Woodland Heritage is a longstanding supporter of Bangor University, providing financial assistance and advice to many forestry students, alumni and staff, as well as over £800,000 of funding for a string of important research projects focused on Acute Oak Decline and based at the university.
Seeking to preserve this relationship for the future, James Walmsley, Woodland Heritage Trustee and forestry lecturer at Bangor University, proposed the university took out a ten-year Premium Corporate Membership of the charity.
Clearly well out of the ordinary, there was no way such a membership could be funded by the university itself: it would create an impossible precedent given the huge number of partner organisations and charities that are associated with the university.
So, James approached the Bangor Forestry Students’ Association (BFSA) committee and put the idea to them, for whom, Peter Roe, BFSA president 2019-2020 on behalf of the committee said:
“BFSA recognises the support that Bangor University students and alumni have received from Woodland Heritage over many years, including Garthwaite bursaries, subsidised places on the excellent Woodland to Workshop course, financial support for attendees of the SelectFor Irregular Silviculture training, and more. In particular, it’s highly likely that the International Forestry Students’ Association’s most successful conference, NERM 2019, organised by BFSA, may not have happened without the charity’s incredible support and guidance.
“BFSA is delighted to be in a position to contribute £1,250 towards this ten-year membership. The committee all agree it’s an excellent investment in our wonderful relationship with Woodland Heritage.”
Ken McNamara, a part-time distance learning student on the MSc Forestry programme at Bangor University, had (in early 2020) made a very generous donation to the university of several thousand pounds, to be used to support the Forestry programmes. So, James approached Ken, proposing that part of his donation be used to fund the remaining £1,250 of the ten-year membership. Ken said:
“I think the proposition represents fantastic value and a really effective way to use part of my donation. It will clearly generate benefits for many years to come for my fellow forestry students and for forestry at Bangor University in general. I love it!”
Reflecting on this new relationship between BFSA, Bangor University and Woodland Heritage: a membership that runs up until 2029, James Walmsley added:
“At a time when there is so much uncertainty and budget horizons are so short-term, it’s fantastic to have such a long-term connection between Woodland Heritage and the University. It’s the first time I’ve established anything that runs over such a long-time scale and I’m really happy to be part of this collaboration.”