Hill Holt Wood

Please do not use Sat-Nav to find us. For directions to Hill Holt Wood please;

Click here for directions to Hill Holt Wood

Hill Holt Wood is a small (34 acre) woodland operating as an environmental social enterprise and controlled by a voluntary board of directors representing local communities and councils as well as local and national businesses.

At Hill Holt Wood we approach the management of the woodland in a traditional sense, as a habitat to be conserved but we also look to the future and utilise the natural resources to achieve employment, education and training goals. Hill Holt Wood is a centre for learning for a diverse range of learners of all ages and abilities.

Hill Holt Wood are delighted to have received three prestigious awards for the ground-breaking Eco-Community Hall project based onsite.

Everyone at Hill Holt Wood would like to thank WREN for putting forward funding for the project and for nominating us for the awards. Our thanks also go to The Green Organisation for recognising all of the hard work put into the project by the Rangers, Volunteers and learners without whom the project would still be on the drawing board.

In total Hill Holt Wood scooped three awards;

• Housing Associations Green Apple Award For The Built Environment and Architectural Heritage 2009 Gold Winner
• Green Champion 2009
• and the most prestigious award of the night the Green Apple Champion of Champions Award 2009.

The Green Organisation is an independent, non-political, non-activist, non-profit environmental group dedicated to recognising, rewarding and promoting environmental best practice around the world.

Congratulations were in order at the wood recently as we celebrated our year eleven student’s graduation day. Everyone at Hill Holt Wood is very proud of what they have achieved, setting the bar high for the current year tens to follow.

Special guest on the day was the Mayor of Gainsborough who presented the Roy Blake Endeavour Award to Adam Chappell.

We would like to thank all of the parents, family and carers who came to join in the celebrations and wish our graduates all the best for the future, where ever that may lie.

Everyone entering Hill Holt Wood finds themselves enveloped by the sights and sounds of nature. That’s why we often take a camera with us when we are out and about.

Here are a few of the things that we’ve found in the last few weeks. Click on the pictures to make them bigger.

A Hill Holt Wood learner recently became a champion after he won a gold medal in the Gainsboro Street Athletics  dash at the Riverside Festival last weekend.

Chris St.John left the other competitors behind as he sprinted over the line to take the first place and will now be competing in the Nationals later in the year.

Chris’s Gold medal was delivered to his door by none other than The Lord Mayor of Gainsborough himself. “I’m chuffed that I did it, I didn’t think that I would win. Now I’ve got a new hobby!” said a delighted Chris as he showed off his new Gold Medal when he arrived at Hill Holt Wood this morning.

Everyone at Hill Holt Wood is proud of Chris and would like to say a big congratulations on the gold medal.

Have you seen any interesting wildlife whilst in the wood?

If you have seen something exciting while in the wood, let us know! You can email us at admin@hillholtwood.com and tell us what you saw and where you saw it. We will be putting all sightings on this page.

We’ve recently made a couple of sightings, why not have a look?

A Roe Deer doe about to disappear into the wood

Friday 1st May was a busy day at the wood…

Hill Holt Wood were delighted to be a stop on the Prince’s Seeing is Believing event and provided a tour of the wood followed by presentations in the newly completed Rammed Earth Building. Everyone at the wood is delighted that the many weeks of hard work and planning have come together to create a truly unique structure that we are very proud of.

Our visitors on the day, Business in the Community, enjoyed the sunshine whilst learning about the many activities that take place in and around the wood. Lunch was followed by a link up to HRH The Prince of Wales himself.

The Prince’s Regional Seeing is Believing gives senior business people an insight into the issues facing some of the most disadvantaged communities. Many business leaders use the events to help re-focus their inward facing companies towards ways in which the local community can benefit. Businesses are becoming increasingly aware that they are not an island in a community but are an integral part of it and can help benefit the community they are. This is the message that those who attended took away from this successful day.

Hill Holt Wood would like to thank all those who attended. For further information about The Prince’s Seeing is Believing please click here to visit the website.

There’s always something happening around the wood, take a look at our gallery to see what’s going on.

Hill Holt Wood is delighted to be one of the hosts for the The Prince’s Seeing is Believing visit for the Prince’s May Day Network.

The event will take place in our newly constructed pioneering rammed-earth building which, like the rest of the site; is entirely off-grid and has been constructed using locally sourced materials.

The Prince’s Seeing is Believing is Business in the Community’s most effective programme for engaging business in society. It invites senior business leaders to see for themselves how business can play a role in tackling Britain’s most pressing social issues, in some of its most deprived inner city and rural areas.

Click here to visit the website.

Nottingham Trent and Nottingham University are looking for Social Entrepreneurs of the future to attend their Events on creating a Social Enterprise. The events are both open to all students, simply contact Jo Leake on 0115 871 4760 to register.

For more details please have a look at the following:
29th April @ Nottingham Trent University
30th April @ Nottingham University