Volunteering

It was therapeutic to revisit childhood in a different way from my own or my daughter’s. It added an element to my weekly routine that was missing from other things I did. Basically it gladdened my heart a bit.

I started volunteering with Forest School SNPT when I moved back to the area. It was a perfect way for me to start learning about Forest School after my interest was piqued from helping at sessions in my previous work at a nursery/with girl guides, and really helped me to meet lots of new lovely people and feel less lonely in my new community.

Forest School SNPT is such a great place to volunteer for as the Forest School Leaders and Assistants you’ll meet are so kind and passionate about what they do, and will go out of their way to make you feel welcome and to support you in developing knowledge on how Forest School as an educational setting is so great for children and young people.

I enjoyed volunteering with Forest School SNPT so much that I soon did my level 2 training to be a Forest School assistant. The training opened up a new avenue for me. A local school was looking for a teaching assistant with outdoor learning or Forest School knowledge and I have been working there now for more than 10 years. The experience and training with Forest School SNPT has been highly valuable to this role.

My experience with Forest School SNPT has been hugely beneficial for me as I have developed skills which I wouldn’t have in an indoor educational setting, become more social and confident in myself, and been able to write about my experience on CVs (helping me to show that I have a variety of experiences in educational settings). For all of these reasons, I highly recommend volunteering with Forest School SNPT!

I stumbled across Forest School SNPT at an event about 14 years ago and couldn’t believe there could actually be a job like it! It was and still is my dream job.