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
Women's Wellbeing in the Woods
Next Women's Group session
12th October
Click the image above for more information
Forest Folk
Sessions for children under 5 and parents/carers
Lots of New Events Coming Up
Click link above for more info
Super worm Family workshops
Suitable for children aged 2.5 years + (siblings under 2.5 are free)
In these workshop, listen to the story of Superworm and meet some of the minibeasts that live in our woodland.
You'll learn some super worm facts and create a 'grunting stick' to charm the worms from the mud. Once found, you will use mud, leaves, grass and sawdust to feed the worms and create your own wormery to take home with you and enjoy a holiday...don’t forget to let the worm go back into nature to help your plants grow.
Time - 10.30-12.30 - stay for picnic after for one hour max
Cost- £10 per child adults and children under 2.5 free.
Click link above for more info
Whittling, Spoon Carving and Woodland Crafts for Wellbeing
We are running regular whittling and woodcraft focussed sessions on Mondays for those who fancy a quieter day in the woods working on different projects
Introduction to Traditional Metalworking
Roli our resident blacksmith is recovering from some surgery at the minmute, but we hope to be getting these started again in the late summer, dates TBA
Men's Woodland Wellbeing
NEW SESSIONS!!
Men's Wellbeing in the Woods group.
After a successful series of sessions that we ran after receiving funding from the Devon Mental Health Alliance's Innovation Fund we have decided to offer ongoing regular sessions of our Men's Woodland Wellbeing days
Where possible we are trying to offer two sessions a month, these sessions will be on Saturdays. You will be welcome to one, all or anywhere in between. The booking link is below and if you can book in advance so we know what to expect in terms of numbers that would be hugely helpful.
Booking link
https://bookwhen.com/hakefordwoods
Recent News July 2022
It's been a while since I've updated and I'll be doing a full one soon. In the meantime:
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Regular Forest School sessions for young people attending specialist provision schools in North Devon
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Weekly Sessions for Home Educated children with Iona
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Wellbeing in Nature Sessions every Thursday for adults struggling with mental health and social isolation
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Whittling and Spoon carving courses for the Devon Recovery Learning Community
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Volunteering days delivered with Cheryl
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Camp refurbishments including the newly improved roundhouse and facilities and a new main base camp shelter
Support Received: We have been lucky enough to receive support in the form of financial and physical assistance in recent months. see more
If you'd like to see more regular updates and photos from the woods, please follow us on facebook and instagram.
Home-Ed Groups at Hakeford Woods
Raising self-esteem through our Forest School sessions where our children can play, create, explore, relate and engage with nature and one another.
We have been running weekly Forest School sessions for home educated children since 2016. Initially these were run by Georgie, and when she moved back to Wales we were delighted that Iona could join us in the woods and with help from Zoe and more recently Fiona she's been running these sessions on Fridays for children aged 5-11 since 2019.
We are in a position where we could begin offering a group for older Home Educated children. If you would be interested in this for children over 11 years old please get in touch.
For more information about the Home Ed groups please follow these links to our new pages.
Home-Ed Sessions for Children aged 5-11 The Voles
Home-Ed Sessions for Children aged 11-16 The Owls
"No one will protect what they don't care about, and no one will care about what they have never experienced."
Sir David Attenborough
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.
see more
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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