The Rewild Project is delighted to offer craft sessions for young people on the autistic spectrum.

Spectrum Skills sessions are specially designed to allow young people on the spectrum to spend a day learning a craft skills and be accompanied by their families or not, in a way that works for each individual & family.

The day will showcase the wonderfully diverse material of cob.

During this course you will get the chance to learn the history and future of cob building through hands on making. We will explore how to cob onto a pre-made wattled frame and learn the endangered heritage skill of brick making.

This course is an ideal introduction into eco-building, where you can take home the skills you have learned and apply them to your personal projects, for example pizza ovens and tiny home builds.

SPECTRUM SKILLS SESSIONS

We are parents of young people with autistic traits and diagnosed autism. We know the difficulties families face and we are now delighted to have funding to help others where we had none. If you have any feedback about how we can improve sessions to make these more suitable & accessible for families.

• Each session is limited to 5-6 attendees depending on the craft to keep the environment relatively quiet and calming, to prevent overwhelm.

• We will never put any pressure on anyone to take part.

• There will be 1 craftsperson (trained in supporting young people with autism) and 1 regular Rewild Project support person for continuity at the session and the day will run in a gentle and relaxed rhythm.

On the day

The workshop will be very informal and we welcome you to arrive anytime between 10:30 and 11. This will give you and your young person the chance to settle in, have a drink and snack and get to know the Spectrum Skills Team. At 11:15 we will give you a small introduction about the site and the craftsperson will introduce their craft for the day. Families are free to stay and join the workshop or go for a walk around the site.

The structure of the day is kept casual to suit the needs of the young people attending the workshop. This means if they would like to take a comfort break or have some alone time we will be able to support them in doing this.

We will break for a wholesome lunch, with ingredients grown from our permaculture allotment at 12:45pm where we invite the young people and families to sit around and have a natter. This is a great time for everyone to talk about shared experiences and what other exciting Spectrum Skills can provide!

After lunch the young people will continue to carry on with making until 3:30 where we will end our workshops. Young people are free to leave the workshop earlier or stay a little later to finish what they have made.

Please note: The young people on this course are likely to get pretty mucky! Make sure to wear suitable clothing

About Rosie

Rosie found her love for using natural materials whilst studying her degree. Rosie is focussed on sharing heritage crafts with children through the use of play – proving these traditional crafts aren’t just fossils from the past but sparks for the future to ignite new ideas and an interest in traditional making practices. With experience in Playwork and play facilitation through outdoor education and forest school, she is particularly passionate about engaging children who may not usually have access to the outdoors or an alternative, more supportive way of learning.

Spectrum Skills has been funded by NHS England to enable autistic young people to be supported to learn new skills and have specialist activities suited to their needs.

We are charging £10 nominal booking fee per place - which includes food for family members if they need to stay onsite or close by.

The Venue

This course is set at our off-grid woodland craft centre, Kensley Sheds, right in the heart of the beautiful Forest of Dean, situated on the famous Sculpture Trail, close to the Stained Glass Window and Wildlife Trust reserve ‘Woorgreen Lake’

Kensley Sheds is the home of our Social Forestry Project ‘New Leaf’. Here, local adults who are struggling with social issues come learn & practice new skills. We follow regenerative woodland management practices, to extract and process wood from disused Forestry England coppiced woodland. Here the wood is turned it into functional items, firewood and charcoal, giving people access to new careers and a sense of real community.

Kensley sheds has running water, a flushing disabled access toilet, onsite parking and is heated by wood-burner. You will be able to peruse our extensive library of eco / craft / alternative living books throughout the day

Any questions get in touch..

Some say that the most RADICAL thing you can do is grow your own food & resources.

Maybe you’ve already tried & experienced set backs and failures in the past?

Or you just don’t have the time…

Or you’ve heard about forest gardening & want to have a go

but just don’t know where to start?

This workshop series aims to empower you with the information and real life, practical skills you need to revolutionise the way you see and practice growing your own foods and medicines…

The problem with our agricultural & growing models…

The problem is that the age of agriculture has taught us to DOMINATE nature, instead of working WITH nature.

Nature is POWERFUL and when we dominate her, she will always be looking for a way to rebalance.

Our model for the last 20,000 years or so has been to take, take & take some more

- from the soil & the earth.

Forest Gardening

Works is working in balance, helping the most useful wild and perennial plants to thrive over time.

Forest Gardening is a revival of sorts of these old ways - sometimes using new plants as our climate changes - plants, trees and shrubs that require very little maintenance.

This can be a base for a mixed polyculture of annuals and perennials, or can be part of a whole scale agro-forestry system.
(Agriculture with Forest!)

There are soooo many ways to use the principles of Forest Gardening
- whether you have a small back yard, an allotment or a few acres or more.
These versatile principles, once learned can help you to plan a low maintenance, productive system, suited to your needs.

What can be better for the planet than that? All the materials you need - right at your fingertips.

Of course there is more to it that that and we are here to guide and teach the ways we have learned along the way.

And show you our amazing 3/4 Acre Plot
and it’s evolution into the wild and delicious Food Forest it is today.

And how we are scaling this up to become a Land-Based Community of autonomous individuals, working collaboratively and collectively as part of a whole system design!

Join us for a day of Forest Garden Magic at our bountiful permaculture allotment.

The morning - For new Participants
Will be spent looking at forest garden theory and design principles.

Lunch will be a hearty & wholesome affair of homegrown, local & wild produce - Paleo diets, Veggie & Vegan all catered for.

Each afternoon we will get stuck in with some practical seasonal skills:

• Summer pruning

• Softwood cuttings for propagation

• Summer chip bud grafting

• Plant ID

• Mulching techniques

• Building beds

• Solar dehydrator

• How to plant a tree properly

• Hardwood cuttings for propagation

• Division for propagation

• Winter pruning of fruit trees / Espaliers / fruit bushes

• Winter grafting techniques

About Your Course Leader - Scott Baine

Emma Gleave

The Settings

Our 3/4 acre bountiful Rewild Allotment cum Forest Garden is the main setting for the course although from time to time we may run day’s at our other Forest Garden’s around The Forest of Dean - check each event for location details.

Originally set up 8 years ago as a nursery to stock other land projects around The Forest of Dean, this has now evolved into an amazing community space, Forest Garden / Food Forest used by many of The Rewild Project groups.

We have a glass house built by Shift Bristol from reclaimed materials, an outdoor kitchen, and an interesting array of edible perennials, annual polyculture crops and herbal medicinal plants.

Bonuses from The Workshop

Not only will you spend a day in fantastic company of The Rewild Team - going away with some new knowledge of how to set up and maintain your own forest garden, building important transferable key skills such as:

• How to read your own landscape

• Design Principles

• Planting

• Garden maintenance

You will also get:

• A list of top Forest Garden Plants for your garden.

• Knowledge of the best tools for the job

• Skills and knowledge to keep maintenance super simple yet yielding food and products

• Plants to take away (when propagating has been taught)

• Herbal Products to take away (when harvesting & creating products)

• Foods & Ferments to take away (when fermenting is being taught)

And always you will go away with new contacts & friendships with people on the same path as you are.

And we hope you keep coming back to learn more new skills each time

For repeat attendees

Because we will be teaching different skills each time, depending on the season - we will give the option of the group being split during the morning session - so that you can choose to do the

‘Introduction to Forest Garden’s’ teaching session with Scott

OR

You can spend time on the allotment learning the practical skills with another member of the team, and engaging with the landscape.

Bookings

Choose as many workshops as you like. Remember the introduction morning session does not need to be repeated for repeat attendees the series is designed to work as a 1 day introduction OR to keep coming back to learn more new skills each time!

Simply add to basket - fill out the form, then go to basket to complete the bookings.

Some say that the most RADICAL thing you can do is grow your own food & resources.

Maybe you’ve already tried & experienced set backs and failures in the past?

Or you just don’t have the time…

Or you’ve heard about forest gardening & want to have a go

but just don’t know where to start?

This workshop series aims to empower you with the information and real life, practical skills you need to revolutionise the way you see and practice growing your own foods and medicines…

The problem with our agricultural & growing models…

The problem is that the age of agriculture has taught us to DOMINATE nature, instead of working WITH nature.

Nature is POWERFUL and when we dominate her, she will always be looking for a way to rebalance.

Our model for the last 20,000 years or so has been to take, take & take some more

- from the soil & the earth.

Forest Gardening

Works is working in balance, helping the most useful wild and perennial plants to thrive over time.

Forest Gardening is a revival of sorts of these old ways - sometimes using new plants as our climate changes - plants, trees and shrubs that require very little maintenance.

This can be a base for a mixed polyculture of annuals and perennials, or can be part of a whole scale agro-forestry system.
(Agriculture with Forest!)

There are soooo many ways to use the principles of Forest Gardening
- whether you have a small back yard, an allotment or a few acres or more.
These versatile principles, once learned can help you to plan a low maintenance, productive system, suited to your needs.

What can be better for the planet than that? All the materials you need - right at your fingertips.

Of course there is more to it that that and we are here to guide and teach the ways we have learned along the way.

And show you our amazing 3/4 Acre Plot
and it’s evolution into the wild and delicious Food Forest it is today.

And how we are scaling this up to become a Land-Based Community of autonomous individuals, working collaboratively and collectively as part of a whole system design!

Join us for a day of Forest Garden Magic at our bountiful permaculture allotment.

The morning - For new Participants
Will be spent looking at forest garden theory and design principles.

Lunch will be a hearty & wholesome affair of homegrown, local & wild produce - Paleo diets, Veggie & Vegan all catered for.

Each afternoon we will get stuck in with some practical seasonal skills:

• Summer pruning

• Softwood cuttings for propagation

• Summer chip bud grafting

• Plant ID

• Mulching techniques

• Building beds

• Solar dehydrator

• How to plant a tree properly

• Hardwood cuttings for propagation

• Division for propagation

• Winter pruning of fruit trees / Espaliers / fruit bushes

• Winter grafting techniques

About Your Course Leader - Scott Baine

Emma Gleave

The Settings

Our 3/4 acre bountiful Rewild Allotment cum Forest Garden is the main setting for the course although from time to time we may run day’s at our other Forest Garden’s around The Forest of Dean - check each event for location details.

Originally set up 8 years ago as a nursery to stock other land projects around The Forest of Dean, this has now evolved into an amazing community space, Forest Garden / Food Forest used by many of The Rewild Project groups.

We have a glass house built by Shift Bristol from reclaimed materials, an outdoor kitchen, and an interesting array of edible perennials, annual polyculture crops and herbal medicinal plants.

Bonuses from The Workshop

Not only will you spend a day in fantastic company of The Rewild Team - going away with some new knowledge of how to set up and maintain your own forest garden, building important transferable key skills such as:

• How to read your own landscape

• Design Principles

• Planting

• Garden maintenance

You will also get:

• A list of top Forest Garden Plants for your garden.

• Knowledge of the best tools for the job

• Skills and knowledge to keep maintenance super simple yet yielding food and products

• Plants to take away (when propagating has been taught)

• Herbal Products to take away (when harvesting & creating products)

• Foods & Ferments to take away (when fermenting is being taught)

And always you will go away with new contacts & friendships with people on the same path as you are.

And we hope you keep coming back to learn more new skills each time

For repeat attendees

Because we will be teaching different skills each time, depending on the season - we will give the option of the group being split during the morning session - so that you can choose to do the

‘Introduction to Forest Garden’s’ teaching session with Scott

OR

You can spend time on the allotment learning the practical skills with another member of the team, and engaging with the landscape.

Bookings

Choose as many workshops as you like. Remember the introduction morning session does not need to be repeated for repeat attendees the series is designed to work as a 1 day introduction OR to keep coming back to learn more new skills each time!

Simply add to basket - fill out the form, then go to basket to complete the bookings.

Join Jess and The Rewild Crew at Angus Buchanan for a guided foraging walk and grow your plant ID knowledge!

On The Day

Jess of Herbalways will welcome you with a freshly brewed herbal tea for you all to enjoy together. You will then be taken on an immersive walk around Angus Buchanan to explore the abundance of edible and medicinal plants and help you feel more confident in identifying them. Jess will offer lots of ideas and inspiration for you to take away and further your foraging journey.

If plants are in abundance, you will be encouraged to gather a range of wild edible goodies as Jess guides you through the many medicinal properties they hold.

After our foraging walk we will take a short break for lunch, we will have a fire and a range of small nibbles. We will not be providing a full meal on this course so we ask participants to bring a packed lunch along with them.

After lunch, we will continue to explore a range of wild foods as Jess discusses how she preserves them to use throughout the year

About Jess

Jess first became interested in herbal medicine whilst studying massage therapy at Reading college some 26 years ago.

After completing a 3 year IHBC college diploma in beauty therapy, which included a Swedish massage qualification and aromatherapy, I then went on to study herbal medicine.

I studied with the IRCH (International Register of Consultant Herbalists) for over 6 years before receiving their diploma in Botano-therapy. The course was in-depth, covering, Anatomy & Physiology, Naturopathy, Health Psychology, Materia Medica and Herbal Medicine.

Jess is a practitioner of Herbal Medicine, she runs a local Forest of Dean Herbal clinic which is open 9am to 5pm, with appointments available by prior arrangements. Jess operates to a strict code of ethics and professional behaviour. All patients are seen in confidence. I treat all of my patients holistically therefore it is essential that I understand your lifestyle and some family background before I prescribe or supply herbal remedies. Jess can be found at Herbalways.net

Profits

The Rewild Project is a Not for Profit, Community Interest Company, and Social Enterprise. It is our mission to support local craftspeople and promote heritage craft skills. We Rewild People by teaching these skills of self reliance and resilience for an uncertain future.

After the craftspeople are paid, and costs are covered we put any profits back in to the community with our ‘weekday sessions for disadvantaged groups’ a lifeline for many local people who we pick up each day and bring to Kensley Sheds and others sites to build community, skills, and share nutritious hot, locally produced food.

Families & Children

You are welcome to bring well behaved children to any of our workshops, although we cannot guarantee you will have the same experience we will do our best to accomodate you all. Children aged 9-12 will need a half priced ticket (Use code CHILD50) and must be accompanied by a full paying adult at a 1:1 ratio, and children aged 13+ will need a full priced ticket in addition to full paying adult.

The Course

Learn how to graft an array of fruit trees this spring with Scott.

This workshop will provide you with an understanding of the importance of grafting as you gain the knowledge of how to combine one plant's qualities of flowering or fruiting with the roots of another that offers vigour and resilience.

Three different grafting methods taught and practiced on the day, looking at the pro’s and con’s of each: 1. Apical-wedge; 2. Side Veneer; 3. Whip & Tongue.

You will go away with 2 x Grafted Root stocks with named variety apple trees grafted on with clear knowledge of aftercare.

Please note: Grafting success depends on the weather conditions, skills level, and timing depending on the years seasonality. We do have an 80-90% success rate, however there are no hard and fast guarantees.

Location Details

This is a 1 day event at The Rewild Permaculture Allotment. This is a fantastic experimental demonstration site with purpose built outdoor kitchen, glass-house, and our eco log cabin, tiny home build, as well as a whole host of named variety heritage fruit trees, tree nursery, root stock and perennial edible plants for the future.

On the day - Approximate timings

9.30 Arrive early for hot drinks and to settle in and meet The Rewild project crew.

10am Workshop starts, with introductions, background to grafting, safety info & some practice twigs.

12.30pm Break for lunch - bring & share pot luck lunch. Warm soup may be available, made with local / organic ingredients.

2pm - Time to graft for real - you will be guided and supported every step of the way to ensure the highest success rate possible.

4pm - Workshop ends, thanks & goodbye for now x

About Scott

Scott has travelled across the world to learn earth and survival skills. He has learnt in the wilds of Scotland, Canada, USA, Sweden and Norway. Being in contact with First Nations and Sami brought him a realisation spiritual and physically. He joined a collective and formed a tribe living in the wilderness in Scandinavia from here they organised DIY wilderness gatherings to create a environment for learning to happen. His passion lyes in supporting food sovereignty and inspiring others to engage with the edible landscape around us.

Profits

The Rewild Project is a Not for Profit, Community Interest Company, and Social Enterprise. It is our mission to support local craftspeople and promote heritage craft skills. We Rewild People by teaching these skills of self reliance and resilience for an uncertain future.

After the craftspeople are paid, and costs are covered we put any profits back in to the community with our ‘weekday sessions for disadvantaged groups’ a lifeline for many local people who we pick up each day and bring to Kensley Sheds and others sites to build community, skills, and share nutritious hot, locally produced food.

Families & Children

This workshop is not suitable for children due to the sharp knives and risk level, needing extra supervision on the site.