision into practice. It is through the hard work, dedication and commitment of our volunteers that most of our practical forest restoration work is accomplished, and in many ways the Conservation Holidays are the heart of our project.

An unexpected and significant shortfall in funding for our Conservation Holidays has arisen this year because Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), who have part-funded our volunteer programme for the past 10 years, are unable to support any of the 31 weeks we have scheduled for 2003. This is due to budget cutbacks and a consequent change in their funding priorities. We were already well-advanced with the preparations for this year's programme when we received the news from SNH, so we have gone ahead with our planned schedule of Conservation Holidays, trusting that we'll find the funds from other sources.

We need your help to keep our volunteers in action!

Although we have been successful in raising the rest of the money for this year's programme from grant-giving trusts (and the volunteers will contribute about £17,200 with their payments for the weeks), we still need to cover the funding shortfall. Thus, I'm writing to you, as someone who has been touched by the vision and work of Trees for Life, to request your support. The Conservation Holidays represent the very essence of our project, so I hope you will be inspired to help us raise the balance of £17,408 which we need to fully fund our programme for 2003.

Here's some of the work our volunteers will accomplish this year, with your help:

• On the Balnacarn Estate in Glen Moriston, volunteers will plant 14,100 native trees for forest restoration in the Meall Cuileig exclosure.
• In Glen Affric, volunteer groups will erect stock-fenced exclosures to facilitate the regeneration of riparian, or river edge, woodland, which is critical for linking up isolated forest fragments and for restoring the biodiversity and nutrient levels in streams.
• At Grudie Oakwood and Achnashellach, volunteers will collect seed, fell non-native trees and carry out other important conservation work, to enable the native forest to expand at the periphery - the front lines - of our target area for restoration.
• In Glen Affric, volunteer groups will carry out a survey for wood ants on the north shore of Loch Affric - the first time this will have been done there for this important insect species of the Caledonian Forest ecosystem.

Please help us fulfil our ambitious volunteer programme this year!

From small beginnings in 1991, when we ran 4 Conservation Holidays, our volunteer programme has grown substantially, because of its effectiveness and the experience it offers to the participants. I'm constantly touched by the enthusiasm and passion of the volunteers for the work, no matter what the conditions - they always rise to the challenge, whether it be posed by rain, snow, midges or just plain hard work! So, too, I know that Trees for Life, and all our supporters, can rise to the challenge of this funding shortfall, and raise the balance of £17,408 for this year's programme of Conservation Holidays. This amount is almost exactly equal to the volunteers' payments for the weeks, so this is a great chance for our supporters to match that - for example, it will take 700 people contributing £25 each (or just 175 donating £100 each) to achieve this.

The volunteers make a substantial commitment to our project by setting aside a week of their lives and often travelling long distances to take part in our Conservation Holidays. I invite you to add your commitment to theirs, by taking a few minutes to send a donation now, which will help keep the volunteers in action throughout the rest of our schedule this year.

To make a donation online to this project, please go to our order form, and thank you in advance for any support you can give - every contribution will help us reach our target with this appeal.

Yours sincerely,

Alan Watson Featherstone
Executive Director

PS. Please give as generously as you can to this important appeal. For donations of £50 or more, we'll send you a free copy of our beautiful 2003 Trees for Life Engagement Diary - still good for 7 months of the year. Thank you!

If you would like to make a donation for a different aspect of our work, please see our Appeals for Funds.

Published: 29 May 2003
Last updated: 25 August 2010