#SaveKensley

Sad & Shocking Public Statement - released 24.12.22

During the last rekindle youth home ed day, Friday 16th - after a week of minus 10 degree temperatures- woorgreens lake was frozen solid - the lake is 3ft deep right across to the island, and had at least 2ft / 60cm of ice on it.

Scott and Sam went onto this ice with the kids - after showing them how to test it, and talking about weather conditions, risk assessments etc...

1. There were 2 adults present (trained leaders, keeping the children in a compact group at all times)

2. Lake is so shallow, if the ice did break / (which it wouldn't because of the depth of the ice & prolonged cold) then they would be able to stand up and wade back out - to go back to sheds (5 minutes walk) and warm up.

3. It was an important sensory lesson in what THICK SAFE ICE feels like - if they were to go out exploring on their own they would have more idea of the difference and would have some knowledge that Scott shared with them about how people cross ice in the Nordic countries. (Plus kids that have the opportunity to explore WITH adults present, are much less likely to go out and take risks on their own)

4. No one was in ANY DANGER at any time. Scott has lived in Northern cold places in Canada and Scandinavia for over 8 winters - outdoors living in the woods and mountainous regions. This experience is key and the kids learned loads. The biggest risk was slipping and twisting an ankle / rare chance of breaking a bone from falling.. (there is no qualification in walking on ice - but years of experience and other outdoor living, and health & safety experience, we believe is qualification enough)

5. We do know that people die on ice, people do also die on roads, they die in vehicles, they die doing knife work and cutting arteries, they die chainsawing, and die when trees fall on to them - people still do all of these risky activities and- we still run these activities, do training in these risky activities - we do this because we have proper measures in place to mitigate risk of death and serious injury. Not all roads are the same, and there are simple measures and commonsense approaches that are important. We purposely do not mitigate low risks (trips / slips / falls etc) for young people as its important for their development to learn their own boundaries and risk assessments.

6. Canadian Red Cross Advice:
Minimum ice thickness should be:

15 cm for walking or skating alone
20 cm for skating parties or games
25 cm for snowmobiles.

https://www.redcross.ca/training-and-certification/swimming-and-water-safety-tips-and-resources/swimming-boating-and-water-safety-tips/ice-safety

Woorgreen Lake is not deep, the ice was THICK - over 60cm thick - AND SAFE. This was the longest and coldest period in England for many, many years. Remember in Canada they have ice road TRUCKERS. (Although we also know this is not Canada, this was not an ice road, it was a small, shallow lake, with 2 feet of ice, and 1ft of water below that it wasn't anything like the Solihull lake, and 2 adults were present, with a warm fire close by)

Some of our roads here in the UK have black spots for deaths, others are relatively safe, we are trained and competent in assessing weather conditions and making judgement on safety.

ANYWAY - Moving on…

2 complaints have been made. One from ONE of the rekindle youth parents (although other parents were really supportive and happy)

And another from a guy who saw Sam out with the kids in the afternoon

- during the afternoon Sam was walking the kids round on her own and said they could NOT go on the ice this time, as it was just her, but a couple did go on, just at the edge and he started shouting and was really abusive- he followed them back to the sheds shouting, and a Wildlife Trust ranger came to assist and moved him on.

Anyway this guy and his granddaughter have been gunning for us. Making complaints and threats.

Forestry England have not really investigated, as there are witness statements missing from the wildlife Trust ranger, and parents from rekindle - They have not even said what the concern is - (they have never asked for our risk assessments at the sheds, despite providing funding for the home ed wildlings group which ran for a year on Mondays) but are now saying they don't agree with our risk assessment and wouldn't have 'passed' it and accused us of lying to them, which seems to be a symptom of an extremely hasty cobbling together of the days events.

So despite no meeting, or investigation have asked us to leave the sheds with immediate effect!!!

We are doing our best to work it out - but it seems as though they are not waiting to gather all the facts before making a decision.

It is ironic that we have been patiently waiting for 18 months for FE to sort out a 10 year lease for us - they have been short / zero staffed in their estates team for long periods this year, so we have waited, and trusted that we do have a positive relationship, and we would get plenty of warning if they did indeed want us out of the sheds - no they told us they want us to stay!!

So watch this space, we trust the universe has a plan, Forestry England have never been the easiest of partners to work with, but we've always done our utmost, and have succeeded in meeting every requirement bestowed upon us, we have been providing activities in heritage crafts, land skills, nature connection in The Forest of Dean for over 7 years, with so many positive outcomes.

Could this be because we have questioned their intentions over Bracelands Farm - a community asset, left to rot for the past 6 years - the previous Estates Manager was told to ‘get as much money as possible for it’ and we have spent this year putting together a £15k business plan to turn it into a community craft village, delivering an apprenticeship programme in Craft and Land Skills.

We partner with local police, councils, the department for education and our leadership team are all exemplary in their advanced previous experience.

Our open FREE community access days which we're delivered from Kensley Sheds have been a vital service well used by locals who have very little other active services available.

We are probably the only project in the Forest of Dean offering FREE transport FREE warm meal and FREE craft and land skills. With us supporting local growers, crafts people and local businesses.

We started using Kensley Sheds 6 to 7 years ago when Forestry England earmarked the sheds to be demolished. The Sheds were in a sorry state with big holes in the roof ,gaps and holes in the single skin wall with no windows and a broken old gas bottle burner.

We proposed to eco refurb the sheds with Foresters Forest funding. Scott Baine then project managed the refurb of the sheds.

We then spent £90k of our funding to replace the roof, build a extra wall on the outside of local waney edge Western Red Cedar cladding Insulated the roof and walls with recycled polyester (from old unwanted clothes).

Removed interior walls, placed a shipping container in the building and fitted windows all around. Also a wood burner and temporary awning. This also involves 100s of hours of paid and voluntary labour.

From this space we have delivered wilderness sessions with GFAPS ( local excluded unit ), GEM participants who are Not in Employed Education or Training (NEETS), Rekindle Youth programme Craft and Land Skills qualification (home educatored teens, two local secondary schools, alternative education school and was also home of New Leaf social forestry which was a base for our Forestry work on disused coppice within the Forestry of Dean .

We have not been given any warning, and have not broken any of the terms of the licence agreement.

It is a really disappointing outcome after a really positive 6 to 7 years of delivery and a mutually beneficial relationship for all- for Forestry England, for local people, and further work we are doing in reviving heritage craft skills and empowering local people with skills for resilience at an uncertain future.

So we aim to, as always, stay true to what we hold dear, and that is our ability to be out interacting with nature in all seasons, learning, connecting and sharing this with others too.

Say a prayer to the universe for us, we have a good leadership team who are all pulling together to do what we can do.

If you are able to make a statement about The Rewild Project and we have had an impact on your life / kids lives / family . community and what loosing Kensley Sheds would mean - then please please write to them, here: