Urgent donations needed for 420 acre new woodland

Your donation is urgently needed to make South West’s biggest new woodland in a generation a reality.

Avon Needs Trees charity has just one month to fundraise £100,000 to help buy the land and establish Lower Chew Forest, a 420 acre new woodland creation between Bristol and Bath, which will see 100,000 trees planted alongside the creation of wetlands, hedgerows and species-rich grassland. 

Like you, we are worried about the climate and nature crises. We can already see the early effects of climate change locally: extreme weather, wildlife disappearing from our fields and rivers, more homes flooding, crops failing.  

We’re ready to do something BIG - but we urgently need your help.

The difference about Avon Needs Trees is that we buy land to create new, permanent woodlands around Bristol, Bath and North Wiltshire, with the aim of slowing down climate change, enhancing biodiversity connectivity and delivering benefits to communities. With the help of 1,000 local volunteers we also invest in ongoing aftercare of the woodlands we create to safeguard them for future generations.

Our woodlands are a place for people too, with local volunteers helping us plant each year, but especially for the next generation to connect with nature.  Our woodlands welcome local school groups, we host free forest schools and run our own woodland skills course helping young and unemployed people enter the green economy. 

Photo credit: Alex Carl Turner 

We are currently fundraising to buy 420 acres of land between Bristol and Bath, to create Lower Chew Forest, which will see 100,000 native trees planted, the creation of new wetlands, miles of new hedgerows and species-rich grassland habitats. This 420 site acre will be the South West’s biggest woodland creation project in a generation. But we urgently need your help: we only have a few weeks to secure the funding and complete the purchase. 

This is the biggest opportunity locally to take action for climate, nature and people. 

You can take action for climate, nature and people today by:

• Donating whatever you can to help us buy and establish the woodland. 
• Sharing this page with your friends. 
• Asking your employer to support us.  
• Getting in touch via this form if you would like to make a business donation starting from £750.
  Getting in touch via this form if you are an individual looking to donate over £10,000 as part of a partnership opportunity.  

With only one month to raise £100,000 to help make this ambitious 420 acre woodland and mosaic landscape a reality, please urgently contribute whatever you can to help. Even a small donation will be gratefully received.

The opportunity 

Avon Needs Trees has been creating permanent woodlands since 2019, with four established woodlands under our belt (more about our story below). 

We know how difficult it is to buy land, particularly at scale. That’s why when we first saw the link for Wick Farm (with your help the new Lower Chew Forest) we were taken aback: land as vast as 420 acres rarely comes up around Bristol and Bath, where land is increasingly fragmented.  

The more we looked into it the more excited we became.  

The potential of the 420 acres is enormous. Much of the land is suitable for woodland creation on a large scale - your donation will help to plant 100,000 trees - whilst the rest lends itself to creating a mosaic of valuable habitats, including wetlands, a mile of new hedgerow and species-rich grassland. The land also provides opportunities for us to explore regenerative food production and agroforestry. 

Government analysis by the Environment Agency shows this new woodland, along with leaky dams and wetland habitat, would help reduce downstream flooding in local villages, Keynsham, and Bristol. 

And of course, a new, large woodland offers significant health and wellbeing benefits for people, as well as great potential for education opportunities and skills development for the green economy.

Credit: Credit Niamh Harrington

With government and other grants coming together to pay a portion of the cost of the land and woodland creation, and an environmentally-focussed bank interested in loaning us some of the money, we are now incredibly close to being able to make this nationally significant new woodland a reality.

But we are still seeking £100,000 to help buy the land and plant the trees. Please join us on our mission to get this vital project over the line by making your donation today.  

To say thank you, we are offering a range of rewards to individual and business supporters. These include opportunities to sponsor 3x3m blocks of land and exclusive site tours. 

Lower Chew Forest also needs longer term partnerships with mission aligned, passionate individuals and companies looking to make larger scale donations to help us secure the land and ensure its ongoing success. 

Selected partners will be given the opportunity to leave a lasting legacy by naming an area of the site. If you are a business looking to discuss these options further please register your interest here. If you are an individual looking to donate over £10,000 through a partnership please register your interest here or email [email protected] to arrange a chat with someone from our team.

Avon Need Trees: Our story 

Our charity was founded in 2019 by environmentalist Nikki Jones and a small band of volunteers. They were concerned by how deforested our area had become and about the impact of this on climate, biodiversity,and flooding. No charity existed to buy land in the Avon River catchment that would guarantee the permanence of new woodlands. They knew that buying land was the best way to create change at scale and make sure that trees planted would not be cleared away or die off in a few years.

Through 2020-2021 our movement grew quickly and the community rallied and raised funds to buy land to create Hazeland and Pudding Brook Wood, each now a 10,000 tree new woodland in north Wiltshire, in the high catchment of the Avon. 

Last winter we partnered with the Forest of Avon Trust and turned our attention downstream, to Pensford, just south of Bristol, buying 113 acres of land that would become Great Avon Wood. 

At Great Avon Wood, we are halfway through planting up to 40,000 trees. Our local support has grown to over 1,000 volunteers in the space of a year and we offer free education and wellbeing events, particularly for local children, families, visible minority ethnic groups, and vital programmes for building woodland skills. 

Our charity has been built on the generosity and involvement of local people and businesses. It feels fitting then, that it was a volunteer who shared the link to Wick Farm. 

Your help is needed more than we’ve ever needed help before. Please help us urgently raise £100,000 to make this new woodland a reality.

FAQs on rewards offered for donations

1. When and how will I receive my reward?
All communication about rewards will be done via email, using the email address you’ve provided at the time of donating. Thank you cards will be sent via email when the campaign closes and the land has been purchased. If you have opted to sponsor a patch of land (i.e. donated over £30), you will receive details of your 3 x 3 patch of land once the land has been purchased.

2. Can I share this on my social media?
Yes - please do! We want you to feel pleased and proud of the land you’ve sponsored and the important role you’re playing in supporting us to make this new woodland a reality. Please bear in mind that as a charity, we do not engage in carbon offsetting. We ask that any social media posts are clearly worded to avoid being understood as off-setting. Please note, any business public communications about this project need to be agreed with us. Please contact us at [email protected] to chat.    

3. Where can I find out more about this project?
You can find out more about Avon Needs Trees on our website here. If you tick the ‘opt in’ button to hear more information about this project, we will send an update on the project with more information about its progress.

4. What does land sponsorship entail? 
When the purchase of Wick Farm is completed we will be in touch with the whats.three.words details of the patches of land that your sponsorship is associated with. With this information you will be able to see your support plotted on a map. Your sponsorship contributes essential funds to help us buy the land and the trees to plant on it. Please note that sponsorship funds will contribute to the overall project costs and will not directly be used for the patch associated with your what.threes.words location.

5. What happens if Avon Needs Trees is unable to raise the funds needed to buy Wick Farm? 
If Avon Needs Trees is unable to purchase Wick Farm by the expected completion date we will be in touch with you with options. If there has been a delay to the purchase date we will update you on timings. If we are unable to complete the purchase because we have not been able to raise sufficient funds, we will provide you the option to put your generous donation towards the purchase of other woodland creation sites and the maintenance of our existing woodlands. If you would prefer, we can also provide you with a refund.

6. I'm a business how can I support? 
Please review our business donations packages and partnerships and register your interest via this form. Business packages start from as little as £750 for sponsorship opportunities. We are also offering partnership opportunities starting from £10,000. Business applications are screened to ensure alignment with our values and mission. 

7. I'm an individual interested in donating over £10,000, how can I support? 
Please review our individual partnership options and register your interest via this form.