TREE Book

4 | TREE BOOK | INTRODUCTION

In 1925, 19 year-old Leslie Paul broke away from an existing youth organisation and, with others in south London, established the first Woodcraft Folk groups.

They became the first nationwide youth organisation to accept both boys and girls, and members of any religion or none. Since then Woodcraft Folk has been the UK’s only national, co-operative youth movement.

Children and young people continue to develop the skills and confidence to explore their surroundings and take a lead in running their group, camp or project, and we’re committed to supporting them to do this. Teenage members often help out with a younger group, and District Fellows, Woodcraft Folk’s 16 to 20 year old age group, run their own events, projects and campaigns, which you can read about on their website www.spanthatworld.com

INTRODUCTION | TREE BOOK | 5

A young international volunteer wrote this comic, which explains the history of Woodcraft Folk. For the full story, visit woodcraft.org.uk/

resources/cartoon-photo-story-woodcraft-folk-history


Woodcraft Folk is an educational, empowerment and advocacy movement for children and young people, which seeks to further the International Cooperative Alliance’s Statement on the Co-operative Identity.

The Rights of the Child

In our work with children and young people, we respect and defend their individual rights, and encourage them to participate responsibly and democratically, in all aspects of Woodcraft Folk activity

Education for Social Change

We seek to develop in our members a critical awareness of the world. We will work to develop the knowledge, attitudes, values and skills necessary for them to act to secure their equal participation in the democratic process that will enable them to bring about the changes that they feel are necessary to create a more equal and caring world.

A Co-operative and Sharing Attitude to Life

We believe that to further our aims it is vital to approach our educational work through the principles of co-operation. To achieve this we will provide a programme which ensures that our members practice co-operation through all the activities in which they participate.

International Understanding

Our motto is ‘Span the world with friendship’. We will therefore encourage and develop international understanding and friendship through our educational work and by our exchanges between children and young people of different lands. We will promote a greater understanding of the world amongst our members so that they are aware of the inequalities which exist in it.

“We do games and activities about the world around us and how we might change it for the better.”

“Co-operation is really important. We all work together to get things done – like reading together!”

“We meet young people from all over the world”

“We always get to have our say about what we are doing and what we want to do next.”

It seeks to be recognised as the Co-operative and Trade Union movements’ educational and empowerment organisation open to all with the aim of building an environmentally sustainable world built on children’s and human rights, equality, friendship, peace, economic & social justice and co- operation.

1

2 3 4 5


Religion

Woodcraft Folk welcomes all children, young people and adults, who wish to become members of the movement, and it asserts the right of all its members to practice the faith of their choice providing it does not contravene the aims and principles of the movement.

One World

Woodcraft Folk will encourage an understanding of the need to protect our environment and the use of the world’s resources. With this aim we will seek to encourage our members to protect our urban and rural environment in the interests of all.

A world at Peace

Because of our international outlook and concern that all shall enjoy the right to freedom from the immorality of war and want, the Woodcraft Folk is dedicated to the cause of peace.

Affirmation

The task of Woodcraft Folk is the cultivation of a world outlook. The Woodcraft Folk expects its members to abide by its Constitution and to participate actively in a movement that is dedicated to all people for all time.

“We do lots of activities finding out about the environment around us – this is me learning Bushcraft.”

“We want a world at peace – this is a ceremony to remember Hiroshima and say never again.”

“Woodcraft is for EVERYONE for ALL TIME!!!”

Woodcraft Folk has nine Aims and Principles. These are shared by all members of the movement and inform all our varied activities. Here is a summary of each of them.

6 7 8 9

“Woodcraft Folk is for everyone – whatever their religion – as long as they agree with these aims and principles!”


We wanted to become better known and understood, and more inclusive. We wanted to continue providing children and young people with outdoor adventures and to keep our grassroots social education progressive and fun.

By empowering young people across the movement, TREE was able to contribute to all these aims, and keep youth leadership at the heart of Woodcraft Folk.


TREE stands for Training, Representation, Equality and Engagement.

These are the provisions young members of Woodcraft Folk wanted from a major project, in order to feel that they were getting the best experience possible from their organisation.

Everything about the programme, from the name, the 114-page business plan and the guiding of the work throughout, has been created and delivered by young people and adults working together as equals. With £1.26 million in funding over five years, and the task of developing youth participation at all levels of the organisation throughout England, TREE has been a huge agent for change in Woodcraft Folk. It has introduced new resources, activities and ways of working to transform an already good level of youth participation into a super-strong culture of youth participation

that extends beyond the organisation into the youth sector and UK society.

TREE upheld Woodcraft Folk’s long-established values of equality, inclusivity and being volunteer-led, while contributing to current ambitions for making our groups more accessible to all children and young people, and empowering them to influence the world they live in. Woodcraft Folk is an inherently progressive, democratic organisation with volunteers of all ages taking us forward at all times. The TREE Programme has supported this core momentum, finding new ways to help young people participate in Woodcraft Folk democracy and to lead the change they want to happen, boosting sustainability by creating new young volunteers and volunteer roles, and connecting the many members, groups, regions and partners together with communications and sharing of good practice.


This book is a summary of what young people have achieved with TREE’s support, a celebration of why and how Woodcraft Folk ‘does’ youth participation, and hopefully a useful resource for others working to involve young people, whether they’re Woodcraft Folk volunteers, youth workers in other organisations or children and young people themselves.

Youth participation has never been new to Woodcraft Folk—from our first days, we’ve believed that no one is too young to participate in social change, and no one is too old to play games and have fun. With this in mind, there are two important things before you start reading.

Firstly, the co-operative and inclusive ways Woodcraft Folk work together are not specially reserved for those working with young people; groups of any age will find this approach makes their activities more fun and more effective.

Secondly, the TREE Programme built on an existing culture of youth participation, meaning it can be difficult to tell where organic, long-established practices of youth leadership end and new ideas start to take effect. Part of TREE’s job was to help Woodcraft Folk recognise what it already does well, and how to maximise that. So any successes celebrated here should be attributed in part to 88 years of youth participation, and if the line between Woodcraft Folk and the TREE Programme seems blurred, hopefully the learning and the methods are just as transferable to your own activities.

About this book

LOOK OUT FOR LINKS TO mORE INFORmATION

LOOK OUT FOR KEY WORDS, INDICaTED By UNDERlININg


How to use this bookThe book is divided into chapters according to the five Outcomes of the TREE business plan. Within each are our main activities to try and achieve that outcome, stories of young people and older volunteers who were involved, relevant highlights and statistics, plus our reflections and recommendations for the future.Feel free to get in touch and ask questions!

Introduction Key themes of the TREE programme 14TREE impact 18

Groupwork | Fun | Education | Action 20 Whats it all about? 22Highlights 26Case studies 30Reflections 38

Inclusion | Accessibility | Disability 40Whats it all about? 42Highlights 44Case studies 48Reflections 52

Democracy | Governance | Committees 54Whats it all about? 56Highlights 60Case studies 66Reflections 72

Volunteers | Training | Roles | Leadership 74Whats it all about? 76Highlights 78Case studies 84Reflections 92

Networks| Good practice | Collaboration 94Whats it all about? 96Highlights 98Case studies 102Reflections 106

Conclusions 108Learning and adapting 110TREE’s impact 112Some Reflections 114Things to remember 120Thank You 122


TREE’s definition of youth leadership evolved during the programme.

Whilst leadership in Woodcraft Folk has never been about one individual with more authority directing the group’s activities, our early concept of it was restricted to the role of a ‘group leader’ - someone who contributes to the running of a local group’s weekly meetings and uses skills like facilitation, communication and co-operation. In a grassroots organisation where the life of local groups depends on volunteer leaders, this is quite natural.

As the TREE Programme evolved, our idea of a ‘young leader’ broadened into something much more flexible: a young person who wants to make change happen, whether that’s as part of a team or as an individual, and whether their focus is a group, a local community project, a social or political issue or society as a whole. As well as reflecting Woodcraft Folk’s aim of social change, and principles of supporting young people to participate in our national and international community, this wider definition recognised the leadership taken on by young members in our Steering Group, Communications Group and other committees such as General Council (Woodcraft Folk’s trustee board), where young people were showing such skill and commitment to Woodcraft Folk’s development, without necessarily being involved in running their local group.

The turning point (although it was more of a gradual curve than a sudden swerve) was the development of Leading for the Future—a leadership programme for young people of roughly Venturer age that would help all young members of Woodcraft Folk become leaders if they wanted. As our evaluators, Cadence, pointed out:

“The main challenge in both the process and in maximising use by Woodcraft groups in the future is in clarifying the precise role of the resource as a tool in developing leadership skills in young people.”

The Reference Group—the mixture of Woodcraft leaders, young people and staff who worked with Practical Participation to produce Leading for the Future—had to balance the need of Woodcraft groups for sustainable leadership with the desire of young members to develop more general leadership skills to take action at other levels of the organisation and outside it. Rebecca, Development Officer for Youth Empowerment at the time and now a Group Leader, says:

“We realised the need of Woodcraft Folk for a youth leadership programme was deeper than just a training course; it was an approach that starts locally and works outwards.”

KEy ThEmES EmERGING DURING ThE TREE PROGRAmmE

Youth leadership


Working as a group, whether to educate each other, get a task done or campaign for something, has always come naturally to Woodcraft Folk.

The TREE Programme automatically built the same co-operative structure to our activities. But we’d like to point out just how important this simple way of working is when you combine it with shared values.

When you’ve got a really mixed group—for TREE the contrast was between people’s ages and experiences (with plenty of younger people having more experience of something than older people) - it’s everyone’s shared values, rather than policy or procedure, that keep us working well together. Our values of democracy, equality, co-operation and children's rights helped us make difficult decisions, reach consensus and stay on track with our overall agenda when day to day challenges threatened to sweep us off course.Working as a (co-operative) group means

responsibilities and leadership can move from one person to another or be shared, peer support is always available to those trying new things, and also that as the group recognises useful tools and practices that support our own participation, we feel ownership and take responsibility for sharing these in the wider organisation. This value is particularly clear in Leading for the Future, where leadership training nurtures young people’s individual skills and interests, but empowers them to act as a group with a common aim rather than empowering some at the expense of others.

Being in a group is something the youngest members of Woodcraft Folk have experience of and associate with fun. A ten year-old on the TREE Steering Group, or a thirteen year-old on Venturer Committee, could bring skills and interests from their local Woodcraft Folk group to their new committee and make great contributions from their first meeting, whilsttaking back new ideas and ways of working

to their local group. Thanks to Woodcraft Folk’s strong, accessible principles, every member’s basic expectations and aspirations for a new team are the same as each other— and the same as members back in 1925.

Groups


The importance of young people’s ownership of the programme, and Woodcraft Folk’s youth participation in general, was clear at the start.

We worked with young people to develop the plan for the TREE Programme, and established how involved young people already felt in decision-making around Woodcraft Folk. Role descriptions for everyone involved in making the programme happen, including Steering Group members, task groups and staff, were devised by young Woodcraft Folk, and young people have been included on interview panels for all TREE staff.

TREE worked on the basis that all young people should be supported to participate in ways that suit them, and had a flexible enough plan that our individual projects and the support mechanisms we anticipated offering could adapt to the needs of a wide variety of young people – not just the most confident, or those who were clearest about what they wanted to get out of Woodcraft Folk. This attitude is derived from Woodcraft Folk’s ethos of equality and co- operation: there is a role for everyone, and a strong community or team is inclusive of everyone who shares its values.This gave permission for every young person to participate in TREE activities, and to

expect that there was something for them on offer. It enabled them to shape roles around their own strengths and priorities, and forge new paths of participation.

TREE developed a process through which most of our resources and projects were made, that ensured young people not only saw the impact of their actions and decisions, but fed into further changes and improvement, so they were part of a continuous positive process of development.

This kept people on board, and meant young people made a journey of participation rather than just stopping for a one-off participation experience.

Ownership

“The best things about TREE are: people trusting you, even though you’re young, to organise and lead things; being treated equally always; providing the support that allows a young person to do these things and learn about them; and that it’s all been fun.” - Young Steering Group member


Make a group activity around

it

Distribute to groups via post / web / events

/ visits

Draft taken to an event to test with members

Comms Group get design

done and plan distribution

Steering Group / Comms

Group help make it

Staff & volunteers

gather ideas & identify resources

Young people suggest

something


11 Pioneers involved in the TREE steering Group- Woodcraft Folk’s first national

committee to actively involve 10-12 year

olds.An average of 52% of General Council were aged under 25 thoughout the

programme

100% of young people involved said

they’d developed skills and knowledge

from TREE- supported activities

or resources

Number of young people trained

32 Young Reporters

45 Young Trainers

52 mentors and mentees

100 Young Committee members

Approximately 960 Venturers represented each year by Venturer

Committee since it was created in 2010


300 Young leaders

Under 25s as a proportion of participants at Annual Gathering

During pre-TREE consultation with young people in Leicester and London:

• 73% said they felt involved in making decisions in Woodcraft Folk.

• 27% said they weren’t sure or didn’t feel involved at all.

After 4 years of TREE, 96% of young people who responded to our national survey said they feel involved in national decision-making in Woodcraft Folk.

Find the resources TREE has produced online at issuu.com/woodcraftfolk


Children and young people told us they were getting brilliant experiences from their local group night and summer camps, but we also knew many young people were missing out because there wasn’t space in existing groups.

many Districts have waiting lists of children and young people, and a drop-off after Pioneer age because there aren’t enough volunteers to run a Venturer group for those turning 13. Where there are older age groups for young people to move into, the transition can be a challenge, with communication between the two age groups being unclear and the change from a younger group with more adult support to an older group with little adult support being too sudden.

As TREE’s experience re-enforced, local engagement is an important starting point for children’s Woodcraft Folk experience, where young members learn co-operation and leadership in a really safe, friendly space. The strength and stability of groups, and the quality of engagement they provide for young members, can be enhanced by connections - to other groups, to their community, to the national youth sector and to society.

Adults and young people involved in devising the TREE business plan came up with three main ways to support young members to get involved and stay involved at a local level of Woodcraft Folk and to help groups engage with each other; Action projects, Hands in and Twinning.

This TREE ambition is all about supporting Woodcraft Folk’s vital grassroots: our groups.

WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT?

“8,600 yOUNG PEOPLE WILL hAVE FUN, DEVELOP SKILLS, CONFIDENCE AND TAKE ACTION ON ThEIR CONCERNS AND ISSUES ThROUGh ENGAGEmENT WITh WOODCRAFT FOLK GROUPS OVER A 5 yEAR PERIOD.”


Action ProjectsTo challenge, to develop, to take action for social change

As they reach Pioneer and Venturer age, young Woodcraft Folk want a challenging experience for their group, where they can put the Woodcraft Folk aims and principles into practice. TREE offered grants of up to £500 to Woodcraft Folk groups who applied to run an Action Project—namely a project that is youth-led, community based and has a positive social impact. Crucially, the Action Project application form was clear and simple and could be completed by the group as a group night activity, and the panel who assessed which groups to give grants to was comprised of young people.

TwinningTo connect, to support, to reflect

There are lots of benefits to helping Districts forge supportive relationships with other Districts. Some in Woodcraft Folk were doing this already—camping together, sharing equipment, exchanging fundraising advice—so our aim was to celebrate this and encourage more twinning activity. Our emphasis was on sharing ways of involving young people, and one District being able to help another reflect on how they work.


Other activities

TREE also supported groups to run successfully by offering new group grants of £500 to all Venturer and DF groups starting within the programme period, and the TREE Communications Group created ‘transition materials’ to help young people move from one age group to another.

Along the way, we found resources to contribute to lots of other local Woodcraft Folk activity, such as DF publications that would engage Venturers in advance of moving into DFs, and training for volunteer Group Leaders. It was also a very natural part of the TREE process to visit groups at group nights and summer camps to gather their ideas, trial resources and promote all the opportunities for young people’s participation that we were nurturing.

Hands In! To connect, to share, to try a new activity

Right at the start, the TREE Steering Group identified that Woodcraft Folk groups, and young people’s experience of them, varied hugely around the country. Young people—and often adults—weren’t aware of the wider Woodcraft Folk movement unless they happened to go along to an international camp or had friends in other Districts.

This meant good ideas and methods weren’t getting shared as widely as they could be, and the huge range of opportunities for young people around the Folk wasn’t apparent to them. The Steering Group invented Hands In! - a month or so each year where all groups would be encouraged to do the same activity to contribute to the bigger Woodcraft Folk picture. It would be a different activity each year, but always help groups reflect on what it means to be a Woodcraft Folk group, and what they could share with other groups.


TREE supported 42 new Pioneer, Venturer and DF groups to establish themselves, offering funding, training, policy advice and a ‘Growing Groups’ activity pack.

“You can see how much Jane has gained through being part of Woodcraft and what the impact has been. I think the key to it was the way in which Woodcraft welcomes all kinds of people and provides a strong friendship and support network. Then young people learn by seeing others do things and those who are interested begin to take on more and more responsibility as their confidence grows. It’s a very gradual process. Woodcraft Folk also provides a strong focus for young people and a shared set of co-operative values.” - Ghee, Group Leader and District Office holder in Exeter District

“Right from the application form which was written in language the children (aged 12) could understand... The whole project has empowered the young people to run much of the project themselves and the adults have been able to stand back and let them get on with much of the work... Because they worked through all the stages themselves, learning was achieved on many levels. It also empowered them to run workshops completely covered by Pioneers.” - Leicestershire parent

Action Projects80 Action Projects were run by local Woodcraft Folk groups in partnership with other community organisations. Action taken included:

• Raising awareness of homelessness in Bradford

• A tea party with elderly people to break down age barriers in the community in Liss

• Preserving green spaces in Harrow and Southampton

93% of young people involved in an Action Project say it improved their knowledge or skills.Action Projects directly engaged more than twice as many young Woodcraft Folk as we’d hoped, and also reached many more young people beyond Woodcraft Folk through the social action young Woodies led.

Hands In Hands In! activities, chosen by young people, inspired 421 groups to:

• make quilt squares to contribute to colourful quilts

• Create Woodcraft Folk geo-caches and go geo-caching

• Write poetry inspired by Woodcraft Folk aims and principles


Joe’s Action Project Recommendations

• Encourage young people to fill in the application form

• Have a panel of young people assess the applications

• make the application form short and accessible

• make reporting back flexible, so it can be built into the project

• Offer support to help groups apply, including workshops at existing events or visits to the group


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Now that your child’s a Venturer, new opportunities and responsibilities will follow. Becoming a Venturer means that she or he can get more involved in national Woodcraft Folk, including events organised by Woodcraft’s main office and activities run by other Woodcraft Folk districts. Your local Venturer group will hold a group night once a week, just like the Pioneer group. Venturers are encouraged and supported to organise their own activities and events, helping them gain new experiences and innovative ideas.

If your local district doesn’t already have a

Venturer group, it doesn’t mean it can’t have

one soon. If you want to know more about

Woodcraft Folk’s work or how to set up a

Venturer group, visit www.woodcraft.org.uk,

or contact the main office on 020 7703 4173

or email [email protected].

Woodcraft Folk is an organisation which aims

to empower children and young people and

gives them self confidence. We support peace

movements and want to create a world with

equality, peace and co-operation. We believe in

equal opportunities for everyone and grapple

with big issues in fun and adventurous ways.

There are chances for young people to get

involved in all levels – from local groups to

helping run the organisation as a whole.

Folk is a charity registered in

WoodW craft Fand & Wales (no. 1073665)

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70% of young people say group nights and camps have improved

their knowledge or skills “quite a lot”, “a lot” or “a huge

amount”.“I really enjoyed the experience of being a Venturer Camp Venturer Council member and it was great to see that our ideas were taken seriously. Our involvement set the theme for the whole camp and we could see our decisions being put into practice. We made a positive contribution that was valued by the main Venturer Camp Committee and co-ordinators.

I learned a lot through my work on VCamp and it was great to see behind the scenes and to learn how much work is needed to put on an event like VCamp. I can definitely see the benefits of Venturers being more involved in decision-making in a more structured way in Woodcraft Folk. I want to be involved in setting up an ongoing Venturer Committee—hopefully it will happen at this year’s Venturer Camp.”- Kieran aged 15

Elections for the first ever Venturer Committee were held at VCamp 2010 and Kieran was elected to it!

100% of young people say experience with TREE and Woodcraft Folk will help them with school, college

or employment.


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Now that your child’s a Venturer, new opportunities and responsibilities will follow. Becoming a Venturer means that she or he can get more involved in national Woodcraft Folk, including events organised by Woodcraft’s main office and activities run by other Woodcraft Folk districts. Your local Venturer group will hold a group night once a week, just like the Pioneer group. Venturers are encouraged and supported to organise their own activities and events, helping them gain new experiences and innovative ideas.

If your local district doesn’t already have a

Venturer group, it doesn’t mean it can’t have

one soon. If you want to know more about

Woodcraft Folk’s work or how to set up a

Venturer group, visit www.woodcraft.org.uk,

or contact the main office on 020 7703 4173

or email [email protected].

Woodcraft Folk is an organisation which aims

to empower children and young people and

gives them self confidence. We support peace

movements and want to create a world with

equality, peace and co-operation. We believe in

equal opportunities for everyone and grapple

with big issues in fun and adventurous ways.

There are chances for young people to get

involved in all levels – from local groups to

helping run the organisation as a whole.

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Transitions Leaflet Front.ai 17/06/2010 17:09:20

Supporting transition

The Communications Group created this Welcome to Venturers leaflet, which was distributed to all Pioneer groups so they could read about what it’s like to be a Venturer before becoming one.

TREE supported DFs to create the DF Transition Booklet, containing pretty much everything a Venturer might want to know about how DFs works.

We also gathered ideas from Woodcraft Folk groups on how they help young members move from one group to another, and published Transition Support Ideas.

Finally, Venturers created a film sharing what it’s like to be a Venturer with young people outside Woodcraft Folk who might want to get involved.

All these transition resources are gathered online at woodcraft.org.uk/transition and the leaflets can be requested from the Woodcraft Folk Office for free.


CASE STUDY | TREE BOOK | 3130 | TREE BOOK | CASE STUDY

Justine’s story: Setting up Bournville Elfins

We were three friends interested in setting up an Elfin group in the Midlands. We chose a place we could all get to by 5.45pm on a Wednesday evening, which turned out to be Bournville.

To start withWe visited two other Woodcraft groups in the midlands, and had support from them and from Woodcraft staff to do the paperwork, find a venue (the Quaker meeting House) and organise an open day.To recruit children, we distributed flyers and talked to friends. The open day was a success and we signed up 16 children.

Challenges & Advice Our biggest challenge is finding enough leaders and enough space—we have a waiting list and would like to start a Pioneer Group. For now, we just let children stay on, and sometimes provide different activities for the various ages.Ensure parents are willing to help both on the rota and on

an emergency basis. It’s a big commitment taking on a Woodcraft group—planning, preparing and finding resources—but the enthusiasm of the children always reminds me why I love it.

Group ProgrammeWe used a theme week—National Gardening Week—to start our term programme, and explored air miles and growing your own food. We’ve also done different types of dance, drumming and bushcraft.We’ve made the most of links with Kinver Woodcraft and the Co-operative to arrange visits from other people, and are planning Tai Chi and making a film with a local film-maker.


Leader-run group with strong parental involvement

SummaryUsing their past experience of parent co- operatives, Clapham District have been able to create a leader led group but with strong parental involvement through termly parent meetings.

Recommendations• Hold a termly parent meeting• Find a suitable day/time/

place and organise childcare• We hold ours on the last night

or first night of a term• Combine it with game

sessions for those unable to find baby sitters

Relevant links• Group Leader resources

woodcraft.org.uk/resources/results/ taxonomy-406

Traditionally the groups in our District have been run as 'parent co- operatives' with most parents expected to run activities on a rota basis. So a termly parents meeting is necessary for this. The new group that’s run by a group of non-parent leaders has decided to continue the practice as we find it involves parents and produces lots of good ideas for sessions. many of our parents turn out to have skills or access to resources (e.g. a local community garden) that can benefit our group nights.Regular meetings are particularly good at engaging parents in Woodcraft Folk and developing a sense among parents that they have some 'ownership' of their group and District.

The meetings are fairly informal. A coordinator/leader produces a timetable and some ideas (e.g. work on a badge, weekend hostel trip), then we bounce ideas around and create a programme. We aim to have co-ordinators/leaders and as many parents as can make it attending - sometimes (if some people can't find babysitters) we combine it with a games session for the kids with parents taking it in turns of 15 minutes or so to run games.

meetings run pretty well without any special support. But people to run a crèche/activities while we meet would be an improvement. One complication is that traditionally all our groups run at the same day/time so there are no 'spare' adult volunteers to do this.

It helps that many of our parents themselves enjoy camping and outdoor activities - some help on group nights mainly for the 'reward' of being welcome on camp. We also have a number of both professional and amateur 'creatives' who enjoy doing crafts, drama, singing etc. and like to share it with the kids.


A group run by a parent co-opSummary How Hastings District plan and run their group nights and events.

Recommendations• make it clear from the outset

that parents are expected to join the organisation and be involved in the running of the group if they are able to (it cannot be a condition of membership)

• Give out copies of the Volunteer Guide, along with aims and principles

• Add half-termly planning meetings to the group diary, with adults planning alongside young members

• Have an e- and hard copy of the rota available at all times

• Hold regular skills audits of adults involved, and discuss how these can be of benefit to the young members

• make meetings social too; bring along food to share, or demonstrate a new game

Relevant links & Information• Group leader resource page

woodcraft.org.uk/resources/ results/taxonomy-406

• Volunteer resources page including volunteer guide woodcraft.org.uk/

Lots of volunteer-led groups are run by one or two committed individuals, which creates a heavy load for those people, limits the size of the group and ultimately makes it unsustainable.

When Hastings re-opened, we (the post-holders) took the opportunity to review the situation, and decided that the best model was a co-operative one, encouraging involvement on any level. We asked all new parents to attend the first session, read the volunteer booklet and aims and principles and, after six weeks, join the national organisation. We asked that parents attend at least one group-night every six weeks (choosing either to work with their own children or not), and come along to at least three planning sessions a year.

We’ve found that the most successful planning sessions involve the adults and children working together to identify what they would (realistically!) most like to do over the coming weeks. We sometimes use ‘prompt’ sheets with titles like ‘What we would like to make’, ‘Where we would like to visit’, ‘What themes we would like to explore’. Sometimes we learn a new game together; sometimes we make and share food.

Parents that are not able to be actively involved offer their help in other ways; they have been the treasurer, they transport equipment, they buy the biscuits! Inevitably some parents do not contribute, but lines of communication are kept open via email and text, and our events and AGm are now well attended. The Volunteer Guides are an invaluable resource, and in this way Folk Office supports the way we work. The regional chair supported us through the re-opening procedure. We are still learning, and identifying more effective ways of working. We need to work out ways of including non-parent volunteers, and plan to deliver ‘Learn to Play’ training as a one-night residential again (adapted for the way and place we work) as soon as we’ve found funding for this.


“I’m not happy to run a group, but enjoy helping out

behind the scenes.”

“It’s great for the young people to see

co-operative principles working in practice.”


The Community Orchard Action ProjectSummarySouthampton Woodcraft have set up and run events at a community orchard using Action Project funding (from TREE) and local links.

Recommendations• Be realistic when planning and

applying for a project• Use links in the community• Find ways to get everyone

involved, in and outside of the District

Relevant links & Information• Our resident expert

theurbaneforager.blogspot.co.uk/p/ campaign.html

• Campaign for a community orchard: on.fb.me/17S0H2f

• Start your own Action Project! woodcraft.org.uk/action-projects

We were informed about the space by a local man “The Urbane Forager” whom the District decided to work with to start the project. At this point we noticed the Action Project fund, so our Venturer and Pioneers groups applied for money to support the orchard. We then used our group sessions to carefully look at what we wanted and the realistic costs.

After receiving the funding, we set out preparing the orchard for the autumn. This included a visit to the Southampton Leet Court to make sure we could pick the apples and crush them, as the land is public. After identifying the trees, clearing and maintaining we were able to hold our first apple crushing day in October. We made a community event out of the day which had a great turn out. This is just the beginning, as we plan to do tree dressing, picnics and apple crushing events each year.

“The orchard has helped to grow our links with the local community including environmental groups and the council. It has also helped to create a stronger sense of community in the area which is fantastic.”

“We’ve seen a small increase in our membership as well, as the events were great promotion for our District.”


Venturer 'kidnappings' to support transition in ExeterSummaryExeter District Fellows (DFs) kidnap the Venturers as a way of bringing them to their first DF group night. It makes the transition fun!

Recommendations• As it is now an established

tradition, Venturer Leaders inform DFs of upcoming birthdays.

• We sometimes do it in more elaborate ways (eg with costumes)

• The Venturer group must know the DF group well for this to work. This is both a requirement and an outcome of this tradition though.

Relevant links & Information• Transition support page:

woodcraft.org.uk/transition• DF Transition booklet: issuu.

com/woodcraftfolk/docs/ df_transitions_booklet- updated_05.0

We have been “kidnapping” Venturers for the last 5 or 6 years as a way introduce a stronger link between us DFs and the Venturers and encourage Venturers to stay on into DFs.

We make sure we talk to the Venturer Leaders regularly about who’s going to turn 16 soon. Once we have a date set for a Venturer’s last session, we will meet up as DFs to walk to the Venturer meeting. We wait for around 30 minutes into their meeting and then we run in to “grab” the new DF to take them to our regular meeting. Once there we use it as a chance to introduce them to the group.

We make sure it’s fun for everyone involved and will regularly feature pillow cases, forward rolls and wacky costumes (ninjas, bodybuilders and formal wear have all featured). The Venturers join in as well and will often huddle together to hide the Venturer.

It has definitely helped the transition between Venturers and DFs - I would say about 90% of people stay on.

“We now have DF meetings of 15 -20 people!”


To engage local groups to make the most of national resources, use:

• Face to face activities including games

• Clear communication about where the idea / need / request has come from, ie young people in local groups

• Stories of how other groups have used the resources to develop

A new youth-led event for Venturers and DFs was trialled but not continued beyond year 1. Instead, the increased involvement of Venturers in the planning of Venturer Camp—usually organised by DFs and young Kinsfolk – has supported transition between the age groups. The creation of Venturer Committee, which now works with DFs to organise Venturer Camp, was key to this.


Recruitment of adults needs to take place locally, and can not be facilitated nationally although nationally we can give local members the tools and resources.

If possible help other organisations and internal groups with space for meetings. Collaboration should happen within and between organisations.

Venturer Camp always felt inclusive, but has become even more so, with Venturer Committee really driving the camp for and by Venturers rather than older young people. Ownership by young people really results in more engagement, less conflict and greater satisfaction.

Twinning and mentoring does take place throughout Woodcraft Folk due to the nature of the movement—but members see no benefit in formalising this, so TREE’s approach became much more organic. Money alone is not the

biggest barrier to setting up a new group - willing

volunteers is the key.


It means working in ways that include people of any age, gender, ethnicity, ability and sexual orientation. Anecdotally, Woodcraft Folk groups are perceived to be friendly, welcoming communities where young people expect to feel accepted, valued and included. We not only have stated principles of equality and tolerance but regularly take action in support of groups whose rights or welfare are under threat. So it made sense when Group Leaders told us that their groups often include children and young people who haven’t felt welcome elsewhere, and that in general their Woodcraft Folk group seemed to give all its members a fun, positive experience. But they also said they’d like more training, sharing of practice and a higher ratio of volunteers to children / young people so that individuals with additional needs

“[The biggest impact has been] learning to value people who are different from me, because through doing that I’ve widened my life experience; and it’s all been fun too.”

“I’ve become more sensitive to others through mediation training and meeting lots more people.”

“YOUNG PEOPLE WITh DISAbILITIES WILL hAVE mORE SOCIAL OPPORTUNITIES TO INTERACT WITh ThEIR PEERS ThROUGh ThE INCREASED UNDERSTANDING AND ACCESS AT WOODCRAFT FOLK GROUP ACTIVITIES PROVIDED DURING ThE FIRST 2 yEARS OF ThE PROjECT.”

Woodcraft Folk’s motto ‘Span the world with friendship’ doesn’t just mean being open to anyone who wants to join us and enjoying international exchanges with other youth groups.

can be supported better.


“YOUNG PEOPLE WITh DISAbILITIES WILL hAVE mORE SOCIAL OPPORTUNITIES TO INTERACT WITh ThEIR PEERS ThROUGh ThE INCREASED UNDERSTANDING AND ACCESS AT WOODCRAFT FOLK GROUP ACTIVITIES PROVIDED DURING ThE FIRST 2 yEARS OF ThE PROjECT.”

Support groups to use inclusive recruitment methods when engaging new members

TREE engaged Change Agents UK to work with 30 Woodcraft Folk Districts on reviewing and developing their inclusive recruitment practices. This work was published as case studies so that all Woodcraft Folk groups—and other youth groups—could benefit. It was also launched and explored with members at national events such as Development Conference and Annual Gathering, and many recommendations have been taken on board by the national organisation too. Progress in recruitment is also covered in Chapter 4.

Our main activitiesDeliver workshops and training on supporting young people with additional needs

As well as supporting groups to review how physically accessible their meeting places were, we invited various organisations to deliver one-off workshops at camps and full weekends of training in a range of locations so that there were as many opportunities as possible for volunteers to share and learn ways of including young people with additional needs. All training was free, and all advice and guidance produced by activities during the training was published as free resources for anyone who couldn’t make it or wanted a reminder. Training activities were accessible to volunteers of all ages, but Venturers and DFs were particularly engaged by workshops at camp, and taster events where young people with and without disabilities worked together. Our main focus was on communication difficulties, for example young people with autistic spectrum disorders, ADHD and sensory impairments.

Improve the information we have about who is in our groups

The TREE Programme supported the development of a new website and online membership database for Woodcraft Folk, which enables staff and volunteers to share information and resources. Woodcraft Folk can now monitor the demographics of our groups and share advice and activities that will help groups become representative of their communities. We’ve created guidance and run training to help local volunteers publish their own advice and stories to the website, and given District Membership Secretaries access to District membership records online.


• The first national youth-led campaign Right to Refuge produced activities to help Woodcraft Folk groups include young refugees and asylum seekers, and supported an evening of entertainment by Poetic Pilgrimage, a female muslim hip hop duo at Venturer Camp 2010.

• Woodcraft Folk’s Deaf Friendly policy was reviewed by our Trustee Board, updated and approved in January 2013.

• A new partnership with the Downs Syndrome Association was developed in 2012, to support groups to include young people with Downs.

• Guidance from the National Deaf Children’s Society has been reissued to Group Leaders, giving them tips on how to include and support children and young people with hearing impairments.

• Deaf Awareness training was delivered at national events including Venturer Camp in August 2013.

• Promoting Positive Behaviour training was part of the programme at Blue Skies Camp in August 2013, supporting new leaders to manage challenging behaviour.

• Youngminds has continued to provide training to local groups, enabling adult volunteers to more effectively include and engage young people with mental health issues.

Practical advice on making sure Woodcraft

Folk activities and events are accessible to young people with difficulties

is available to all groups online at woodcraft.

org.uk/resources.

41.3% of respondents to TREE’s final survey said they were more

confident to engage young people with disabilities

or additional needs now. 58.7% said their confidence

had stayed the same.

100% of participants who responded to

TREE’s final survey said training in disability awareness had been

useful to them.


The National Autistic Society

Woodcraft Folk’s partnership with the National Autistic Society has brought many benefits to our groups and volunteers, including how our group nights are run and what support is provided on Woodcraft Folk camps for young people with additional communication needs.

• We did four training events for volunteers in different locations

• We produced online advice and guidance for volunteer leaders

• We circulated good practice materials

• We Introduced a new ‘Camp Buddy’ role to support young people with additional needs (see right)

• We invited specialist support staff from NAS to camp to enable Pioneer-aged children to attend their first Woodcraft Folk camp in Swindon.

Stroud Valleys Woodcraft Folk have a volunteer whose role is

Group Guardian, helping everyone include each other and ensure

children’s specific needs are met. They liaise with the District Inclusion

Officer to spread good inclusive practice across the District.

You can read the role descriptions on woodcraft.org.uk/volunteer-role-descriptions.


Camp Buddy roles

Volunteers realised that camps are in many ways particularly suitable for autistic children and young people, partly as they are outdoors and noise levels are lower and also that camps already have clear routines.

Prior to camp, children should be identified who may need extra support to access camp activities— perhaps because they are less confident, have difficulty reading, or difficulty socialising.

Remember to write up the daily routine and display this prominently – maybe using pictures/photos to display activities.

Explain specific daily options – make sure daily options are clear and that identified children are prompted to ensure that they’re clear about what the options are and how they can access them.They might need to be taken to their chosen workshop or ensure that the group goes and returns together.

maintain a continual programme of activities; avoid empty time where children migrate back to their tents which can be excluding/cliquey. Take ideas for activities to fill up empty time; have a clear area in camp circle with games that don’t need supervision, e.g. juggling, Diablo, swing ball.

make a quiet area with games, e.g. chess, cards, craft materials. It could be that the craft tent is open at these times for drop-ins.

Top Ten Tips for Group Nights

Volunteers on the training felt that many of the strategies for including young people with learning difficulties or autism were in most cases good practice and helpful for all children and young people. Delegates agreed the following Top Ten Tips for group nights:

1. Send out the programme in advance2. Help children and young people plan the

programme3. Set a routine for group night4. Have a consistent approach; adults

present, routine, role of adults, behaviour expected of young people

5. Help young people set their own ground rules

6. Debrief / evaluate sessions with children and leaders

7. Leaders: bear in mind strengths and weaknesses when planning activities, e.g. who is patient.

8. Adults’ self awareness - reflect on their own roles and how they might be contributing to difficulties in the group e.g. shouting and thereby increasing conflict.

9. Know your environment and its limitations, e.g. halls with dreadful acoustics

10. Convey information in different ways, e.g. pictures, photos, written down instructions, flow charts


SummaryStroud Valleys Woodcraft has been working in close partnership with a local organisation to engage disabled young people in the area. It’s revolutionised the Woodcraft experience for young people, with and without disabilities. The District has linked up at all ages and done a range of activities, from one night sessions to camps.

Recommendations

• Go meet people where they already are. Say Hi and ask to join in, find out more and see what you can do together.

• make sure members get some training so they feel confident and able. Local councils are a good place to ask for free training.

• While disabled young people have as much to give as others, they also have very busy lives where a lot is programmed, so they may just be looking for somewhere to chill out and be a young person.

Relevant links & Information• stroudwoodcraft.org.uk• Our partner organisation: www.

allsortsglos.org.uk • Advice on being inclusive: www.

woodcraft.org.uk/inclusion

Our disability partnershipHow it came aboutThe partnership was set up when we became aware that Allsorts, a local youth organisation, were looking for partners to work with disabled young people and children locally. Working with Allsorts inspired us—we saw how easy it was to overcome the barriers we’d assumed were there when working with disabled young people. So the District worked with Allsorts to put everything in place for disabled young people to attend in a safe and enjoyable way.

The support we provide volunteersOne of the key things we did was set up the Group Guardian role in each group, a person who doesn’t lead but instead is on hand to support individuals and be a point of contact for parents. Each of the Guardians received training from Allsorts and are supported by the part time staff member Stroud District employs.As well as this role, we as did a few simple things to make sure we were ready for the disabled young people. We ran first aid training with a focus on working with young people with disabilities, as well as inclusion training from Allsorts. This helped us to overcome barriers and have practical ways to include disabled young people in activities. We got funding from the local youth development fund, for safeguarding training from Woodcraft staff, and future training too. members volunteered at disabled young people’s camping trips—to learn through doing.

The impact on young peopleThe Venturers have been on disability camps and were blown away by the experience. They could see what disabled young people are able to do and offer rather than seeing their disability. It really brought out the best of them around their disabled peers and it was a fulfilling time. The Woodchips have created a link with a local group with a huge range of disabilities and regularly meet up to swap sessions.


“All this was about making sure our members were confident in working with young people with disabilities.”


Volunteer recruitment - Trainee teachers get involved

Recommendations

Get online Ensure that any online information is up-to-date and should be used to advertise volunteering opportunities. It is apparent that those interested in volunteering look at these resources (such as Facebook and social media pages).

Collaborate with local Districts There are similarities between the two Districts and their volunteer needs. The resources made were generic and suitable for both Districts. Districts could collaborate when recruiting or producing resources. This could minimise time spent and burden of recruitment.

Induction of volunteers The provision of induction events when conducting further recruitment is invaluable and a fantastic opportunity for those interested in volunteering to learn more. The Districts should use the recently developed “Volunteer Toolkit” for ideas on what could be included.

Get specific with university courses Recruitment through universities (or specific courses) should be examined further.

The issue“Glasgow Districts highlighted that while parents have been an invaluable and integral part of their groups, the commitment could be draining and they wished to find more standalone volunteers who could attend regularly.”

Change Agents UK worked with the Glasgow Districts and identified that students on teacher training courses had the interest and commitment to working with children that Woodcraft Folk needs from our volunteers. Below are Change Agents UK’s conclusions on how the Glasgow Districts can make the most of this opportunity.


RECOMMENDED ACTION NATIONAL WOODCRAFT FOLK LOCAL DISTRICTS AND GROUPSVolunteer recruitment

advertsProvide standard templates and share them Regularly update adverts locally and share them

Targeting those keen to learn

Build a contacts database of teaching and education establishments

Seek volunteers from and build links with local teaching and education establishments

The volunteer journey and training

Provide standard induction materials and clear on-going training opportunities

Provide training for new and current volunteers in collaboration with other local Districts to deliver

this training Knowledge and skills audit

to inform recruitment processes

Provide templates for skills audit or volunteer roles

Undertake skills audit for existing volunteers and all tasks to identify requirements

Mass marketing/Profile raising

National press and social media coverage Local press and social media coverage based on Folk House examples 1

Online communications Increase information and activity online for current and potential volunteers

Use the National website and social media opportunities

Reinforcing the role of Volunteer Coordinator

Training for Volunteer Coordinators Allocate Volunteer Coordinator role

Role definition and standardisation

Define recommended roles and provide role descriptions including support available

Refine role descriptions to link with District needs

Running adverts in parallel with other activity

Publicise the benefits of ‘Twinning Lonely Hearts’ 2 and coordinate

national recruitment for specific roles

Combine activity such as a recruitment push with attending local events. Link in to organised national recruitment for specific roles or local

Districts Guidance and support for

onlinepresence

Make better use of local profiles on national website including an action ‘button’ for

volunteering

Ensure website is up to date and social networking opportunities are taken locally and nationally

Rota system for volunteers Review the rota system to ensure it creates a safe environment for participants

Local rotas are established, particularly for occasional volunteers, only in addition

to regular volunteers

Adult social timeProvide resource to have national and regional adult socials at Camp and separately to group

sessions

Support local volunteers by providing social events regularly

Taster sessions and events Nationalise ‘playouts’ with a calendar of events on the national website

Host a ‘playout’ on one of the designated days for potential volunteers and young people

Balancing volunteer genders Produce case studies to engage male volunteers on the national

and local websites

Support male volunteers by offering a range of roles and flexible opportunities


ReflectionsPartnerships with expert organisations are hugely important. We’re extremely grateful to the organisations we’ve worked with for sharing their resources, advice and time—in particular the National Autistic Society and National Deaf Children’s Society. We encourage Woodcraft Folk to maintain these wonderful friendships!

Increasing hall rents have been a big challenge for many youth groups including Woodcraft Folk, particularly in the south. This makes finding a physically accessible venue for the group even more difficult. Woodcraft Folk and others have recognised the need to campaign for fairer hall rents.

TREE found it difficult to gather demographic data from local Woodcraft Folk groups, where volunteer leaders perhaps aren’t used to collating and sharing this sort of information, or are wary of comparison with other groups. We’re still looking for an incentive for groups to share this data and would welcome advice from groups on how they can be supported to share information more widely.

Inclusion needs to be embedded into all activities, as it makes the Woodcraft Folk experience better for all children and young people. Our training course ‘Promoting Positive Behaviour’ has been run at national events to help leaders support co-operative and friendly behaviour in their groups and we hope it will continue to be run.


“130 yOUNG PEOPLE WILL DEVELOP COmmUNICATION, COmmITTEE AND PROjECT mANAGEmENT SKILLS by bECOmING mORE ACTIVE IN ThE DEmOCRATIC AND DECISION mAKING STRUCTURES OF WOODCRAFT FOLK ON A REGIONAL AND NATIONAL LEVEL, AND DIRECTING ThE ORGANISATION ThROUGhOUT ThIS PROjECT.”

This ambition is about that brilliant experience of Woodcraft Folk democracy and leadership being extended to more young people, and being the most positive experience we can make it.

Throughout our history, Woodcraft Folk has maintained the strong values that keep us all working together as equals and break down potential barriers, without developing too much of the hierarchy or bureaucracy that can become a hindrance to the participation of all but the most powerful. Throughout a child or young person’s journey in Woodcraft Folk, they’re involved in planning and running activities so that they develop the skills and attitudes to work as equals with others and take interest in and responsibility for their group or community: to co-operate.

When devising the TREE Programme, young people said they were able to participate in local Woodcraft Folk democracy but much less often in national democracy. Being able to join in with national decision-making was dependent on who you knew, how much your leader passed on to you and where in the country you were. Young people suggested there should be more stepping stones between local and national decision-making, and better support for people who did volunteer for national / committee roles. The TREE Steering Group and Communications Group made most of the decisions around this outcome, did much of the work, and are in themselves inspiring examples of new opportunities for young people to direct the organisation.


more access to opportunities to participate

This is partly helping young members know about and feel encouraged to join in with Woodcraft Folk’s existing myriad of decision-making opportunities. With dedicated development staff and a Communications Group of young people, TREE could make sure information was engagingly put together and circulated as effectively as possible. We could keep digital communications youth-led and up to date, as well as roaming around Woodcraft Folk groups and events to share stories of great participation, gather requests for support and keep emphasising the message that young people are welcome in Woodcraft Folk democracy. Practical progress—especially the introduction of free national membership for under 16s—was essential too.

TREE also supported the creation of new ways to participate—some more anticipated than others! We were thrilled to help establish the first ever Venturer Committee, bringing about national representation for 13—15 year olds across the movement. We also developed a very youth-led decision-making process to identify campaign topics, which is shared later in this chapter.

Our activities fall into three main areas.Support to participate in democracy

Young people were quite clear about the main areas of support needed so they could get more involved—not only in democracy but any new roles. mentoring was needed to help the many skilled and experienced volunteers around the organisation to pass on their enthusiasm and knowledge.

TREE, with expert input from the Co-operative College, created a mentor role description, training course and matching process, and gradually embedded this into other events and training courses. We developed Bored meeting—training to help any new committee or task group work in a fair, fun and inclusive way. And we gave practical help in the form of travel and accommodation booking and funding, provision of a crèche where necessary, and chaperoning to any young person who wanted it.


“I’ve gained confidence, knowledge and experience. I feel happy that I am more involved in Woodcraft at a wider level. It feels good that I understand how Woodcraft works better than I did before. I no longer feel useless as I can help and bring something to the movement. I now really feel a part of Woodcraft.”


“Annual Gathering was one of my favourite things that I’ve been to. I made a lot of friends and contacts that weekend. The Venturer Committee people convinced me to stand and I got involved with The Courier [Woodcraft Folk’s youth-led co- operative newspaper]. I realised that there were more fantastic people in Woodcraft and more of a movement than just my own group. Since then, I’ve been on the editorial board of The Courier for two issues and I got elected to Venturer Committee; being able to vote on behalf of my group made me feel like I was a valued part of a movement.”

Jake, Venturer

In 2008 22% of delegates at Annual Gathering were under 25. This rose to 55% in 2011, and was 41% in 2013. Informed by young people’s ideas in the TREE business plan, young volunteers in the Communications Group created a short film and a postcard to better promote this huge opportunity for decision-making in Woodcraft Folk, and the Steering Group set a significant example by reviewing the Woodcraft Folk constitution and taking proposed amendments to Annual Gathering in 2010, aiming to make it fairer and more accessible to young members.

It’s a sign of Woodcraft Folk’s inherent respect for young people that the two motions brought by the Steering Group were debated passionately like any other motion, and not simply voted through as a tokenistic gesture of support.

many different activities and resources have been produced to help local members—of any age—

understand how Annual Gathering works and how they can participate or be represented there. The Rough Guide to Annual Gathering has been distributed since 2010 to help first-time delegates and a fun selection of group night activities to debate upcoming issues and support a delegate to represent the group were gathered into a menu of Annual Gathering Preparation. Delicious, flavoursome stew of ideas anyone?

It’s all online at woodcraft.org.uk/ resources/AG-prep.

The process of Annual Gathering itself has been made more accessible over the 5 years, to include Open Space, workshops, skill-sharing and introductory sessions for first-time delegates. It’s no wonder the age of the youngest ever delegate to propose a motion at Annual Gathering is now nine.

Participation in Annual Gathering (Woodcraft Folk’s Annual General meeting)


Communicating Woodcraft Folk democracy

Cadence pointed out to TREE that we needed to gather the main ways of joining in Woodcraft Folk decision-making in one place, as information was piecemeal and the wide, flat structure of Woodcraft Folk could make it difficult to see right to the edges.

It was a challenge to summarise! Young people in the Steering Group and Communications Group devised this infographic, designed by young Edinburgh member Josie.

Approximately 400 young people have become active in regional and national Woodcraft Folk democracy, and also represented Woodcraft Folk at other organisations’ events such as the British Youth Council’s Annual Council meeting. This is over 200% more young people than we hoped for.

Over 550 children and young people contributed to the Participation Plan developed in TREE’s first year, which was the basis for embedding participation throughout Woodcraft Folk

Through TREE, members as young as ten contributed as equals to a national committee, gaining confidence, skills and experience and giving a huge amount of insight and commitment to the group.

“TREE's own internal governance has been a real strength of the programme.”

“TREE has begun to put young people back into the centre of decision making and influence, particularly at national and regional level. There are lots more [young] people now on General Council and more coming to Annual Gathering; and playing an active role too. TREE has had a big impact on Woodcraft Folk governance overall.”


The Communications Group ran the Right to Refuge campaign:

• They were trained in campaigning by the Community Foundation

• They met young Afghan asylum seekers through the Refugee Council

• They made a campaign plan including setting three key aims

• They compiled educational activities for groups to engage with the issues of refugees and asylum seekers arriving in the UK (with lots of help from knowledgeable Woodcraft Folk members!)

• They created campaign materials to inform and inspire Woodcraft Folk groups and the public, with an emphasis on ideas for action and key people to get on board—and distributed these to all groups

• They ran workshops on the campaign at their local groups, at Venturer Camp and CoCamp

• Alec organised a gig in support of his local refugee community and went on local radio to promote it

• more ideas for making asylum seekers and refugees feel welcome in our

COmmUNICATIONS GROUP

communities were distributed to groups in time for Refugee Week

As a result of the Right to Refuge Campaign

• 63% of groups who used Right to Refuge resources said they’d gained quite a lot, a lot or a huge amount of knowledge and skills from them

• 4 letters were written to the Home Office asking for better support for asylum seekers

• Signatures were added to the petition calling

The Right to Refuge

for Pascal, an asylum seeker in England, to be allowed to remain—which was successful

• Action Projects were started in support of local refugees in two areas

• DFs voted to campaign in support of refugees too


1. FACE TO FACETREE staff gathered a huge list of all the issues children and young people cared strongly about. They did this by visiting groups and camps and running games and activities. To engage more participants for the second campaign theme, group night activities were created and sent out so groups could brainstorm and explore issues without a visit from staff.

2. ONLINE VOTINGThe long list of issues gathered was made into an online poll to engage even more young people in voting for the issue they felt was most important. Very similar issues were gathered together. The poll was posted on Facebook and emailed to Group Leaders, as well as being promoted by the Steering Group and Communications Group.

The Right to Refuge campaign was the first time Woodcraft Folk had created a national, youth-led campaign. Young people were especially pleased with the way the theme of the campaign was decided, and the TREE Steering Group chose to use the same process—with a couple of additional activities—to decide the second campaign theme. Here’s the process:

I’ve really enjoyed being part of the Comms Group—we’ve gelled together and I’ve learned a lot. Through running the Right to Refuge campaign, I now understand the problems and difficulties faced by refugee and asylum seeking families, and it’s a great sense of achievement to have produced concrete things like the campaign pack—even better to see that groups are using them! I’ve also learned how to work effectively in a group to achieve jointly agreed outcomes.

James, 17, Communications

Group member

3. TESTING THE SHORTLISTThe four most popular issueswere discussed rigorously by theSteering Group, splitting into small groups and using specific questions to analyse each campaign’s potential. For the second campaign theme, the Communications Group were invited to create mock campaigns for each issue, to help everyone work out which would make a realistic and worthwhile campaign.

4. CONSENSUS DECISION-MAKINGThe Steering Group (and for the second campaign also the Communications Group) participated in a facilitated discussion and came to a consensus on one issue, having discarded one or two issues based on reflections at stage 3.


Mentoring was an important way of helping young people take on new roles, challenges and responsibilities.

Interest in becoming a mentor, including amongst Pioneers and Venturers, was high, and we started incorporating mentor training sessions into more general training events such as Training for Leaders Old and New. However, finding young people who felt they needed a mentor was always a struggle. This could be partly due to the inherent problem that if you’re starting something new, it can be difficult to know what help is available to you. Woodcraft Folk struggles to make sure members involved locally know what national projects and initiatives can offer them. We also believe Woodcraft Folk volunteers are so wonderfully co-operative and supportive already, that anyone taking on something new may develop an informal mentoring relationship with other volunteers who’ve done that thing before. Which is great!

As the mentoring scheme grew more organic and integrated with existing Woodcraft Folk support structures, TREE created a Woodcraft Folk Agony Aunt on Facebook, to support people with practical questions, and the Young Leaders Facebook Group, where young people leading on anything can get ideas and support each other.

mentoring

The Co-operative College helped us to devise the role of the mentor and how the relationship between the mentor and mentee would work, plus a training course that evolved to suit various timescales and locations. Consistent with Woodcraft Folk values, the mentor and mentee are equals, encouraged to share skills and recognise that the mentor, as well as the mentee, benefits from the relationship. Young members helped make the scheme very flexible around the participants’ needs, telling TREE that their experience of very formal mentoring schemes at school wasn’t that positive.The TREE Communications Group and Steering Group tested a few different names for the mentoring scheme, and concluded that ‘mentoring’ was fine—anything more elaborate just confused people!


mentors

“I mentored an EVS volunteer experiencing Woodcraft for the first time. We would meet about once every 2 weeks to talk about how things were going and to make sure she was getting the most out of her role. It’s really interesting to see a role from the eyes of someone who hasn’t done it before. We also looked at what she had learnt from her role and it was good to have time to reflect on this. Something that is not always possible in the frenetic business of Woodcraft organisation. Overall it was a nice and fairly small role that opened my horizons to new things.”

“Normally we speak about every 2-3 weeks on the phone, we don’t have face-to-face meetings. We haven’t spoken for a while - it depends when my mentee feels he needs to talk things through - we spoke a lot when a particular challenge came up but now there is a bit of calm.

I think we have a clear pattern to how we structure our relationship, I think I have been of use to him. I think I could be more pro-active in contacting him instead of waiting to see if he contacts me.

I think it gives him confidence in his decisions and a helpful sounding board. As I’m not involved in a group at the moment I like having a regular check-in with things Woodcraft Folk.”

mentees

“I chaired the CoCamp board. As a board we all tried to be very supportive of each other and I got lots of support from other board members – in particular one person was great. Whenever I rang them to check how they were they always asked how I was doing and we tried to always check up on each other – but also I had support from other people who'd been involved in similar projects in the past and some staff members.

It was really great because it's starting to feel like people understand that positive feedback is really helpful as well.Mentoring is a brilliant idea because I think that one of the things that we're not so good at as an organisation is sharing our skills with each other and making sure that experiences are shared between different people.”

“I am going to be joint KP at next years Venturer camp. The KP from CoCamp has said she’ll mentor us by helping with any problems and questions we need help with. It is definitely reassuring to know that I can talk to her and ask her questions about the process as I’ve never done a job this big on a camp before. I’ve done smaller camps, with my District, but never anything with 800 people! “


Exeter Spring Camp mentorsSummaryWe’ve involved new and younger people in camp roles by structuring it so that you first do the role as an ‘apprentice’ to someone else, before taking on the full role the next time.

Recommendations

1. Be very clear about camp roles. This helps the camp and the individuals in those roles as well as having beneficial knock on effects to DFs and the Woodcraft Folk movement as a whole.

2. It’s difficult to write or explain your experience of something like this so you’ve just got to do it! It’s very important to try to do it.

3. Not much of a system is needed, the pairs work out what suits them best. Just making it available for people taking up camp roles for the first time to have someone to talk to and ask makes it so much easier to take on a role!

4. If anyone’s interested in seeing it in action they can come to Exeter camp and see how brilliant it is - warts and all. Just contact us.

It was decided that each post on camp will have a ‘postholder’ and ‘assistant’ - a team of two, one experienced, the other less so. That team is voted in at the January district meeting, and then works together before and during and after the camp. Postholders understand that an essential part of the job is training the assistant—this may not be something the postholder is experienced in.

Those involved are selected through a nominations process. After the team is selected, the pair meet to get a basic understanding of their jobs at this particular camp. It’s great because everyone with posts on camp gets involved.

Post-camp, postholder/assistant pairs meet before the formal debrief meeting to discuss their experience of the camp and for the postholder to give constructive & positive feedback to the assistant. Assistants can also give feedback on the postholder’s mentoring.

In giving & receiving feedback, both parties are asked to remember some golden rules:

• Use a mix of positive & constructive• Specific examples are very helpful• Criticism must be specific, factual and tactful

There is no obligation for an assistant to proceed to postholder next year. Age limits were decided for specific posts, most assistant posts asked for over 13s and most postholders to be over 16.


“Adults and young people need

guidance and feedback as much as

each other.”

“I wouldn’t have known where to

start!”

“I did it to be proactive and

contribute to the camp”

“It strengthened our DF group”


SummaryGreen Elm Elfins, Pioneers, and Venturers explain how they plan their term’s programme

Recommendations• Treat everyone involved – and all

their ideas – as equal• Enable people to contribute their

ideas comfortably by splitting into small groups or asking them to write down their ideas – don’t just ask people to shout out

• You can use voting to narrow down the list of activities to the right number for the term but try to allow some discussion so anyone with strong feelings for or against something can be heard and hopefully a consensus can be reached

• Invite children and young people to lead activities where they feel they can

Relevant links & Information• Choose It – Plan it – Do it

Activities to involve young people in decision-making woodcraft.org.uk/resources/choose-it-plan-it-do-it.

Programme planning with childrenWe start with the premise that everyone is involved in putting their ideas forward.

The only rule is that the activity has to fit with the aims and principles of Woodcraft Folk. We usually do this in small groups, or individually if people prefer, and gather the info on large bits of paper or on pieces of card that can be moved around. People can also indicate any activities that they want to lead (whatever their age).

The next stage is deciding what to include and what to leave out or postpone to another time. Sometimes we've done this by voting using buttons as tokens, with everyone having a given number of buttons that they can 'spend' on activities. The activities with most votes are included in the programme. Other times we've had 'definitely would like' and 'definitely wouldn't like' tables: people can move cards with activities written on them onto different tables so that we end up with a table of activities that everyone is happy with. Anyone can veto something that they'd really not like doing and others can make a case for including it if they feel very strongly that it should be done.

The result should be a programme that everyone is happy about, includes activities that excite the people in the group and where young people are strongly encouraged to take responsibility for leading activities either individually or as a group (with adult support if needed/wanted).


Steering Group stories

Susie said that initially it was difficult for the Steering Group to work effectively because it was a new group, people didn’t know each other, there was a big age range, and it seemed that every time they met it was a different group of people. Things had really moved on though now, with a core group of people coming to all meetings and as a result they had got to know each other much better. The group were also a lot clearer about their purpose and how to get the most out of meetings.

This had been helped by some specific training called bored meeting which showed how you could avoid meetings being boring yet still make sure they are effective. As well as giving practical examples of how to tackle issues on the agenda creatively

through activity based sessions and group work, it explained in detail about the various committees and decision making structures in the Woodcraft Folk. This meant that everyone understood how TREE and the Steering Group linked to all the rest of various committees and groups in Woodcraft Folk such as General Council, the DF movement, various working groups, the staff team, the TREE Communications Group, Annual Gathering, and so on. What had seemed a bit mysterious and confusing finally became clear!

She highlighted a number of areas in which the Steering Group had been successful: empowering young people to give them an influential voice within Woodcraft; being responsible for deciding on the national Right to Refuge campaign; and making decisions on funding requests (up to £500) from local Woodcraft groups for Local Action Projects.

Broadly speaking he was pleased how TREE was turning out. He pointed out that they had been very ambitious in the business plan and that as a consequence all of its targets may not be met. He thought it was better to have “stretch” targets like these rather than be satisfied with achieving lesser, more easily attainable, outcomes.

misha noted that the establishment and early work of the Steering and Communications groups had been great at involving Pioneers and Venturers and enabling them to take a key role in decision-making. He pointed to the process by which the Steering Group took responsibility for deciding on the national Right to Refuge campaign and the subsequent work on the detail of campaign by the Communications Group as being clear successes. He said that he was also really pleased with how the TREE staff team was working and how committed they all were to the project.

Interviews by Paul from Cadence


Izzy was ten when she joined the TREE Steering Group.

“When I joined I wasn’t sure that anyone would really listen to my ideas on things and I was very nervous; but one of the first things I noticed was that people seemed really interested when I did put things forward and that was great. Recently I put forward an idea for a new name for a campaign based on geocaching. I suggested we call it “Hands In”. It was the one that most people liked so it was agreed. That was good!”

“It’s great now because I can see that many of the ideas that came up through the Steering Group are making a big difference on Woodcraft. The plans the Steering Group come up with really do make a difference to what happens.”

“I have learnt a lot from being a member of the Steering Group and I am much more confident now than I was when I started. Since being involved with the Steering Group I’ve become a member of Venturer Committee

and been to Annual Gathering twice. I don’t think I would have been confident enough to do these kinds of things if not for TREE. It’s had a real impact on me. We do a lot of activities that help us make decisions. I really like it that sometimes the sessions on the Steering Group are led by us and not the other TREE team people. Often that makes it easier for us to understand and we can get the message across better”.

“If there are other young people thinking being on a committee is boring, I’d tell them that it won’t be like what they’re expecting and that it’s a lot more Woodcrafty than they think it is. It’s not like a formal meeting. There are lots of activities involved and it’s a social thing – a good way of meeting new people. The best thing though is that you can really make things happen.”


We’ve demonstrated that Venturers can also function and contribute to the movement. With continued support from DFs and from Woodcraft Folk as a whole, Venturer Committee should thrive, developing to achieve even more for Venturers across the UK and providing an inspiring example to 13—15 year olds beyond Woodcraft Folk.

Resources to support participation in national democracy also support participation in local democracy, eg Annual Gathering preparation activities can be used before a District Committee meeting.

TREE has sometimes used the approach of creating separate roles / programme for young people (for example at Annual Gathering and Development Conference) but more recently mixed everyone together. Partly because these fun and accessible ways of working, and the support young people need, is also needed by older members and partly because true democracy needs everyone ‘present’ - not divided according to lines that can never reflect the similarities and differences human beings have.

95% of young people who have attended Annual Gathering say it improved their knowledge or skills.

92% of the TREE Steering Group say being in it has improved their skills or knowledge ‘quite a lot’, ‘a lot’ or ‘a huge amount’.

ThoughtsJulie on why a formal scheme like mentoring (and Follow the Trail) might not work well in Woodcraft Folk:“The formal scheme is very structured and based on a one to one support arrangement. Woodcraft in general tends to be based more on a collective, collaborative ethos and maybe, in retrospect, some kind of group mentoring and support would have been a better fit. Also, my experience of people in Woodcraft is that, in general, they don't seem to like over-structured systems and means of support. I think the mentoring scheme was developed from successful initiatives elsewhere, but maybe it wasn't readily transferable to an organisation like Woodcraft?”

Outdoor Centre management Committees often include young people from Districts in the region. They’re a great way for young people who love outdoor adventure to experience decision-making at their local Centre. They should be included in future editions of Decisions Decisions and celebrated in case studies!

High levels of youth participation give the organisation quite different challenges from one that’s struggling to involve young people in the first place. Woodcraft Folk needs to ensure there is funding for young people to attend the meetings they want to attend, to keep face to face and communications systems safe so that under 18s can participate fully, and remember that ‘young’ doesn’t mean ‘less experienced’ - sometimes less experienced members are older and can benefit from the support of younger members.

Formal systems for strengthening youth participation haven’t worked that well, and TREE has responded by making these systems much more flexible and adaptable to local need.

Reflections Numbers


I have been able to get my opinions and the opinions of non-

represented people heard, via the Comms group and

Venturer committee.


Woodcraft Folk thrives on our volunteers—their energy, their ideas, their passion for Woodcraft Folk values and their commitment to empowering young people.

Many of our volunteers are young people themselves, and TREE’s fourth ambition is about making sure Woodcraft Folk offers a varied range of volunteer roles so everyone has something to get involved in, matching up young people’s interests and skills with what Woodcraft Folk needs to be done on a local, regional and national level. It’s also about improving our support for volunteers of all ages who already run groups, organise camps, train and campaign in Woodcraft Folk—for whom resources are always stretched to their utmost.

ran a Young Trainers training course as part of TREE, and we connected as many new Young Trainers as we could with opportunities to put their skills into practice at Woodcraft Folk events and also external events.

Woodcraft Folk Explorers was an idea for a new role that didn’t get off the ground properly. TREE aimed to help young people to reach out beyond their own District and visit others, offering the benefit of an outside perspective to help the other District enhance their youth participation. We tried inviting older volunteers who might be looking for something different after leading a group for years, but this national idea simply didn’t translate into a local reality. This left Follow the Trail, which Explorers would have run in their host District, without its intended Champions.

young Reporters was an unplanned role that we developed when the new website launched and it was possible for any member to publish their own stories there. Journalists delivered training to Pioneers and Venturers who went on to

“PROVIDE 2000 YOUNG PEOPLE WITH CHALLENGING ExPERIENCES, TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES FOR ACCREDITATION THROUGH THE DEVELOPmENT OF 5 NEW SUPPORTED VOLUNTEERING ROLES, AS WELL AS INCREASING SUPPORT FOR ExISTING VOLUNTEER ROLES BY 2014.”

RolesThe specific volunteer roles TREE supported changed as the project developed. As with the concept of a ‘young leader’ specifically, we recognised that young people don’t train for and act within one strict role—they have lots of different interests, and need to be able to develop or use different skills at different times. The role of mentor was created, as described above, to help the more experienced support the less experienced. Young Campaigners and young Action Project Leaders were also created by the national youth-led campaign and the Action Project scheme, also described earlier in the book.

young Trainers remained in the plan. Young people had been able to become trainers before TREE started, but without specific encouragement or training, and our network of volunteer trainers tended to be those with years’ worth of experience, who themselves didn’t have much support to try and meet the many training needs of Woodcraft Folk. The Co-operative College created and


report news from their Districts, stories from national Woodcraft Folk events and also external events. Ongoing local activity has been difficult to support from a national level, but the outputs from national and external events have contributed brilliantly to practice-sharing, showcasing Woodcraft Folk democracy and demonstrating how brilliant young Woodcraft Folk are.

young Leaders is a significant role, both for a volunteer-led organisation and for one that strives for positive social change. As mentioned earlier, our idea of youth leadership broadened from leading a group or people in typical Woodcraft Folk activities to leading change—whether through an educational event, a campaign or a social action project. As planned, a mix of staff, volunteers of all ages and participation experts developed Leading for the Future to underpin all these manifestations of youth leadership. Support for leadership of this wide-ranging and socially conscious type has happened at training events such as Training for Leaders Old and

New, practice-sharing events, local Woodcraft Folk groups, and plenty of other youth organisations (see chapter 5 for successes there!).

Youth Participation Ambassadors were conceived towards the end of TREE when we were working out how to hand over our resources, projects and ways of working to young volunteers themselves. The TREE Steering Group helped us design this role to sustain TREE’s impacts and engage other young people in a broad role where they could choose which area of youth participation they wanted to champion.

We trained lots of young volunteers, and collected

everyone’s ideas into the Youth Participation Ambassador Pack which is on our Issuu page: issuu.com/woodcraftfolk


We brought young people with different skills and roles together at Co-operatives United, where they worked together to facilitate, interview, network, explore and generally make friends with everyone at the event. Woodcraft Folk was perfectly represented.

We engaged around 2,000 young people in training, skill-sharing, campaigning and representing themselves and others in Woodcraft Folk and on behalf of Woodcraft Folk.

100% of young people who’d participated in TREE activities said they’d gained skills and knowledge.


We raised awareness of the many and varied roles young people can take on in Woodcraft Folk, supporting specific roles such as Young Group Leaders and Young Trainers, but also helping young people develop general skills and confidence they could use in groups, events and daily life.

Julie’s reflections: thinking about the Young Trainer course and role

“The course is aimed at young people over 13 but in this particular case ages actually ranged from 9 to 25. One of the really impressive things about the weekend was the way in which it was planned and run to accommodate such a wide age range. This demonstrated to me how much the idea of working across a large age range has become a norm for Woodcraft Folk and how they have developed participation methods and techniques that allow for this while avoiding over-simplification and "dumbing down". The young people worked together really well and learned a lot. This was

well evidenced in the evaluation feedback from the participants at the end of the weekend.

It has also become clear to me now that though originally the course was devised more at providing skills and experiences to provide a pool of trainers to run formal Woodcraft training courses, in practice the application and benefits are much wider. Some do indeed go on to adopt such a role, but many do not but these young people have fed back that they very much make use of their learning in all sorts of situations e.g. leading activities in their local groups and running workshops at camps. In many ways this is just as important as it is directly encouraging young people to take on more leadership roles throughout Woodcraft.”

Resources and support

The many resources produced to support volunteer recruitment and practices are a triumph of joint working by Woodcraft Folk members

and staff, most often brought about at Development Conference (see Chapter 5 for more on that) where a good local idea can be scaled up using national resources into a product that benefits everyone.

TREE helped create the Volunteer Guide, targeted volunteer recruitment postcards, clearer online information about volunteering and the Volunteer Toolkit, which in itself brings together many Districts’ examples of good practice.


“I feel supported as a young leader;

though a whole network of support for me, my group and my District.”


TREE’s impact on the volunteering culture of Woodcraft Folk

A more flexible definition of Group Leader—not necessarily a parent who attends the group every week .

more obvious space for new volunteers to get stuck in.

New group roles shared—including volunteer co-ordinator, meeter and greeter, group guardian.

Tasks rather than roles—supported by the Volunteer Guide—you don’t have to take on a whole role, you can take on a task or set of tasks as a more manageable commitment or to help someone else.

Raised consciousness amongst existing District leaders that volunteers need management—induction, support, review—plus lots of information and resources to help Districts do this.

“The greatest benefits to groups will be having a broader pool of people keen to take on leadership roles of any kind within Woodcraft Folk and more people knowing roles there are to take on. There will also be the benefit of individuals analysing their group and district and how it works while doing it and this bringing new ideas to light.”

“We went on a Young Leaders Training weekend just prior to setting up our shiny new Pioneer group. This was fantastic as neither of us had previous experience of running a group and it helped us with what kinds of things to do, how to deal with difficult behaviour and safeguarding tips.”

“Training of leaders has been fantastic, plus bringing people together from across the country to share ideas, network and problem solve together is invaluable. Development Conference is so much better than AG because it is focused on solutions and building together. It would be a real shame to lose this, too.”

“Planning a camp was definitely the most challenging thing, but it developed skills from every angle: confidence (especially when speaking by phone /email which is something a lot of young people struggle with); problem solving skills; budgeting; being innovative; being organised; and still having fun.To me, those skills are needed whatever you do in life.”


TREE ran many training events for volunteers, including some of Woodcraft Folk’s existing courses for Elfin, Pioneer and Venturer leaders, and some new courses aimed specifically at young participants.

An invention halfway through the programme, Blue Skies Camp brought together activities and ideas from many different places in Woodcraft Folk, and turned them into a week-long camp that had massive benefits to both new leaders and new groups, including the youngest children. Children and young people’s participation in running their group was, of course, embedded in the approach at all times.

The aim “The camp seeks to give young leaders and new groups a practical introduction to Woodcraft Folk.”

The style“Inspiring, hands-on, like-minded, motivating, supporting, responsive to your needs & questions, flexible, community, based on experience of others & fun.”

Blue Skies Camp sought to give confidence to young people so that they could lead or contribute to groups in their local District. The camp targeted Venturers, DFs and young Kinsfolk, inviting them to a free week long camp which involved training workshops on craft, games, safeguarding, bushcraft, singing, discussion techniques, putting the aims and principles into practice and much more...

For the first time, the week-long training camp enabled trainers to enable participants to practice the newly learned theory. Throughout the camp, participants were given time to plan and run an activity with willing Elfins and Pioneers. This really helped participants appreciate the learning shared in workshop sessions, and gave them time and space to question anything they didn’t understand.After each ‘practice’ session participants were given feedback from experienced Group Leaders, and suggestions were made of things to consider in the future. This reflection was really valuable in helping young leaders think about their practice and things that they could do in their District in future.After the camp, young leaders have

been involved on a local level – becoming Camp Chief, setting up a new Woodchip group, running activities with Elfins and being elected on to General Council.For more information about Blue Skies Camp please contact [email protected]

“Between sessions we played games such as scavenger hunts, ice breakers, cooperative and get-to-know-you games. Many of which I hope to take back to my District where I help out with the Elfin groups. During the camp I enjoyed many new experiences, such as sleeping in a hammock and creating a paintbrush out of a stick and even designing a wide game with help from other members of the group. I feel more confident in running my own group and took part in a naming ceremony for the first time! “ - Caitlyn

“I am returning to university this September, and I go knowing I will have the time, and now, some of the knowledge to truly be involved in the movement, to run groups, to help form and be part of our communal dream. To take part and learn, rather than to be taught. “- Rich

Blue Skies Camp


Young Woodies Leading for the FutureSummaryVenturer and DF groups across the country are using the resource ‘Leading for the Future’ (a set of activities to inspire and explore Youth Leadership) to help prepare Venturers and DFs to get more involved in supportingWoodcraft groups, as well as taking action on their values and concerns.These are the highlights from some Districts who’ve tried it out.

Recommendations• Start by trying a few activities,

you don’t have to run every single one.

• Why not ask all the group members to take it in turns leading parts of the session?

• Give out the poster/log when you run the first session!

Relevant links & Information• woodcraft.org.uk/

leadingforthefuture


Three Districts started using the activity pack Leading for the Future in their groups to help develop the group as young leaders. This is all about creating space for and giving confidence to young people to take on leadership roles in the Folk.

In Brighton

I helped to put the resource together. The idea of a new youth leadership programme in Woodcraft was what initially got me interested in the TREE programme and lead to me getting involved in so many other things in Woodcraft. I’d just started helping with a Pioneer group, so the possibility of discussing what leadership meant to other people in my District and across Woodcraft as well as developing new skills through a new resource seemed like a good and exciting thing to happen!Being part of the Reference Group that were really involved in the process of developing the resource was a new experience for me, and I really enjoyed thinking about how to inspire people to take on new leadership roles. I hope we, as a group of adults and young people from across Woodcraft, have helped to tailor this resource so that it’s really beneficial for Venturer and DF groups across the country, whether they use it in group nights or residentials, running 1 session or all 12 hours. I know it’s already been used by Venturer Committee and at Development Conference, as well as by other youth organisations.

In Bradford

We began by cherry picking a session each week, and by examining our own ideas about what makes a good leader. This raised lots of further issues...we discussed facilitation, peer education, inter-age group relationships and especially adult leaders’ attitudes to young people’s rights and responsibilities. On the strength of this one of our DF leaders helped the Venturers to organise a weekend camp, where she ran a tie-dye workshop. A few group-nights later the Venturers led a tie-dye workshop for all of the other members; a total of 43 t-shirts were tied and dyed, and Woodchips, Elfins, Pioneers and adults were involved.

In Ealing

I decided to try and run Leading for the Future with my Venturer group because we are all nearly 16 and I think it is important we become good leaders for the Pioneers who’ll be moving up soon. I hope it will make us all more aware of the role we play in the whole of Woodcraft and improve our confidence. I’m going to run a few activities on one group night, then hopefully other Venturers will have a go at running sessions over the next few weeks.

“It’s really great that there’s a mix ofdiscussion based activities with slightly more crazy drama based activities that all bring up really relevant issues. I think it can inspire loads of amazing Venturers and DFs to start new groups and projects, try new things, and in the end, support Woodcraft Folk to be bigger and better!”


Seal, a Woodcraft Folk young leader

SummarySeal, 15, is a Venturer from Cambridge Woodcraft Folk who has been a member of the TREE Steering Group for the last four years. It was through this she helped plan and then attended Training for Leaders Old and New.

Recommendations• Don’t be afraid to ask, people are always keen

to help. You have more to offer than you think• Ask Woodcraft members what there is but be

patient you will get in there in the end• Come along to stuff such as national events as

everyone is always happy to see you and it’s always useful

• Go to local events too. If there isn’t one, why not make one?

Relevant links & information• Venturers Issues book, I found it really

interesting and full of good sessions• Old Woodcraft documents from the archive

are great to base sessions around• Games, Games, Games DVD - you can be the

person to run all the great games! (Contact Folk Office to get a free copy)

• Woodcraft Archive: heritage.woodcraft.org.uk • Issues for Venturers: woodcraft.org.

ukresources/ issuesforventurers• Full write up of Training for Leaders Old and

New: issuu.com/woodcraftfolk/docs/ training_for_leaders_old_and_new_write_up

Through the TREE Steering Group I helped to plan the Leaders Old and New training event, so I was keen to attend and bring other members of my group along. While this event was much bigger with a bigger range of people than anything I’ve done with TREE, my TREE experience enabled me to be prepared to make the most of the event. TREE had empowered me to speak in a committee sized group and helped me feel more comfortable at bigger events such as this. So I was able to take full advantage of all the cool workshops and ways to get involved.

The biggest thing I got from Leaders Old and New was the chance to talk to other leaders from around the country about what it's like to be a leader. It helped me to see that I could help and enjoy it as well. I could see people who organised Woodcraft and those that ran groups, so I could clearly see how I could change things and be the most benefit to my district and Woodcraft as a whole. The event taught me new skills in facilitation, mentoring, bushcraft safety—and gave me a confidence boost. Before attending, I didn’t know how much I liked Woodcraft and it opened my eyes to how widespread the movement is but still linked by the aims & principles. It was great to have the range of leaders at the event, particularly the newer leaders who weren’t set in their ways, who I felt I could learn more from.

The aims and principles session was pretty good so that’s why I chose to run it with my group. I particularly liked how the aims and principles were acted out. I also ran the ‘in their shoes’ activity from Leading for the Future, as I found that interesting. Overall, Leaders Old and New reminded me that it’s important to keep things interesting and gave me loads of ideas how to do that.


Since coming back from Leaders Old and New I’ve made an effort to become more involved with my District. To start I ran a session for my Venturer group on the Aims and Principles of Woodcraft, plus I’ve become involved with the Acorn Elfins.

In the short term I now plan to run more Woodcrafty sessions with the Elfins and a Ceilidh for everyone in the District plus people from outside Woodcraft who want to get involved. Overall I plan to inspire other people to get involved while having a good time and visiting lots of different places and meeting different people. I’m really keen to reach out more, not only talking to people inside Woodcraft but also those outside. I can’t wait for the opportunities being a DF will bring.


Being a Young Trainer and running Leading for the Future activities

I've always had an interest in empowering young people. I felt that Young Trainer training would equip me with the skills to get more involved in Woodcraft beyond my District in the North East. I also hoped to make new friends. On the training weekend, I got new ideas and skills. It was a very enjoyable weekend and I felt I’d achieved a great deal.

SummaryAlice’s journey through Woodcraft Folk and into youth work is a brilliant example of youth leadership and the opportunities Woodcraft Folk gives: having grown up in the Folk, Alice came back as an Elfin and Pioneer leader, then trained as a Young Trainer to use her facilitation skills more widely around Woodcraft. Now she’s doing a youth work mA and running Woodcraft’s Leading for the Future programme with a group of young carers.

Recommendations• Becoming a Young Trainer opens doors to

more opportunities • Go into any new project with a lot of

enthusiasm to give, but also the need to learn new things that you don’t quite understand yet

• Silliness and taking things out of the box is a good way to deliver training!

• Leading for the Future activities work with young people outside Woodcraft—just make sure you explain the terminology, and think about adapting the activities to relate directly to the experiences of the young people you’re working with

Relevant links & information• Leading for the Future: https:// woodcraft.

org.uk/leadingforthefuture• Check the Woodcraft calendar for upcoming

training: www.woodcraft.org.uk/calendar • Get a mentor to help you take on a new role:

www.woodcraft.org.uk/ mentoring

As a Young Trainer, I facilitated a session at a practice-sharing weekend at Lockerbrook, which has been one of my most enjoyable residentials yet! I also helped run Woodcraft activities at Co-operatives United, a huge festival of co-operatives in manchester. Seeing people’s reactions at the end of a training session is probably the best part of being a Young Trainer.

Soon after becoming a Young Trainer, I applied to do an mA in Youth Work. Young Trainers was a massive help in the application process. Now I’m using Woodcraft’s Leading for the Future programme on my youth work placement, to run activities for a panel of young carers. I thought it would be hard to run with a non Woodcraft audience but all the young people get so much out of it and seem to have a good time, getting stuck into everything. Their worker said they’ve done things with me he’s been trying to help them do for years!


DFs running a Pioneer group, and helping out with a Venturer groupSummaryWe (Toby and Olivia) advertised and set up a Pioneer group in Hebden Bridge as it had collapsed. We now plan and organise different activities for them to do each week with an aim to educate the youth of the North for social change!

Recommendations• make sure you’ve got all the resources that

are available as they’re great in giving ideas and things that can be done

• Advertise and ask people who you know have got younger brothers or sisters so they can get involved

• Don’t be afraid to ask people to help out or give you advice if you don’t really know what to do

• Plan activities for each week night at the end of a half term (for the next one).

• Get to know your group. Some activities work well with certain people, others don’t. Age differences matter hugely at Pioneer age - work with it!

• GO ON THE TRAINING WEEKEND!!

Relevant links & information• Use all the resources, contacts and people

you can find!! There are loads of free and fun resources for the Pioneer age group.

• most can be found on the website: woodcraft.org.uk/resources/results/taxonomy-14

• Upcoming training is posted at woodcraft.org.uk/upcoming-training

We went to the Young Leaders Training in Bristol as we were intending to create a Pioneer group and hopefully a Venturer group in Hebden Bridge— both of these groups had collapsed and we thought that the young people in Hebden Bridge would appreciate and enjoy somewhere to go and have a good time. The training weekend was loads of fun and really helpful.

Fortunately, in addition to the wonderful training we received, we had an experienced Pioneer Leader helping us for the first couple of months. This helps immensely with ideas and tips! We got loads of support from the Elfin Leader and our old Venturer Leaders, some of whom still help out with the Venturer group which is really helpful because we haven’t got that much time. We then did lots of advertising and had a stall at the local town hall to let people know exactly what Woodcraft Folk is about and why they should join. We taught the other DFs some of the things we had learnt at the training weekend as a few of them had said they would help out.

We now have a thriving Pioneer group of about six or seven (but up to 10) children, which we manage to manage! Don't be afraid of setting up or leading in a group if you are only of DF or younger age. An under thirteen will see you as an adult anyway! As long as you’re loud enough to shout over them you won't have a problem!


Sam, young leader, taking action on climate change

SummarySam got lots of experience and inspiration volunteering at sustainable growing projects and is now one of the DFs leading on The Share, DFs’ project to develop a sustainable DF outdoor centre.

Recommendations:• Volunteering at radical growing

projects is free; the main cost to consider is your travel

• It’s important to have somewhere stable to stay when you aren’t travelling, and somewhere to store possessions

• Share your idea / ambition with other people—there will be like- minded people in Woodcraft Folk and you can’t do everything alone

• Do research and get practical experience

The issueAfter I finished my A levels, I wanted practical skills. Doubting that three years of sitting at a university desk would be likely to prevent climate change, I pulled on my Dad's wellies, grabbed a torch and caught a train to an organic orchard in Somerset. The orchard was tended by 14 residents who lived together, heating their homes and cooking with wood. In fact, I learnt that they never used fossil fuels on site at all.

What I didOver the next two years, I visited dozens of low-impact, self sufficient, green building, ecological and organic growing projects. I ended up spending a lot of time with growers in their forties: I remember being told as I planted kale in a polytunnel in Wales: "it's fantastic that you're living sustainably aged 18. When I was 18, I was in Ibiza off my face on pills". As much as I loved hanging out with older people, it didn't take me long to discover Woodcraft Folk, where I have the chance to meet like- minded young people, and a lot of them have more in common with me. I was excited by the national network of young people who believe in education for social change.

The support I hadIt's the support from other people my own age that makes it all worthwhile. A lot of the young people excited to live on the land are brought together through Woodcraft Folk, rather than my old school friends. I found out about Woodcraft online - I didn't know anyone else involved when I joined, but it's meant that there are now dozens of us who are doing our bit to tackle the root causes of climate change by going back to the land.

Who was involvedI set up trips with other Woodies to build hobbit homes, learn coppicing and grow organic veg together. We jumped into lumps of clay and sand to mix them into cob, like making a giant cake, then we used the mix to make walls for a straw bale roundhouse. In the evenings we played guitar, changing the lyrics to fit in with Lord of the Rings. We planted kale, weeded and carried wood - a lot. We ended some days foraging for wild leaves and berries to add to the huge meals we shared in the magical Pembrokeshire hills’ turf-roofed roundhouses.


“After my childhood in London, I had no idea that anyone in the UK lived so freely.”

“I joined my local group to see what Woodcraft Folk was like before I went to a national event.”

Any advice?For anyone else thinking of setting up a project, my advice is to grab others, so you can support each other. It’s too much for me to do on my own - plus it’d be much less fun. my family was also important. It’s basically free to volunteer at the radical growing projects I visited. The only cost is travel, if you decide not to hitch. The bigger issue is having somewhere stable to crash and store possessions when you’re not travelling, and having a family that support you to volunteer on smallholdings even when it’s unclear if there’s a link to getting a livelihood.


people sharing what they’ve gained with their peers, either running activities for other young people or representing them on a committee.

Despite a lot of hard work by many around Woodcraft Folk, there are still volunteers who juggle more responsibilities and roles than should strictly be possible in a 24- hour day, and don’t have enough people to share the burden with. This may always be a struggle in an organisation like Woodcraft Folk, but we hope some of the case studies in this book offer ideas for more sharing of responsibility, and that the offers of young Woodcraft Folk to help out are met with resounding cries of ‘yes please!’

It’s important to give young people permission to participate, contribute and make change to their local group.

Training with peers is valuable at empowering individuals, offering inspiration, motivation and new ideas.

It’s vital to offer support and feedback to young leaders to give them confidence and help them improve their skills.

It’s not a case of one person, one role. The routes of individual young people from one stepping stone to another show a really inspiring journey that is never uniform, but often starts locally, builds on a particular skill or topical interest and results in both national & democratic engagement and young


Woodcraft Folk works strongly from a grassroots approach where volunteers in a local area can turn our shared aims and principles into whatever educational activity and practical action best suits the needs and demands of the children and young people in their group.

INCREASE YOUTH PARTICIPATION BY ENABLING OTHERS TO REPLICATE OUR GOOD PRACTICE, THROUGH COLLECTING AND SHARING OUR PARTICIPATION ExPERIENCE AmONGST OUR 400 mEmBER GROUPS AND 230 ExTERNAL ORGANISATIONS.

This means that great ideas spring from many different places and are acted on quickly, often with few resources. TREE’s aim was to build up and sustain the Woodcraft Folk web of communication so that practice could be shared between groups, making them all stronger and, as many volunteers have told us over the five years, ‘meaning we don’t need to re-invent the wheel’.

We also aimed to share Woodcraft Folk practice, whether it was group activities, project successes or youth participation in governance, with lots of other organisations whose young people could benefit. We believe Woodcraft Folk has principles and practices that work really well to engage young people, and as a relatively small organisation we need to make a particular effort to influence the practice of others. We wanted to be open about our ways of working, and actively sought chances to demonstrate them in the youth sector, the co-operative sector and amongst campaigners for social change.


Case studies

Case studies were a large part of our work for this outcome. Young people—and groups—wanted stories of how other people had taken on challenges. Not just what they’d done, but how they’d worked and what their advice was. As TREE staff visited Woodcraft Folk groups in our first year, we saw hundreds of innovative ways of doing things, often different but equally successful methods of achieving the same thing, for example helping six year- olds vote on their term’s programme, or supporting older young people to make the transition from participant to leader. Volunteers were so busy doing these things, it was a struggle to help them stop and reflect on ‘how?’, but eventually we gathered lots of great stories, all of which are on our website and many of which are in this book.

Practice-sharing events

Woodcraft Folk organised two practice-sharing residential events in 2012, and is collaborating with NCVYS to jointly organise a third in 2014. Our approach was to assume young people could take on every role involved in the event, from planning to facilitating to reporting on it afterwards, and to build the programme based on what practice others wanted to have shared with them. Our 2012 events were a splendid combination of co-operative, countryside adventure for other youth organisations who were curious about how Woodcraft Folk works, and welcoming, safe space for all organisations to share and reflect on how we involve young people.

TREE also supported young Woodcraft Folk to run activities at other organisations’ events, sharing projects, resources and governance tools and of course demonstrating their own skills.

Communications and resources

TREE put a lot of effort into sharing everything that came our way, whether it was levering an extra skill-sharing workshop into the hectic agenda of Annual Gathering so members could pass on experience, creating the Transition Support Ideas resource or developing the original role of ‘Youth Empowerment’ into ‘Group Support’ so that a new staff member was responsible for making sure Woodcraft Folk groups’ needs were recognised and the strengths of some could help address the weaknesses of others. We published as many activities, tools and success stories as we could on our own website and e-newsletter as well as sharing stories with other organisations’ networks.

“I’ve gained confidence and experience. The training courses are brilliant whether you are first getting involved in Woodcraft or have been here a long time. It’s great to meet others outside your own District.”

“I’ve gained confidence and experience. The training courses are brilliant whether you are first getting involved in Woodcraft or have been here a long time. It’s great to meet others outside your own District.”


“The two practice sharing events for external organisations were fantastic and there was lots of feedback from participants to back this up. The organisations attending were very engaged from the outset and shared many common interests and concerns. At the same time, they were sufficiently different in set up and approach that everyone did learn from each other.“

Julie, Co-operative College, on TREE practice-sharing

I think the practice sharing done through TREE has been great e.g. the two conferences and presence at Co-op events but I’m not sure this is “embedded” yet in the wider practice of Woodcraft Folk. Adult members and General Council could do a lot more to act as advocates of Woodcraft throughout the wider youth movement / third sector. This is one “transformational” goal that still needs work. I think there is potential for lots more stronger alliances and collaborative partnership work in the future.

Bill, Practical Participation

• Speed-mentoring amongst members at Annual Gathering.

• Two practice-sharing events that participants loved.

• A new digital communications tool we hope will be flexible enough to meet Woodcraft Folk’s considerable demand for idea- sharing, discussion and taking action.

• We extended the reach of our youth participation practice by sharing Woodcraft Folk methods and training with the Co- operative Youth Members Board, co-operative schools, YoungMinds, NCS, Skills Network, Young Carers and the Canal & River Trust.


ResourcesWoodcraft Folk volunteers produce many brilliant resources, which TREE has tried to support, create national examples of and distribute to groups.

One of the most popular with all age groups and every organisation we share it with is the A to Z of Good Discussion, created by DFs early on during the TREE Programme. It has given thousands of people a fun, accessible grounding in how to have a fair group discussion, and should be read and used by everyone the world over!

“The A to Z of Good Discussion guide is great. I have seen it used within and outside of Woodcraft and I really think it helps develop effective communication. It shows various simple and effective techniques to make discussions fun, improve dynamics and make them more accessible to everyone. It makes it easier for people to take part in decision- making.”

“The legacy of all the resources produced by TREE, which are of a consistently high quality. I can also know that they are being well used; and that their use is becoming more and more widespread as word gets around. Direct recommendation from actual users is the best promotion you can get.

Personally, I really enjoyed working on the development of some of the TREE resources like Follow the Trail, Leading for the Future and Bored Meetings. It was great putting these together but the best bit was seeing them being used and put into practice effectively by such a wide age range of young people in Woodcraft. Also, the fact that some resources, like Leading for the Future, are being used by organisations external to Woodcraft Folk”.

Bill, Practical Participation


The aim of Woodcraft Folk’s two practice-sharing residentials inearly 2012 was to improve how organisations involve youngpeople, by discussing challenges, sharing the tools and methodswe’ve found work well, and working out how to continue sharing practice outside of events. We organised two weekend residential events, one at Cudham and one at Lockerbrook. We invited a range of national and local youth organisations and involved them in planning the programme of workshops. We invited young people and adults from each organisation, and most brought a workshop of their own with them.

Staff, volunteers, young people and partner organisations were all involved. The TREE Steering Group and Communications Group devised the shape of the events early on. Young Woodcraft Folk took on key roles including: Young Facilitators, Young Reporters, representatives of their projects, young event co- ordinators. A young international volunteer also created the promotional material for the events. These roles were really important in sharing as much youth participation practice as possible.

In addition to all the young people who helped plan and run the events, a significant difference was made by our evaluation partners, Cadence, who interviewed many of our guest organisations before and afterwards—this enabled us to tailor the events to everyone’s needs, and let them know what to expect.

“...both our young people were fully involved and got a lot out of it. It was all very clear and participative; very productive for us altogether.” -NDCS

“The concept of a practice sharing event rather than a conference aimed at showcasing Woodcraft’s own good practice contributed greatly to the conferences’ overall success”

Bringing youth organisations together to share their good practice

SummaryTwo Woodcraft Folk-organised residentials gave various partner organisations an experience of a typical Woodcraft Folk weekend, while everyone contributed workshops on their youth participation practices.

Recommendations• Work with partner organisations to

build the programme in advance, including what they’d like to know about Woodcraft practices

• Focus on the ‘how’ not just the ‘what’ of youth participation practice

• Involve young people in all aspects of the event including promotion and facilitation

• Explain remote venues and their facilities

• Follow up the event quickly with a write-up and ways to keep sharing practice

• Don’t forget to allow time for fun and chilling out!

Relevant links & information• Write ups of each event: issuu.com/

woodcraftfolk/docs/mountains_and_molehills_-_report_fr

• issuu.com/woodcraftfolk/docs/mountains_and_molehills_-_lockerbro


Young people sharing Woodcraft Folk practice at Co-operatives United

SummaryLottie, 15, was one of a group of young Woodcraft Folk whorepresented the organisation at Co-operatives United, a 3-day celebration of co- operatives large and small.

Recommendations• There are lots of opportunities

like this to represent Woodcraft Folk and they’re really fun, as well as a great way to make Woodcraft Folk better known.

• Talk about them in your group• Talk to someone who’s been to

one about what it’s like • Prepare with workshops to

develop the skills you need• Use a variety of methods to share

Woodcraft Folk values and ways of working: workshops, games, media, displays etc

Relevant links & information• News story from the event:

https://woodcraft.org.uk/news/ celebrating-co-operation-co- operatives-united

• Find Woodcraft Folk publicity materials under ‘press & publicity’ in www.woodcraft.org.uk/resources.

Before Co-ops United I’d been involved in the TREE Steering Group, working on ways to help young people participate more in Woodcraft and in the community. I also did Young Reporters training, looking at how I can bring news to national Woodcraft about things that have happened locally and also showing things that have happened inside Woodcraft to people outside the movement.

Young people’s roles at Co-operatives UnitedWe did a lot of little things: we played some typical Woodcraft games in one of the main areas which I think really got people into playing with us, and introduced us to everyone. I helped with the games and it was great fun. We also had singing and spontaneous games, which got some of the Co-ops in different places joining in and finding out about us. The challenge was getting people who weren’t Woodcraft Folk members to join in; we managed to get quite a few but people were nervous to start with!

Why it’s important for young people to be involvedIt was a very good event, it got all the Co-ops together and showed that Co-ops are not just the shop down the street but big and very small groups of people who try to do as much for each other and the community as possible, which is brilliant. Woodcraft Folk young people showed that young people are co-operative too and live their lives in a way that helps those around them. I think we also gave the event a fun side, as we took part in things but we also had some activities organised and ‘un- organised’ to grab people in which was a great way to get Woodcraft known!

The support we got to represent Woodcraft FolkI had the support of older people at the event and a few people before the event gave us little workshops on reporting and explaining our activities to the public, which gave us the confidence to talk to other people at the event, and also gave us the skills to be able to report everything going on and interview visitors. I think the support we had was great and there wasn't anything that could have been better!


“We showed that there are co-operatives for young people and they’re not all about adults.”


Sharing Woodcraft Folk practice with external organisations has been more challenging than we anticipated as umbrella and practice sharing bodies have experienced cuts to their services and haven’t been able to support us in this activity. It was also difficult to support young people to facilitate activities at external events when so many of them were held on weekdays in term time.

Woodcraft Folk should continue to make resources and case studies available. Case studies need to be practice focused and not simply a description - what’s important is ‘how’, ‘why’, ‘what’ & reflection.

Woodcraft Folk should continue to challenge ways of working and mind sets of others through a collaborative approach.

Over 80% of groups who responded in TREE’s final survey said they had learned “quite a lot” or “a large amount” from other Woodcraft Folk groups through materials such as the website and The Courier.

“I hadn’t expected to come away with quite so much knowledge of how Woodcraft Folk involves their older young people—how they take leadership roles quite early on. Very impressed with the young people... very passionate, intelligent and very good at doing their tasks.”


CONCLUSIONS | TREE BOOK | 109108 | TREE BOOK | CONCLUSIONS

It’s almost impossible to sum up what the TREE Programme has done, learned and changed in Woodcraft Folk. We met most of our milestones, did the vast majority of what we set out to do, plus a few extra things, but what we did learn? What are the outcomes? What next?

We’ve spread throughout this book comments from members about the impact TREE has had for them. Now we will share reflections on the whole programme that we hope will be useful to others.

From formal to informal There has been a transition from formal to more organic structures, appreciating what already happens informally around Woodcraft Folk and adapting to the grassroots, volunteer-led culture of Woodcraft Folk rather than imposing a centralised system. This will help with the sustainability of our activities too.

Better supported, flexible volunteering We’ve heightened the local culture of volunteer management and support, and shared the idea of task-based, rather than role-based, volunteering,

as well as a broader role for young leaders as leaders of social change as well as leaders of groups.

Everyone needs support to participate The tools, practices and resources we created to involve young people have also empowered adults—they’re tools for democracy and co-operation at heart, and have improved the experience of members of all ages.

No one is too young to participate TREE has celebrated and further developed Woodcraft Folk’s child participation, lowering the age that our movement and other organisations expect to involve children and proving that nine and ten year olds have just as much to offer national decision-making as older young people (and why stop there?!)

Bring everyone together, along with you We couldn’t have empowered young people in Woodcraft Folk without older leaders being on board. Our most successful events brought all ages together, gave everyone a chance to lead, and

Learning and adapting as a programme

showed everyone the value of each other’s experience and commitment, no matter what their age. Where we didn’t reach as many young people as we hoped, it was often because key adult contacts weren’t inspired by our message of youth participation. On that note—

Ditch the jargon and take lots of photos! As TREE grew, we left behind a lot of technical terms and fancy names for schemes, and simply described what we were offering and why. Our communications worked best when we used photos from previous activities—and we wish we’d taken even more photos for that purpose!

Be ambitious Supporting young and new members to participate fully takes time, and it’s crucial to be thorough, keeping participants involved to see the outcomes of their involvement and feed into future activities. TREE was ambitious and no volunteer or staff member of any age doubts that it was absolutely worth it!


generally, and in ways that are now embedded—more young people are attending and active at Annual Gathering, more young people are on General Council and centre committees— Venturer Committee is a recognised element of Woodcraft Folk governance and has made Venturer Camp even more youth-led.

Young people's influence has also notably increased locally, but they aren’t yet involved to the same extent across all groups and Districts. 73.3% of groups who filled in our final survey said the number of children & young people involved in District decision-making had increased. 73.9% said more young people were taking on volunteer roles, and even more said there was improved support for them to do this. We know there are some Districts who haven’t felt reached by TREE at all. We hope all volunteers and Districts will strive to continue nurturing young people’s involvement, and use some of the activities TREE has published (see the back of this book for examples!) to work inclusively of all groups of people whose voice may not be loudly heard in our movement yet, whatever their age.

Even with a relatively large budget and a team of staff and volunteers passionate about increasing young people’s participation, it’s challenging for a national initiative to change local practice.

TREE’S ImPACT ON WOODCRAFT FOLK Debs, who managed the TREE Programme, reflects, “Districts and groups are very varied and independent and it’s quite a long process to enable change locally. In this way it’s been great that TREE has been a five year programme, as it’s only been in the last couple of years that we’ve seen greater numbers of local groups and Districts taking on change; and I think this is still accelerating now.”

In terms of overall growth in Woodcraft Folk, the total number of groups has risen slightly and there has been a 9% increase in adult members since 2010. There have been rises and falls in certain of the age groups but the most noticeable increase in the number of groups and members is for Venturers, where growth has been significant. This is of course the key target age range for TREE!

The committees and working groups that TREE created to run our many projects and develop our many resources are undeniably wonderful examples of young people, mostly in mixed age groups and in co-operation with older members, participating at the forefront of decision-making and influence in Woodcraft Folk. TREE has also affected the governance of Woodcraft Folk more


Joe’s ReflectionsAfter being involved with youth participation for 9 years in a range of local and national organisations, I feel I have learnt and reflected a great deal in my year and a half with TREE. I used to think youth participation’s ultimate goal was for young people to replace older people and do things themselves. I now see youth participation as a method to lead to the right level of youth participation for a group / organisation. In many cases in the youth sector, I feel this is striving for a co-operative approach, where all ages are seen as equal. There are very few cases where both groups don’t have a role, buy in or have goals from their involvement.

At times, because young people’s equality is so inbuilt in Woodcraft Folk, the need for ‘doing’ youth participation has been forgotten and young people weren’t given the support they need to participate equally. In other cases, I saw the desire to see young people as equals overpower the space for older people to participate equally. I also saw youth participation get individual young people to a level where they participated as equals but they would forget that other young people need extra support to join them.

In conclusion, youth participation practice is a method to support young people to be equal, a method that needs to be constantly developed, changed and refreshed to make sure all young people can feel equal and not over power others. A method we should keep pushing and not put limits on through our work— young people are capable of participating equally and if they aren’t, it’s our practice that isn’t working.

Julie’s reflectionsAs a partner in the TREE programme I would say that the relationship between the Co-operative College and Woodcraft has probably been more one of co-operation rather than collaboration. We had clear tasks and goals to deliver in relation to the programme plan and in the main got on with delivering those tasks in liaison with the TREE team. On reflection, a more directly collaborative approach right from the initial proposal planning stages may have been better but I recognise the restraints set to a large degree by the submission timeframe and other practicalities.

The relationship got more collaborative and effective over time. It felt a lot better once I became a member of the management group and got more involved with the overall development of the programme. As time went on it became clear that the TREE staff team were increasingly confident in adopting new approaches and detailed plans as circumstances changed, rather that rigidly keeping to the precise methods contained in the proposal. Sometimes it became clear that there were better ways of achieving the overall aims than was originally thought. These changes to the detail of the programme nearly always tended to result in better outcomes being achieved.


Jon, General Secretary

From the drafting of the initial plan and throughout the project, TREE has been an exercise in youth participation and, as it has evolved, we’ve seen a renaissance of youth leadership within Woodcraft Folk.

The organisation is built on a belief that youth work should be delivered by and with young people not just for youngpeople. TREE has given new life to that founding principle. In 2008 we faced a crisis of retention of young people, with many leaving the organisation as they entered their teens. Now, we are seeing sustained growth of the Venturer age group (13-15) and increasing numbers of Venturers and DFs (16-20) taking on leadership roles in local groups, national projects and outside the organisation.

But, looking back at all the amazing achievements over five years of TREE, I can’t help feeling that the single most important outcome is the foundation that has been built – the young people who have been a part of TREE, and those who follow them, will continue to develop and see the benefits of the programme for years to come. I’m confident that we’ve only begun to see the real benefit of TREE, both to Woodcraft Folk and more widely – the best is yet to come!


TREE engaged Cadence as our ‘critical friend’ for the whole of our five years. Cadence have used surveys, interviews, sessions with the TREE Steering Group and Communications Group, plus an awful lot of keeping in touch and gathering information, to understand developments as we went along and evaluate progress each year. With an objective stand point outside the programme, they were able to make recommendations such as adding key people to our quarterly review meetings to increase connections and accountability, and the production of Decisions Decisions to let young people know how to get involved in Woodcraft Folk decision-making. We’re grateful to them for many of the facts, figures and interviews quoted in this book.

One of the ways we measured our reach and impact on Woodcraft Folk was through ‘Shadow Districts’ - a misleadingly sinister name for five lovely Districts who were contacted each year to find out how they were affected by TREE’s work and how we could improve. They’re in different parts of the country and work in quite different ways; we hoped our activities would be flexible and wide-ranging enough to benefit them all.

Feedback from the Shadow Districts was extremely helpful to TREE, and should continue to help Woodcraft Folk engage young people. Support for projects, resources and training is clearly very important:

“One of the really evident things is how TREE has helped support the local Action Projects. These have really worked well and here in Exeter the key aim was certainly realized. The young people taking part really did take control of planning the project and making sure it happened.”

“In general the young people at Leazes thought that the resources produced over the last few years via TREE were great – well produced, readable and practical. They had created a library of resources at the Potting Shed. Everyone knew it was there and they often used it when planning programmes and the like.”

“Young people said that the way they gain skills from TREE is to put the learning into practice. They highlighted skills like communication, co-operation, organisation, how to support younger children, how to delegate and support others and developing empathy. Two young people explained that having been trained, they felt confident enough to contribute learned skills in the planning of a District camp where they took on responsibility for KP [responsible for food] and camp leader.”


However, there is still variation in how empowered young members feel to have their say:

“The impact of TREE in influencing how groups organise and run at local level is less clear. Many young people in local groups, more remote from TREE, still feel that their influence at both local and national level is quite small and that decisions are still primarily the preserve of adult leaders.”

There is extensive reporting and analysis in Cadence’s yearly reports on TREE, available online at woodcraft.org.uk/tree.

“The project has been an inspiration to many young people. It has removed the barriers to participation and democracy in a big way. It has certainly made our Woodcraft World more compact and accessible to many young people who would not dream of travelling to influence decisions. It deserves to gain more funds to continue and develop the work. It has been used in Stanley, County Durham, to inform how a new YAgenda group of young people from across the whole district are getting Young People’s issues linked into public spending. Our Media Training Weekend lives on in the memory.”


“TREE has inspired and equipped a whole generation of young Woodcraft Folk, challenged and energised adults to refresh and revitalise the movement and shown to loads of other groups what participation for social justice is all about.”

“Offered a full and varied programme, lots of support, information and the promoting of training and funding was excellent.”

“TREE has been a really important part in my Woodcraft life and has allowed me to benefit from so many different opportunities and to develop skills that I’d never have thought I had. It’s great”.

“I feel more knowledgeable and more involved. I take part in discussions and report things back to my District. I have a lot more to say as I’m aware of all the issues. The discussions and workshops that TREE organises encourage people to have their say. People listen to me more because I can put my point across better.”

“I could hardly speak at my first Steering Group meeting and now it comes easily. Best of all, I now feel happy contributing to other meetings, even those outside of Woodcraft.”

“TREE's main effect: Giving me, and others like myself, the opportunity to speak out about what they believe in and change things they care about. Just because you are only one person does not mean you can’t change the most important things. If you think others have already said it, why not confirm it?”

“Training of leaders has been fantastic, plus bringing people together from across the country to share ideas, network and problem solve together is invaluable. Development Conference is so much better than AG because it is focused on solutions and building together. It would be a real shame to lose this, too.”

“more organised more participation more news more training Action Projects are great and still want to do one Venturer Committee and TREE group great.”


The sustainability of TREE’s youth participation impact has been at the forefront of our minds during the second half of the programme. We’re confident that many good quality resources have been created, many examples of inspiring youth participation shared, and many happy memories of participation lodged firmly in the minds of volunteers who can carry on the work. We’ve involved thousands of children and young people over the five years, and tried to give participants ownership of each activity, from the energiser game at the start of an event to the action planning to put skills into practice back in their group, to the ideas for doing things better next time!

So we hope that the message of young people’s participation for a stronger Woodcraft Folk future will thrive around the movement, that the motivation to enable it will stay strong and that the methods to make it happen will continue being shared and used.

“The progress made by TREE in terms of young people taking a greater lead in decision making and the democratic “machinery” of Woodcraft Folk is well embedded now. I fully anticipate that this will be long-term, ongoing impact that will continue and develop further.

The new kinds of participation methods and techniques introduced by TREE for young people are also well embedded and becoming the norm. I think this will also be sustained and it is a big achievement. In truth, I think these methods

Sustainability

Any one of any age who considers themselves an ambassador of youth participation should have a read of the guide based on TREE’s

Youth Participation Ambassador training: visit woodcraft.org.uk/resources and look for ‘ambassadors’.

are equally beneficial and productive for adults as well as young people. There is no reason why these methods should not be adopted in Woodcraft by everyone. I think this in itself would help Woodcraft sustain itself, develop and grow.

Maintaining and developing the national Woodcraft support and development team will be tough though. This is a big problem for many organisations currently and the transition from a major funding stream is always going to be difficult. There is also a fear that inevitably some of the impetus of TREE will be lost during transition.

On a final note, the Co-operative College is very much looking forward to future partnership working with Woodcraft Folk, the first thing being the roll out of the new Working Together programme.” - Julie


A huge pile of brilliant RESOURCES were created to help everyone participate—get them from the website or ask Folk Office for copies! Especially Leading for the Future. Have a browse at http://issuu.com/woodcraftfolk/stacks

DEVELOPmENT CONFERENCE and ANNUAL GAThERING were really useful to young members—keep their programmes fun and accessible, and make sure young people are clearly invited.

Similarly the combination of children, young leaders and new adults at bLUE SKIES CAmP is a great way to sustain groups, training new leaders and supporting new groups—keep it going!

Training is super important and there are now yOUNG TRAINERS in Woodcraft Folk ready to share their skills— do call on them.

Woodcraft Folk is now full of yOUTh PARTICIPATION AmbASSADORS—inspiring young people who know that the strongest Woodcraft Folk future is a youth-led one– join them and champion young people’s participation as loudly/cheerfully/persuasively as you can.

PARTNERShIP WORKING has been vital to TREE and Woodcraft Folk will gain a lot from nurturing our partnerships with the National Autistic Society, the National Deaf Children’s Society, Practical Participation and the co-operative sector, as well as many others.

EQUALITy AND CO-OPERATION. TREE’s job was a lot easier than it might have been because these two values are fundamental in Woodcraft Folk. They are the perfect ground in which to root participation.

If you remember one thing from TREE, we hope it’s one of these:


Sense

Oyster Training

Refugee Council

Cadence Works

Zoë Waterman

Ruth O’Sullivan

National Youth Agency

National Autistic Society

The Co-operative Group

National Deaf Children’s Society

Julie Thorpe and the Co-operative College

Bill Badham and all at Practical Participation

National Council for Voluntary Youth Services

Woodcraft Folk’s Outdoor Centres, which set the scene for many a TREE residential

Woodcraft Folk in Scotland and Wales, who joined up with TREE initiatives wherever they could

All staff and General Council members who have supported TREE

And of course the Big Lottery, funders of the TREE Programme


Woodcraft Folk, Units 9/10, 83 Crampton Street, London SE17 3BQ • Phone: (+44) 020 7703 4173 • Email: [email protected] charity in England & Wales (1148195) and in Scotland (SC039791). Registered in England & Wales Company No. 8133727

This book was designed by josie Vallely • www.josievallely.com

TREE Book

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