To celebrate the joys of walking in all British woodland, and to help reinforce our campaigning to protect facilities and rights of access for walkers at a time when the future of the Forestry Commission is uncertain, we’re running a special Walk in the Woods Week between Monday 3 and Sunday 9 October 2011, and inviting Ramblers Areas and Groups to participate by organising a woodland walk.
Walks should include a significant stretch through forest or woodland throughout Britain. It doesn’t have to be Forestry Commission land – it can be any woodland, large or small. Walks can be any length, but shorter walks, particularly those under 8km/5 miles, are more likely to attract new walkers to the Ramblers.
The festival is also a great opportunity to raise publicity and visibility, which can help attract new walkers and potential new Ramblers members – particularly important at a time when increasing membership is a top priority.
The event is linked to Bosch Lawn & Garden's British Tree Week, to help raise awareness of Britain’s native trees, which will help bring additional promotion.
More information about the event, plus everything you need to participate in it, is now available online here. This is in addition to the hard copy festival packs which will soon be despatched by post. The resources are included in our new Festivals and Events pages created to make it easier for volunteers to participate in national events.
We are aware that this event was announced at relatively short notice, making it difficult for some Areas and Groups to incorporate it into their programmes. This was partly because of the unexpected opportunity of an event linked to the currrent forestry campaign. In general we are committed to lengthening the notice period for such events and the current Festivals page includes dates up to Get Walking Weekend in May 2012. If it is too late for your printed walks programme, please consider running an additional woodland walk and promoting it through websites, the Group Walks Finder, facebook, local advertising and so on.
