Hakeford Woods
Registered Charity Number 1203076
Est. 2015
Hakeford Woods is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation CIO based at a beautiful woodland site only ten minutes from Barnstaple. We run ongoing programmes for students who are Home Educated, groups from local schools, community groups and individuals. Activities and programmes can be organised for all ages and abilities.
More about us
Newsletter
To make sure that you don't miss out on any workshops, events or new courses please follow this link and sign up to our new seasonal newsletter
Home-Ed Groups
Sessions for children 5-11. Raising self esteem, lots of opportunities to play, explore and learn new things
Forest Folk
Sessions for children under 5 and parents/carers
Lots of New Events Coming Up
Whittling and Woodcraft for Wellbeing
Regular Monday Whittling and woodcraft sessions for people in need of a quieter wellbeing day focussing on projects
Women's Wellbeing in the Woods
Monthly session for Women with a skills focus and the chance to socialise in the woods
Volunteering
Come and join the staff and volunteers at Hakeford Woods with different projects including woodland management, amp construction, access improvements, gardening and more.
Family Workshops
Suitable for children aged 2.5 years + (siblings under 2.5 are free)
Men's Woodland Wellbeing Group
Fortnightly Saturday sessions for learning new skills, socialising, helping out with jobs etc
Heritage Crafts
Learn traditional skills including hurdle making, hedgelaying, metal casting, green woodwork, nature connection and more
Traditional Metalworking
Blacksmithing in the forge
New courses coming up soon
What we've been up to in 2024
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Long term Forest School provision for secondary aged children attending alternative provision schools
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Weekly Sessions for Home Educated children.
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Wellbeing in Nature Sessions every Thursday for adults struggling with mental health and social isolation
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Regular Whittling and Spoon carving courses for adults provising opportunities for quieter Wellbeing days
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Volunteering days.
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Working with the Youth Justice Service to provide reparation opportunities for young people.
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Providing a Forest School space for On Track Education Service
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Working with a range of North Devon schools to provide individual sessions and programmes of activities for small groups, whole classes and year groups throughout the year.
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Providing a space and hosting a series of woodland based sessions for trainee Doctors.
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Hosting Wellbeing days for staff working in a range of different sectors.
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Providing sessions for groups of children working with a range of specialist services and charities based in the North Devon area
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Hosting an activities day for a scout group visiting North Devon.
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Providing Wellbeing focussed days for groups of adults through supported living providers and recovery focussed charities
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Camp improvements including wheelchair access to two of our main camps and the ongoing construction of a new pizza oven
If you'd like to see more regular updates and photos from the woods, please follow us on facebook and instagram.
Seasonal updates
It's been a long dry period in the woods this summer and the ground has been looking dry. Our trees are doing ok in this weather as most have nice deep roots but the younger ones and the plants in the veggie beds will have been struggling a bit more. The bees will have enjoyed the sun but dry conditions reduce the amount of nectar available for them.
Recent Animal spots
Squirrels, fox, shrews, deer, badgers and rabbits.
Recent Bird spots
Wrens, goldfinches, Jays, Ravens, Buzzards, Great tits, Wagtails, Pigeons, greater spotted woodpecker and green woodpecker, woodcocks, treecreepers, robins, goldcrests, willow tits
Our Vision
Our vision is that all children and adults will have the opportunity to experience the significant benefits that can be brought by spending time in the natural environment.
We are extremely fortunate to have permanent access to our beautiful Forest School site. Working with local schools and community organisations we are providing opportunities for individuals and groups of all ages and backgrounds to take part in a variety of activities and experience our fantastic natural environment.
Our Forest School offers a variety of opportunities for schools, clubs, community groups and individuals to take part in educational tasks, fun activities and conservation work.
Safeguarding
Hakeford Woods Forest School is committed to Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children and adults attending our programmes. We expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
Safeguarding and Child Protection at Hakeford Woods Forest School
Sessions
Since opening in the summer of 2015 we have run a variety of different sessions.
Over the next few months we will be running different sessions for local schools, community groups, families and parents with young children.
Clients
We are currently working with students from an Alternative Provision school in North Devon. We are also running weekly Wellbeing sessions for adults with mental health difficulties and weekly sessions for children who are home educated. In the last 6 months we have also run regular whittling and spoon carving sessions for the Devon Recovery Learning Community.
Testimonials
"I really liked everything about Forest School. It was fun and my favourite bit was lighting fires"
Our Instagram Feed
Site Updates
Since our last update we have been running regular sessions in the woods for several local schools and finding out the changes that need to be made to enhance the site. Our regular base camps are well loved, but to give us more options we hope to complete and develop a few different areas of the site in the next few months. The roundhouse area is up and running, just a few more little bits to do to finish it off.
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What Next?
With the site development, we are looking forward to getting Hakeford Woods to a point where we can have more groups on site at a time. This will enable us to continue our long term work with children struggling in education, as well as providing additional opportunities for other children, families and adults who could benefit from what we are able to offer.
Supporters
We are very grateful to the following organisations for their support :
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