As word spreads about our wonderful woodland campsite, and regulars come to take part in activities such as The Mother’s Fire, Bushcraft or archery, elfwoods has been steadily busy with visitors over the summer.
Our volunteer days have continued to run bimonthly, and as well as a show of familiar faces from our growing pool of regular volunteers, we’ve had the chance to meet some visitors to the local area who have dropped in to volunteer for the day.
A number of our campers have been keen to get involved volunteering during their stay too. Everyone is welcome to lend around around elfwoods, and we offer campers a free stay in exchange for their help. We’ve been as grateful for their hard work as they have for the opportunity to gain new skills and experience, and the chance to get more involved in the elfwoods community.
Busyness on our summertime volunteer days has been varied, and included working on the continuous task of heathland habitat management, clearing bracken and gorse; selectively felling trees, and clearing & processing the timber; chopping firewood for our woodland campsite; crafting new pieces of outdoor furniture; clearing rhododendrons at the site entrance; crafting and erecting a new sign for the site entrance; clearing bracken in the area earmarked for our fourth campsite pitch…
Through all this hard work, food and friendship has been in plentiful supply. A communal lunchtime meal always brings us together for a chance to rest, chat, share ideas and experiences, reflect on the great work we’ve been doing, and plan future fun, we mean work…
The non-human residents of elfwoods have been busy too, with mining bees excavating tunnels, lizards basking in the hot sun, dragonflies showing off their impressive flying skills, the pair of resident fawns bounding through the woodland, grasshoppers leaping in the ling… and the plant life putting lots of energy into colouring the landscape; from the purple hues of the heather to the fluorescent greens of the new growth on the firs, the vibrant yellow gorse flowers and the bright red ripening rowan berries.
We plan to continue running volunteer days twice a month into the autumn. If you enjoy spending your free time in a stunning natural setting engaged in satisfying work with like-minded others, why not join us? Contact us if you’d like to come along to the next elfwoods volunteer day, or join our mailing list below to find out about future volunteer days