Our outdoor learning area is almost complete. We constructed hazel fencing to provide some much needed privacy from the busy main road. This has made our valuable outdoor space feel enclosed and conductive to learning in a pleasant environment. The saplings the Changex team helped us plant have really taken off and we are looking forward to the biodiversity they will offer as they develop into trees. We currently sit on the grass enjoying this lovely space, but we have plans to add benches with overhead covering so as this valuable outdoor space can be used whatever the weather.
This has been such a worthwhile project, providing us with a pleasant outdoor space for all our scouting community to enjoy now and into the future.
On 2 July the ChangeX Team revisited our scout den to deliver a maintenance workshop to help us maintain our pocket forest. They identified the various trees we have growing and how best to look after them.
This has been such a worthwhile project for our scouting community and we are loving the benefits it has brought already. We have some of the original hedgegrove in this space and now we have the added benefit of more native saplings adding biodiversity to this important outdoor area.
There are plans for this area to be an outdoor teaching space. We constructed hazel fencing with the funding we received from ChangeX. This provides privacy from the main road and has made this space very appealing for spending valuable time in the outdoors, which is in keeping with our scouting ethos. Our future plans for this area is to construct some benches, making it a proper outdoor learning space.
We loved working with the dedicated ChangeX team, it was a very positive experience. We hope they will visit our den in the future to see how our pocket forest has developed.
On 27th January 2026 a couple of scout leaders and the Change X team planted the saplings for our Pocket Forest. We were lucky to avoid the rain which lasted most of the day and had a very enjoyable morning. One of our scout leaders, Daragh Corbett, had a lot of saplings he had been growing from seedlings and cuttings collected in our locality, which he kindly donated for use.
We are all very excited to watch our pocket forest grow over the next few months and years. We are looking forward to having a pleasant outdoor learning space which is in keeping with our love of nature.
The Change X team will be back in May to help us identify and label the saplings. We look forward to their return.
In September 2025 a group of scout leaders and the Change X team prepared the soil for planting our pocket forest in January of 2026. There were lots of hands on deck. Everyone was enthusiastic to help encourage biodiversity outside our den and to create an outdoor learning space for all to enjoy.
The area we are planting is adjacent to our scout den. We plan on using this area as an outdoor learning space. This facility will be used by over 300 members ranging in age from 6 years old upwards.
We are currently researching screening options to provide privacy from the busy road. We will meet end of August to discuss our plan for soil preparation in September. We will then plant native saplings in January.
Some of the pocket forest team
Here is our pocket forest area … the overgrown strip close to the fence, approx 5m x 20m.
We are building the team!
