woodcraft folk annual review 2009-10

8/6/2019 Woodcraft Folk Annual Review 2009-10

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Woodcraft Folk Annual Review 2009-2010

Who Are These Folk?



Growing up in Woodcraft is something special, as an

organisation it ga ve me m y political and social education,

something that I am fore ver indebted to the organisation

and m y fantastic leaders. I was proud to become

chairperson of the folk and de velop our long established

fusion between camping and politics, co-operation and

solidarit y, friendship and social change. 2009 saw us grow,

starting projects and embedding programs. While we said

goodb ye to our pre vious General Secretar y, Kirst y Palmer

we appointed Jon Nott, formerl y Chief Executi ve of the

Green Part y, who hit the ground running as a local member

from north London. Kirst y had been with

us for three years, in which she o versaw significant growth in the

central organisation’s capacit y to

support groups. Looking ahead we

aim to grow and with the strategic

plan guiding our work we ha ve

embarked upon an ambitious

programme of support for groups and

districts and rebranding of the Woodcraft Folk.

(Llo yd Russell-Mo yle , Chair of the

General Council)

In this brief o ver view we’ ve tried to gi ve a fla vour of the

awesome di versit y of the Woodcraft Folk. If this is your

first taste of the Woodcraft Folk, I urge you get in vol ved

and find out more – there reall y is something for e ver yone

in our mo vement. And if you’re

alread y in vol ved I hope you’ll find

things that others are doing to

engage, amuse and inspire you in

your journe y through the Folk.

(Jon Nott, General Secretar y)

with

nd

1



4



We ha ve o ver 380 groups up and do wn

the coun tr y and ne w groups are s tar ting

up all the time, gi ving e ven more people

the chance to e xperience the Woodcra t

Folk .

Manches ter Longsigh t Woodcra t was one

o the ne w dis tric ts es tablished in 2009,

s tar ting wi th the El fn (6-9 ) and Pioneer

(10-12 ) age groups.

“ Tuesda y e vening group nigh ts ocus on

learning through un and games – a void-

ing ou tside speak ers as e ven the mos t

you th- ocused can be a bi t lik e a boring

teacher! We also do a lo t o trips, including

bo wling and ice sk a ting.”

“ The highligh t o the year though was our

frs t summer camp in Cheshire – we’ll

ne ver orge t rolling do wn the hill in our

sleeping bags and then jumping back to

the top o the hill – s till in our bags.”

a

e w groups are s tar tin ing e ven more people

erience the Woodcra t

sigh t Woodcra t was one

ts es tablished in 2009,

El fn (6-9 ) and Pioneer

ps.

g group nigh ts ocus on

un and games – a void-k ers as e ven the mos t

an be a bi t lik e a boring

do a lo t o trips, including

o ver 380 roups u

E l fi ns

7



C u d h a m E n v i r o n m e n t a l Ac t i v i t y C e n t r e e n d e d a b u s y 2 0 0 9

s e a s o n o n a r e a l l y p o s i t i v e n o t e w i t h E l f n s r o m B r o m l e y ,

S o u t h w a r k , W o k i n g h a m , T o o t i n g , C l a p h a m , S p e l t h o r n e a n d

H a c k n e y a l l a t t e n d i n g “ S l e e p o v e r ” e v e n t s .

Al l w h o a t t e n d e d h a d a g r e a t t i m e t a k i n g p a r t i n m a k i n g

n e w r i e n d s , c r a t a c t i v i t i e s t o t a k e h o m e , c o - o p e r a t i v e

g a m e s , a n i g h t w a l k , s i n g i n g a n d l a u g h t e r a l l t o p p e d o

w i t h a “ g o o d y b a g ” o r e a c h a n d e v e r y E l f n . B e r t i e t h e

b a d g e r w a s o n l y s e e n v e r y b r i e y a s a p p a r e n t l y w e w e r e

t o o n o i s y o r h i m !

v i

a Ac t i v e a l l y

o n m

C udam S l e e p o v e r s

8



Lockerbrook Outdoor Activity Centre is locatedin the stunning heart of the Peak District

Wor k ing w i t h t he Tree spo

n s i b i l i t y Co-op, our

He ig h t G a te cen tre in t h

e sou t h Penn ine s

comp le te d t he p l an t ing o f a

copp ice d woo d l an d o f

1,000 tree s to pro v i de f

ue l for t he b iom a s s he a t

ing

s y s tem. We a l so g a ine d p l ann ing perm

i s s ion for a

w in d tur b ine to comp lemen t t he so l ar p ane l s an d

he lp ac h ie ve our go a l o f

a c ar bon neu tr a l cen tre

.

A n o te f r o m He i g h t G

a te

9



Stanle y Woodies had a ver y bus y year in 2009,

including camping again with refugees, attending

Annual Gathering and a hostel weekend. But the y

still managed to find time to work on the reno vation

of The Acti vit y Den.

After a long campaign & lots of work, The Acti vit y

Den recei ved some big grants, signed the lease and

e ventuall y started work on the building. A n

e w roof

finished for Christmas and lots of work done inside

to transform the ambience of the place. As you walk

through the building you kno w it is a dedicated

children's and youth building.

Activity Den

10



In July the South East region attended the

Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival, the yearly

commemoration by trade unionists of the

Dorchester Labourers who were transported toAustralia in the 1830s for daring to organise a

union of agricultural workers. The Woodcraft

presence at the event totalled 70 people organising craft

activities and games.

We also took the opportunity to distribute Woodies Against

the Nazis badges as part of our campaign against racist and

fascist groups.

“I travelled down to the wave with a whole collection of

woodcrafters: Elfins, Pioneers, Venturers, DFs and adults - a

great mix of age groups all getting on really well. There are

few more liberating feelings than being amongst a huge massof positive people trying to say something and make a

difference. Being with my Bradford Woodcraft friends made it

all the more enjoyable and exciting. Some of the Venturers

were interviewed for a radio program, seeing young Woodies

having a say at a huge, national demonstration was lovely.

Woodcraft has always given me an outlet to talk about

important issues freely with other young people and adults,whilst trying to do things to solve the

problems young people have to think

about today. The wave is a great example

of an event where I and other

Woodcrafters were given the chance to

have our say about climate change and

generally just have a really nice trip out”

(Katy White, Bradford District)

azi

g a s h

Woodcra l

mportant i sues frwhilst tryin d

problems young

ut to

ev

ve a rea

White, Bra

n

v

e

st

nd

Pag



Woodchips are thenewest (and youngest)

Woodcraft age group,catering for the

under-sixes, providing a

first introduction to theprinciples of

co-ooperative play andlearning through fun

which extend throughall Woodcraft age

groups.

Like all Woodcraft Folkgroups, Woodchip

groups vary widely intheir ways of working,

but many are organisedas parentsco-operatives.



As Woodcraft Folk we areproud of our co-operative

heritage and continued rolein the co-operative

movement. We work closelywith many other parts of the

co-operative movement, withthe Co-op Group and local

co-op societies providingfunding for many Woodcraft

districts and theCo-operative Collegeproviding training for

General Council (our board

of Trustees).

2009 also saw the launch ofCoCamp - the international

camp of co-operation.CoCamp, which will be

hosted by Woodcraft Folk in

August 2011, is beingorganised by a board electedby a co-op of all those who

plan to attend the camp.

collaborate

consensus

co-exist

contributeconstruct

coordinate

conserve

comence

come

cooperate



The last week in July saw Woodcrat Groups rom all over Britain descend upon a

feld at the edge o a lake in Bala, North Wales or Celtic Camp.

Torrential rain wasnít enough to stop us enjoying workshops on the Celts and

traditional Welsh stories and a Ceilidh.

Amazingly, the whole event, including sound systems, disco lights and occasion-

ally hair straighteners, was powered by solar energy, and our own wind turbine.

Not to mention the bicycle-powered smoothie-maker.

As ever, the olks in the MEST-UP tent did their thing, oering support and advice

to those in need o it.

C E L TI

C

CA M P

25TH JULY-2ND AUGUST 2009

LlyN TeGid,

Bala



'THE BEST THINGS AT CAMP WERE BEING AWAY WITH MY BEST

FRIENDS FOR MORE THAN A WEEK, SEEING PEOPLE I HADN'T SEEN

IN AGES, MAKING NEW FRIENDS, THE SOLAR SHOWERS AND SHAR-

ING THE TEEPEE'

ROBBIE, NEWCASTLEI MADE NEW FRIENDS AND I'VE

NEVER FELT SO HAPPY, I'D

RATHER BE IN THE RAVE TENT

THAN OUT CLUBBING'

RACHEL, DF

18



One o this year's IFM-SEI camps was held in Peru, near the amous, ancient city

o Cuzco. The theme was children's rights and child slavery and we spent the

week learning and educating others on issues in our respective countries. We

fnished the week with a debate in Cuzco and a march through the city in

support o the rights o children all over the world. There was a great sense o community during our two week stay and we all let great riends.

Our members discussed and presented through mediums ranging rom gender

challenging drama, to 'how gay is too gay?' stop motion animation to research onhow 'out' the participants were. Mixing the values and principles o Woodcrat

Folk with those o the LGBT community means provides a vital link between

converging communities.

We’ve been involved in the

largest LGBT young socialistmeeting in Europe or over 10

years. The theme was Identity.

EASTERQUEER

Can we ever know our true identity? How much does society create it or us?

Cambridge to Peru



IFM-SEI (International Falcon Movementand Socialist Education Intentional) is

our international organisation. In 2009

we strengthened our work globally. In

particular took part in the IFM-SEI

network ‘All Together’ tacking discrimi-

nation and inclusion.

Two members from Brighton attended the launch of a network to bring our

partners the Senegal Pioneers with other organisations to start tackling

HIV/AIDS in Africa. Almost half of new HIV infections occur among young

people age 15 to 24.This is a preventable virus and yet for prevention to be a

reality, young people must have access to adequate health services and quality

education

INterNatIoNalAfrican Youth Activists Network - Senegal

2222


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National D eaf Children’s Society and Sense b oth b rought y oung memb ers to the ep ic D F Camp 2009. It was a f irst f or the D F Mov ement and

was a huge success. Hay ley f rom ND CS said “T he camp was f antastic, ev ery thing was really well organised and all my concerns were soon put to res

t upon arriv al” T he mov ement learnt a huge ammount ab out including y oung deaf p eop le and we hop e to b uild on the exp erience in the f uture!

ND CS @D F Camp

exp erience in the f uture!

- W o o d cr a f t W or l d i s

a

d i s t an t mem or y. N o w

w i t h

TREE’ s he l p DF s h a ve l a u

n c he d

t he ir o wn pr in te d p u

b l i c a t i on t h a t an y b o d

y

c an c on tr i b u te t o: TH

E ZINE

- Z ine s are e d g y, b o l d

& be a u t i f u l.

M a s ter p ie ce s o f de s i gn, pr o se & p

oe tr y.

Sen t t o a l l DF s, ven t

urer s & s o on be y on d.

THE ZINE

XXV

D s



ZNA. Zombies for a Nuclear Apocolypse

Brothers, sisters, ghoulsand corpses, For too long

we have been waiting,craving a new dawn forour peoples, a dawn ofthe dead.

Now is the time for theundead to spring intolife, to burst from our

soily graves and call,groan, in unison'Apocalypse, NOW!'

Up and ATOM, Zombiesfor a NuclearApocalypse!

The DF Campagin thisyear was No NuclearFuture which spawnedthe anti-campaigninggroup ZNA.

Hundereds of DFZombies took to thestreets to demand anuclear apocolypse inBradford, Sellafieldand Aldermaston.

ZNA launched theirown website and hit

the front page of TheTelegraph & Argus

XXVI



Open space at Annual Gathering

2009 saw us develop, with the support of the CooperativeFund, new ways of decision making at our Annual Gathering.Using open space and interactive forms the event discussed

just under half the motions in smaller groups. This allowedpeople who have never spoken before at the conference tohave their views heard.

Woodcraft Folk Participation Plan

Around 100 Pioneers, Venturers, DFs and adult helpers shared

their views on democracy and decision-making at WoodcraftFolk, through TREE activities at Southwest camp in August.This was one of many local and regional events whereWoodcraft Folk members contributed to the development ofTREEs Youth Participation Plan a plan to make sure youngpeople can have their say in everything that happens atWoodcraft Folk from group night activities to Annual

Gathering discussions.

Young people on Council

We remain proud that over half of General Council (ourTrustee Board) are young people under 25 and that they takeon leading roles such as Chairperson. Elections at our Annual

Gathering ensure that the full range of members arerepresented at Council's bi-monthly meetings, making it anexciting inter-generational forum at the heart of the movement.

Raw ns le y w n l L l oydBen

C a r lyKar l

P h i n7



Jos h Doddos K’ DawgKi t

S ar ah M agi c o 28

J a c k

DemocracyWoodcraft Style



Each block representsabout £2.50 per child.

i n c

o m e

e x p

e n d i t u r e

i n c

o m e

Folk Finances

Grants for regionsand groupsGrants for specificprojectsIncome from Centres

& CampsMembership FeesFundraisingCo-Operative Group

Core Educational &Development WorkSpecific Projects:a) TREE - enhancing youg people’ sexperience of Woodcraft Folk

b) Playoutc) The Power Podd) Other Projects

Regional & GroupActivityExpenditure on Centres& CampsGovernanceFundraising

We estimate that around 12,000 children & young people tookpart in Woodcraft Folk activities in 2009.

We raised approximately £102.50 per child and spent

approximately £107.50 per child (the difference was fundedfrom our reserves).

?

Our full accounts are available from our website woodcraft.org.uk29



Woodcraft Folk is a member of:IFM-SEI BYC Co-operatives UKNCVYS NCVO

We are proud to workin partnership with:Co-operative College Sense NCDS NYAPractical ParticipationDe MontfortUniversity

We gratefully receive financial

support from:Big Lottery Co-operative GroupScottish Co-operative DFIDDCFS Scottish GovernmentCashback for CommunitiesVolunteering in Wales Fund –Welsh Council for VoluntaryActionWelsh Assembly Government -Youth Delivery FundGwirVol (16-25) - WCVA

DEFRA NESTA

30



www.woodcraft.org.uk

020 7703 4173

info @woodcraft.org.uk

Woodcraft FolkUnit 983 Crampton StreetLondonSE7 3BQ

This booklet was designed by membersof The District Fellows Movementwww.spanthatworld.com

if you need this document in analternative formate or plain text thenplease contact us on the address above

woodcraft folk annual review 2009-10

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