Off-grid Eco-friendly Woodland Classroom

Dear Cabin Supporters

Welcome to the latest update on our Cabin build.

We are still fundraising for the last major part of the build – replacing the unsightly heras fence with a custom-built and more attractive security fence. While we wait to achieve this, there is no shortage of small but transformational jobs to tackle.

So, although there is not much to report, the changes that volunteer Pete has brought about thanks to his amazing carpentry skills have finally given us the organised indoor-outdoor space needed by visiting school groups and families.

The veranda walls can be wound down to open up the indoors to the outdoors. As a space, it is where refreshments are served in all but the coldest of weathers, but it is also the space that protects event participants from sun, wind and rain without losing a connection to the outdoors. When school and youth groups visit, it is where coats and bags and changes of footwear are dropped off - quite literally because, until Pete added boot cubbies and coat hooks, the floor was where belongings were 'dropped'! Now, however, children can hang up coats and store bags and boots leaving the floor space clear for activity tables and seating.  

Expenditure was kept to a minimum by repurposing bench seats as shelving, meaning your donations were used wisely, leaving as much as possible to go towards the replacement fencing. When we next report, we hope to have organised the upstairs storage area, as well as moved another step towards achieving the new fence. As ever, any help you can give by sharing our project would be amazing.

With thanks, as ever, from everyone at Team Trees for your kind support.

Links:

• Transformations make celebrating Earth Day so much easier

Greetings from the Andover Trees Team!

Thanks to your continued donations and the amazing efforts of our volunteers, over the autumn and winter months, we have completed the 2^nd stage of the landscaping.

In mid-November, a talented team of builders and volunteers set out to lay the slabs onto the hardcore that had been laid in October (see our last report 'Landscaping Part Two'). A brilliant team effort saw this completed in a day. Over the following weeks, the side path was added through the storage area and a new covered log store built. The final piece of decking was then added meaning we finally have solid access all the way round the Cabin.

What an achievement!

It makes such a difference in the wetter months of the year for volunteers and visitors alike and thanks must go again to our brilliant volunteer Brian, without whom this could not have happened.

Other small wins include adding more wildflowers to the raised bed at the front and adding the shelves to the kitchen cupboard.

But the icing on the cake was the point at which we could finally invite the building control officer to come and inspect the building. He was very pleased with the work inside and out - he commented on the good access for all abilities so, although the landscaping has taken a while, it is now a real asset.

It is a long 5 years since the trees were felled in nearby Harewood Forest for the construction of the frame in 2021, but the resulting building is simply amazing. Are we finished? Not quite! Of all the outstanding jobs, top of the list are fitting out the veranda for school and youth groups to store muddy boots and wet coats and replacing the temporary security fencing with something more attractive. So, if you are still able to help, we do still need you to get us over the finish line.

This comes, as ever, with thanks from everybody here for your continued support.