Green Aspirations Scotland CIC

We’re a social enterprise committed to reconnecting people to nature through woodlands. Over the last 10 years, we’ve worked with people of all ages to help build their knowledge and skills in sustainable woodland management and greenwood crafts, through workshops, volunteering, events, kids holiday clubs, team building, and more!

Our site is based in rural Stirlingshire near to the Lake of Menteith, just an hour from Glasgow and Edinburgh and 20 minutes from Stirling. We run workshops and activities in everything from whittling to traditional timber framing, with lots in between. You can join us for a few hours, a day, or a weekend event, or take part in our regular volunteering sessions. You’ll leave feeling better about the world, with new skills, and with a renewed respect for the woodlands.

As a social enterprise, profits from the income we make goes back into our work supporting a more diverse range of people to get into the woods, learn new skills, and have fun in a safe space. We work with mental health groups, young people, and other vulnerable groups to make sure opportunities are provided where they are most needed.

Our ethos is on empowering people to connect with nature, no matter what their age or level of experience. Our ‘Wee Skelfs’ kids club focuses on risky play, supporting our kids to run free in our woodlands - within a defined area - and find their own ways to have fun. Research shows that this approach to play encourages them to use their imaginations, assess risk, and solve problems. We apply this same approach to all our work, encouraging participants to explore their own ideas and giving them the skills to help them realise them.

As well as outdoor experiences, we are also a productive woodyard, making BBQ charcoal as a by-product of our woodland management work and selling beanpoles and other garden supplies from our coppiced hazel. Our lumpwood charcoal is sustainable both in its materials and methods of production, and it’s now sold across Scotland in a bid to reduce imported charcoal and stop deforestation around the world. We share our site – and our charcoal kiln – with Soul of Fire Artists’ Charcoal, a social business committed to bringing sustainable materials to the art world.

You can find out about all our activities and products online at https://www.greenaspirationsscotland.co.uk/ or follow us on social media.