February Newsletter ✨

Dear readers,
I hope this email finds you well! There is still time to contribute to the Anonymous Art Show fundraiser, and in less than a month those artworks will be for sale! We're planning to re-open the volunteer workdays by the end of the month, and on our social media pages you can learn all about our British native trees!
Best wishes, the ATU team. x

Tree planting over the winter months

We still have around 600 trees to get in the ground, including several hundred meters of a new hedgerow.

Although we would love to start up volunteer workdays as usual again, we have made a decision to postpone wider community involvement in planting and group working until late-February, in line with the government's new review date, at which point we will take stock of the situation.

The remaining trees must be in the ground by mid-March. Even if Covid transmission rates remain high, we plan to resume planting by the end of February at the latest. We, therefore, may need to work over more days with smaller numbers of volunteers but, with your help, we will reach our 1000 tree target.

How can you help?

Volunteer to plant trees – email volunteers@andovertrees.org.uk if you haven’t already to let us know when you are free (Monday, other/ any weekday, weekend)
If you have experience of tree planting and would be happy to work solo before group work days resume, please let us know
If you have a child/ children attending a local school and would like to involve them and help with planting for a specific school, please let us know

We look forward to working with you! :)

Tree Planting Fortnight 2020 news article

On Saturday 6th February we held another online quiz!
Thank you so much to all who came, we are so grateful for your continued support. With your help, we raised an amzing £700! :)
This will be put towards the construction of the new woodland cabin - a classroom, volunteer base, green crafts workshop and community space.
THANK YOU!

Fundraising for the Woodland Classroom

We are very excited to say that spring and summer 2021 will finally see the construction of the new woodland classroom and community space in Harmony Woods!
The construction will involve the Carpenter's Fellowship, we are honoured to have been selected as their 2021 charitable project. This means the cabin frame will be crafted from tree trunks (by hand!) and raised (by hand!) by this team of very skilled crafters and carpenters - and we, the local community, will be able to get involved with the process.

However, we still need to raise the remainder of the funds to complete the build.
Here are the ways in which you can help us achieve this goal:

Purchase some of the wonderful green craft products that our volunteer team have been busy creating over the past few months. Including willow bird feeders, personalised wooden discs and willow wreaths. We are happy to arrange collection points for you to pick up your products. Please email eve.johnson@andovertrees.org.uk to make a purchase.
Select ATU as your charitable organisation on Amazon Smile - and donate to ATU every time you shop through smile.amazon.co.uk.
Make a cash donation via Global Giving. Donations can be enhanced by Gift Aid.
Purchase artwork from the upcoming Anonymous A5 Art Show!

Funds raised will go towards the building of an eco-friendly woodland classroom and community space so that we can offer more opportunities to you, our community. Outdoor learning, community workshops, volunteering.

Help us scale up, branch out, offer more and make a bigger, positive difference.

THANK YOU for your support.

Donate to 'the cabin' project via Global Giving

For Sale: Willow Bird Feeders

Following the success of our craft stall on Andover high street last month and the popularity of our willow products, we are continuing to make the willow bird feeders.

To place an order and to purchase, please email us at volunteers@andovertrees.org.uk

Do you follow us on social media?
We have just come to the end of a series of posts called #KnowYourNatives ! Take a look back through our feed to learn all about our British native trees - follow us at @andover_trees on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook!

One Ash

February 13th marks a year since the One Ash tree was felled. Follow the progress of the artists and crafters who are working with the timber from the One Ash - you can read their journals here.

Co-op Community Fund

We have a new environmental arts-based project called ‘Voices Unveiled’, an element of which, 'Andover's Ash' will be supported by the 2020/21 Co-op Community Fund.

How the Fund Works

Co-op Members can select to support our project between now and 23 October 2021.

You can join the Co-op membership online at coop.co.uk/membership or by downloading the Co-op app. Where you will be asked to select your local cause.

Thank you!

About the Andover's Ash project

'Andover’s Ash’ builds on ‘One Ash’ and ‘Ash Tree Stream’ and will connect the Andover community to the Ash trees and chalk streams from which the town takes its name.

Timber from One Ash will be used by many; stories and accounts of contact with local Ash Trees will be mapped, documented and shared; locally collected songs and folklore will tell tales of living by the stream, further referencing the origins of the town’s name

Contributing to Voices Unveiled, which culminates in a festival in 2022, we will celebrate the final tree planting of, and all work created during, the 10-year ‘Harmony Woods’ project. Every aspect of creativity will be documented and shared in exhibitions and performances in the town.

Thank you for your support.

Covid-19

In order to adhere to the government’s guidelines, we would like to make you aware that:

Volunteer workdays; our monthly Saturday and weekly Monday workdays will be postponed to wider community involvement in planting and group working untill mid-February, in line with the government's review date, at which point we will take stock of the situation.
- Those of you that may walk through Harmony Woods as your daily exercise are welcome to carry out an individual task if you wish to. If you are interested in this idea, please contact us for more information.
- We also ask for help in monitoring the site’s condition. If you notice anything untoward in Harmony Woods, we would really appreciate it if you could let us know. Thank you.
Learning resources - there are additional resources online for those of you that would like to do some activities at home and outdoors. Keep checking as we plan to update this section with winter resources in the next few weeks.

We are still working behind the scenes on strategic planning, writing funding bids, project prep and all sorts of admin tasks. If you would like to volunteer in any of these areas we would love to hear from you - please get in touch. We can still be reached via our website and online via our social media pages.

We hope you all stay safe and we look forward to seeing you all again soon. x