New Forestry Learning & Development Programme launches in Wales!
We’re delighted to announce that we have been appointed by the Welsh Government to deliver a new Forestry Learning & Development Programme, supporting people and businesses across the Forestry & Timber sectors in Wales.
This is a huge milestone for us at Focus on Forestry First. Having spent years building our reputation as a trusted organisation within the Forestry & Timber sector, we’re incredibly proud to have the opportunity to support even more people through this programme.
Our team is genuinely excited to get started. Supporting people, helping them develop and connecting them with the right opportunities is at the heart of what we do, so being able to extend that support to even more people and businesses across Wales is something we’re particularly proud of.
The programme is designed to make it easier for people working in, entering and supporting the sector to understand their learning and development options, identify their skills needs and take practical steps towards further learning, training and career progression.
It’s an exciting opportunity to bring together individual support, sector learning and knowledge-sharing, with the programme shaped by the needs and interests of people and businesses across Forestry & Timber.
Our Managing Director, Olivia Weaver, said:
“We’re incredibly proud to be delivering this programme. We’ve spent years building relationships and trust across the Forestry & Timber sector, so having the opportunity to support even more people across Wales is something that means a great deal to us. For our team, this is really about people - understanding what they want to achieve, helping them work out what they need to get there and making those next steps feel a little easier.
“It’s also about listening to the sector and responding to what people tell us they need, whether that’s support with their own development or opportunities to learn more about topics that matter to them, share knowledge and hear from others working across the industry. We’re looking forward to getting out there, listening to the sector and making the programme genuinely useful.”
Learning and Development Support
Our Learning and Development Support will provide eligible individuals and businesses with practical, tailored support to identify development needs and consider what comes next. Participants will be supported to develop a Learning and Development Plan, helping them explore relevant training, career and progression opportunities and, where appropriate, understand potential funding routes.
Up to 40 individual Learning and Development Plans will be supported through the programme. The support is available to people and businesses in Wales who are involved in, or have a genuine route into, the Forestry & Timber sectors, including employees, businesses, sole traders, self-employed people and new entrants.
Find out more and register your interest in Learning and Development Support: https://www.focusonforestryfirst.co.uk/forestry-ld-support-2026
Seminars and Workshops
Alongside the individual support, we’ll be delivering 8 seminars and workshops during the programme. These events will bring people and businesses from across the Welsh Forestry & Timber sectors together to gain and share knowledge, explore emerging issues and good practice, learn from others and help network.
The programme will include a mixture of face-to-face, online and potentially hybrid events, with the topics and format shaped around the needs of the sector. We want these events to reflect what people working across Forestry & Timber are interested in and want to learn more about. Engagement with the sector, participant feedback, emerging priorities and discussions with the Welsh Government will all help inform the programme.
Tell us what you’d like to see covered in our seminars and workshops: https://www.focusonforestryfirst.co.uk/forestry-ld-workshops-seminars
Register your interest!
The programme will develop over the coming months, with further information about Learning and Development Support, seminars, workshops and opportunities to get involved shared through our website and social media channels. Register your interest today: https://www.focusonforestryfirst.co.uk/forestry-ld-registration
We’re looking forward to working with people and businesses across the Forestry & Timber sectors in Wales and hearing your views as the programme gets underway!