Gifford Community Woodland comprises Speedy and Fawn Woods at the end of Station Road in Gifford, East Lothian. They were purchased in 2017 on behalf of the whole community, and we welcome feedback or input - you can contact us at any time on gifford.woodseh41@gmail.com
PARKING - Please note there is NO PARKING AT THE WOODS or nearby. We ask all of our visitors to park in Gifford village centre, which is just a short walk away.
Please do not park anywhere on the track, or nearby roads. These are busy with residents' parking/access and must be kept clear.
"I spent 10 days in Gifford recently house and hen sitting for my brother Joe Clark. I spent many happy hours exploring the community wood which is a wonderful resourse and took quite a few photos of insects - my passion - while I was there. I have sent records in to iRecord but I thought you might be interested to see some of the photos I took. I also moth trapped with Katty Baird one night and she will no doubt have let you have any new moth records."
Our next Gifford Woods Management Meeting will be taking place on Monday 21st June at 7.30pm. As with all our meetings just now this will be held virtually via Zoom, and anyone from the local community is welcome to join us to give their input into how the Woodland is managed day-to-day.
Zoom meeting details can be found below, or if you would prefer to raise a matter for the Committee members to discuss in your absence, please email: gifford.woodseh41@gmail.com.
Thank you, and we hope to see some new faces on Monday evening!
We are today launching the recruitment campaign for two roles, a Project Manager and an Administrator. Job descriptions, including details on how to apply for each role, can be found on the links below. Please note the application deadlines vary for each.
Further information about our new funding can be found here:
Gifford Community Woodland, the guardian
organisation of Speedy and Fawn Woods on the outskirts of Gifford, East
Lothian, has recently received a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant of just
over £75,000. Made possible by money raised by National Lottery players, the
project focuses on supporting the health and wellbeing of the local community
whilst caring for, learning from and sharing Gifford Woods.
The National Lottery Heritage Fund support
means the project team will be able to further engage local people with the
Woods through new initiatives to protect their beauty and role as part of
Gifford’s natural heritage. This grant covers 58% of the overall project costs.
It has been supported by other recent successful fundraising activities,
including a grant of £25,000 from the Fallago Rig Environment Fund. Donations
from local people have been critical too, primarily through the recently
launched ‘Friends of Gifford Woods'scheme. So far,
over 70 local people have committed to support the woods through regular
giving.
The new funding will enable the recruitment of
two part-time roles, a Project Manager and an Administrator, meaning the Woods
will provide new employment opportunities for local people. Applications are
now open for both positions; anyone interested in applying can find further
details and full job descriptions above.
Other activities that the funding will support
include volunteer days and training; school and nursery educational sessions;
youth and adult events to share information about natural heritage plus social and
engagement activities for people of all ages, run in conjunction with other
community groups.In addition, the grant
will assist with ongoing woodland management to protect and preserve this
ancient place, and with initiatives to aid understanding of the wildlife that
calls Gifford Woods home – such as a repeat of the mammal survey which became a
viral hit back in November when trail camera videos shared online were viewed
thousands of times.
Commenting on the award, Chair of Gifford
Woods Roo Hardy said: “We are thrilled to have received this
support thanks to National Lottery players and are excited that not only can we
continue to look after the woods for future generations, but that we can also
engage local people of all ages in the Woods. Our Gifford Woods play a major
role in our natural heritage, but they also aid the physical and mental health
of our local community.”
Spring has sprung and everything is beginning to look green and gorgeous. You will have noticed that we’ve had to do some tree safety felling. But we have also planted lots of new baby trees, which we have to look after if they are going to thrive. Could you help us to do this?
Come along to our introduction/try out session to find out more so you can feel confident and expert to assist with this vital activity. We are meeting on Saturday May 8th at 10.00am at the Railway Track path. Nev will show us how it’s done. Everyone welcome, and you don’t need to be super-fit for this volunteering role!
You really need protective gloves - ideally gardening or outdoor work ones (We have spares if you don't have your own). If you have them, please also bring secateurs, a small sickle or a hand fork. But don’t worry if you haven’t got these things. Only the gloves are vital.
The plan is to clear the weeds that could choke our young trees, check if any saplings are dead, and replace their protective tubes.
We'll observe current social distancing regulations but please bring a flask and a snack for break time if you want to.
You do need to let us know if you are coming for track and trace contact purposes. Contact Nev by email gifford.woodseh41@gmail.com to confirm.
Do come along and have some fun! This is another great chance to really feel part of our woods by doing an important job in looking after the trees of the future.
Our next Gifford Woods Management Meeting will be taking place on Monday 19th April at 7.30pm. As with all our meetings just now this will be held virtually via Zoom, and anyone from the local community is welcome to join us to give their input into how the Woodland is managed day-to-day.
Zoom meeting details can be found below, or if you would prefer to raise a matter for the Committee members to discuss in your absence, please email: gifford.woodseh41@gmail.com.
Thank you, and we hope to see some new faces on Monday evening!
Although we've managed a few socially distanced volunteering days in the woods this year, it has been difficult to get as many people out to help us do all the tasks required to manage an ancient woodland.
But we know many of you will want to help further, and maybe do so at a time that suits you and your family...so to help, we have produced a short video below where our Project Manager Nev (with a bit of help!) talks you through a few of the tasks that need to be done to our younger trees.
Watch the video below, and please do let us know if this is helpful and we'll some more!
We were very lucky to have local mammal recorder Graham Checkley back in Our Gifford Woods recently to again monitor some of the activity. This time Graham brought his trail camera along to study our most secretive residents, and he managed to capture quite a few additional users of Gifford Woods as can be seen in the video below (also available on our YouTube channel by clicking here)!
Here's an update from Graham to describe what he did and what he found:
"If you walk through a woodland at dusk or dawn you may be lucky enough to encounter a Fox going about their business. But most of the mammal activity takes place at dead of night, and that's why a trail camera is so useful; it operates in infrared and is motion triggered, so it doesn't bother the animals at all.
My first camera deployment was in the Speedy Wood, where I recorded Fox and Roe Deer, but Nev suggested that I checked out the Fawn Wood too and I was very glad I did.
I recorded Badger, Brown Hare, Fox, and what looked like Wood Mice at both of the Fawn Wood locations I checked, while Roe Deer were an additional species that only frequented the quieter trails.
It's intriguing to see the number of species that can coexist on a small section of a woodland trail. You can see Pheasants at dawn, mice at night, and Foxes at the odd hours in between; survival is so often a matter of timing.
But there's also the question of daytime survival. Badgers have sets, Foxes have lairs and Mice have nests, but Brown Hare and Roe Deer simply hunker down and try to be invisible. That's what makes visitor behaviour so important.
So if you do take a walk in the woods, especially at dawn or dusk, please try not to disturb our secret residents.".
A big thank you again to Graham for all his work and sharing this with us.
