Green Champions Programme - Championing Biodiversity

is FRP’s ambitious and inclusive programme

Our carpentry workshop

Green Champions Programme - Championing Biodiversity

We’re delighted to announce the return of our Green Champions Programmes. Thanks to new funding from the National Lottery Connecting Communities Fund, we’re excited to be able to continue and expand our work starting with a brand new 10-week programme: Championing Biodiversity.

This initiative builds on everything we’ve learned from previous projects and from participant feedback. It is a supportive and inclusive carpentry-based programme for adults, designed to develop practical skills, build confidence, and support wellbeing, while also delivering tangible benefits for local biodiversity.

The programme is open to all adult participants. While it is particularly beneficial for people who may be experiencing isolation, anxiety, or who would like additional wellbeing support, you do not need to be seeking wellbeing support to take part. Sessions are friendly, sociable, and structured to encourage confidence, learning, and positive mental wellbeing.

Together, we aim to increase our positive environmental impact while engaging more local people in meaningful community action. Participants receive guidance, encouragement, and hands-on training throughout the programme. The sessions are highly inclusive, and we are able to work with individuals who may need extra support.

Championing Biodiversity offers:

Tuesdays

Sessions:

10.00 am-12:30 pm

Wednesdays

Sessions:
1:30pm-4:00pm

Sessions take place in our Office-Workshop place at 2C Bakers Ave, E17 9AW

If you are interested in joining us, please fill in the online form and we will be in touch with you as soon as possible.

Championing Biodiversity Form

A little bit about this programme:

We specialise in two main areas: textiles and carpentry. For the textiles workshops, please check here: TEXTILES

What does the Championing Biodiversity Programme look like?

Programme's participants will take part in supported, small-group training sessions once a week over a 10-week period, with each session lasting 2.5 hour. The sessions are adapted to the needs of participants and provide opportunities to both learn new skills and share existing ones.

You will be guided by a mentor who will set structured tasks and offer ongoing support. Participants will work on a combination of group and individual projects, developing basic carpentry skills throughout the programme.

Our mentor

Greg runs Green Champions Programme - Championing Biodiversity carpentry. He is a specialists in his field and will help you to develop or gain new skills and knowledge.
Greg is a former antique restorer, French polisher, and furniture maker. He has always preferred to do things himself, which has led him to learn a wide range of additional practical skills along the way. He later studied Environmental Science and completed a postgraduate qualification in Secondary Education with a specialism in Physics.
Greg has a strong interest in sustainability, rewilding, and ecosystem connections. He also runs a long-term side project growing trees from seed and attempting to connect them through mycorrhizal fungi. He is now just in need of some land to rewild into woodland to see whether the project has been successful.

What can you expect from us?

FRP will:
• treat all participants and volunteers with respect and dignity - a Culture of Respect;
• provide appropriate tasks and level of supervision in relation to the person's needs;
• deal with concerns and complaints quickly and well;
• have regular contact and provide support to each participant, and monitor wellbeing;
• have policies and procedures in place, and support our staff, so we can support you and keep you safe;
• provide the PPE you require to carry out your role safely - and expect you to use it and ask if you have any questions;

Benefits for Participants

This initiative builds on everything we’ve learned from previous projects and from participant feedback. It is a supportive and inclusive carpentry-based programme for adults, designed to develop practical skills, build confidence, and support wellbeing, while also delivering direct focused community collaboration and tangible benefits for local biodiversity. Adults will learn / skill share basic carpentry in small groups (4-5 people) and make an array of biodiversity supporting measures. The 10 week programme is based at our workshop at our Bakers Avenue site in Walthamstow during weekdays one morning or afternoon a week. We are able to continue to place people with physical and mental health challenges, it is not exclusive and anyone can join although we will favour people who we feel will benefit more.

Benefits for Communities

The biodiversity measures that people make during the programme will be donated to our partner community sites. Examples of community partners include friends groups, community gardens, churchyards, pocket parks and shared spaces

We aim to catalyse each site with starting measures and information notice boards. Initially by targeting pollinators by providing nesting sites as they have seen such a big decline and they provide important services we rely on, especially for growing.

This will be accompanied by inviting local volunteers to get involved and add further measures and encourage them to do more moving forward. We aim to stay connected to each site and be on hand to advise and offer further support over the course of the project. Each site will be different and have specific requirements which is why the more local volunteers get involved, the more we will be able to achieve together.

These installations will support local ecosystems, give information to members of the public to help understand why biodiversity matters and how small actions can make a big difference and encouragement and support to do exactly that.

If you would like more info, become a community partner, volunteer or sign up to the carpentry programme please contact us at info@frpuk.org.

Additional Questions

Do I need any experience?

No, you don’t need any skills, but welcomed if you do
You will be taught basic techniques and anything else you need to know and the basic health & safety around the workshop.
If you don’t feel confident or comfortable with anything, you can speak with your mentor and work out what is the best way of moving forward.

What does the workshop look like?

We have a carpentry workshop with a range of machines and hand tools, the materials are all reclaimed from the building industry. We create new products, extending their life and usefulness whilst reducing the CO2 footprint and contributing to the circular economy.

Do I need to bring anything to the workshops?

You don’t need to bring anything with you. Please remember that you will be working in a shared workshop with others and using various rotary tools. For your safety, we ask that you:
Wear closed-toe shoes.
Wear clothes appropriate for the weather, as part of the workshop takes place outdoors. Come in clothes that you don't mind to get dusty in.
Make sure no loose fabrics, drawstrings, ropes, or laces are hanging, to avoid accidents.
Tie back long hair for the duration of the workshop.

Whenever we launch a new group, we will share the details in our newsletter as well as on our social media channels: Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

Make sure to subscribe to the FRP Green Champions Volunteering Newsletter to stay updated on all our volunteering opportunities and programme news.

FRP Newsletter

Green Champions is made possible by everyone who takes part, and by funding from The National Lottery Community Fund.