Trees and woods filter our air, cool our cities, purify our water and enrich our soil. Yet the damage done to them has now reached catastrophic levels, and our plant and animal species are declining at an alarming rate.

The Woodland Trust are the country’s largest woodland conservation charity with over 500,000 members and supporters and more than 1,000 sites, covering over 26,000 hectares, all over the UK.

They are standing up for woods and trees. The trust protect and campaign, plant trees, and restore ancient woodland for the benefit of wildlife and people.

To realise their vision they need to rekindle people’s love for woods and trees and show them the benefits trees can bring to people's lives and communities.

Why trees need us

Just 13% of the UK is covered with trees. That’s low compared to the average European country that has 37%.

Since the 1930s, more than half the UK's ancient woodland we had has been destroyed. This rich, complex habitat dates back to medieval times and once swept in vast swathes across our countryside; today it covers just 2% of the UK. And we stand to lose even more as airports, roads and railways expand, houses are built and diseases attack.

The effects are devastating: 60% of our animal and plant species have declined in the past 50 years. Many are now endangered; some face extinction.

Over the years, they've identified woods under threat and fought to save them, campaigning alongside local communities or raising funds to buy them ourselves. The Woodland Trust also acquired land ripe with potential and created beautiful new woodland close to people’s homes.

The Woodland Trust now own more than 1,000 wildlife-rich native woods across the UK. Many are ancient woods and Sites of Special Scientific Interest.

All are open and free to enjoy.

Name: Hannah Robson

Company: The Retail Data Partnership

How long have you been with the company: 2 years

Job Role: Marketing Executive

Where did you find the job advertisement to apply for the role?

Whilst working in the customer services department, I took the opportunity to change departments and focus on a specific vocation, that being Marketing and Sales.

Why did you want to work for the company?

I wanted to explore my strengths and experience a new industry.

What interested you about the industry?

Working in marketing, I can use my creative skills and develop a good understanding of the convenience sector.

Can you describe a typical day for you?

I manage our social media platforms, customer feedback site and the day to day marketing requests from other departments. Alongside producing content and ideas for our website, I also look after the marketing stock and have correspondence with external payment companies when creating promotional materials.

What qualities do you bring to the role?

I am a strong character and am passionate about communications with internal and external contacts. I am creative, organised and driven to complete any task to a high standard.

What is the best thing about working at the company?

I have a great love for the people I work with and take pleasure interacting daily with each and every person on a professional and personal level.

Why would you recommend working in the industry?

TRDP offers many opportunities to enhance your knowledge and skill set. A stepping stone to a career tailored to you.

Name: Ibrahim Ali

Company: The Retail Data Partnership

How long have you been with the company: 10 Months

Job Role: Junior Developer

Where did you find the job advertisement to apply for the role?

I found the job advertisement online.

Why did you want to work for the company?

The company allowed me to use skills which I have learned at university.

I had the chance to learn a new programming language like Perl and the opportunity to work on team projects.

What interested you about the industry?

The chance to work on an EPOS (electric point of sale) system.

I would get the opportunity to help shop owners in managing products and making transactions easier for them.

An the chance to work on complex systems like managing stock, loyalty and shelf edge labels.

Can you describe a typical day for you?

The day starts with a team Kanban where the team is updated on the progress of issues currently being worked on. If a person has finished they would be delegated a new bug or issue. I would usually be given a ShopMate bug. Once Kanban is finished, I would study how the bug currently works and discuss with the creator of the bug on how ShopMate should work. Next a SVN branch would be created to work on the bug as this allows multiple developers to code in the same area. I would then try to find where the code is placed on the system. Once I found where the code is placed, I would place debugging around the code to make sure I was in the right area. Next I would work on a solution to the bug. Depending on the complexity of the bug this could take a while. Once I have fixed the bug I would commit the code. The work is now waiting to be tested by the testers. Once I have finished I am available to help other members on their work until another piece of work becomes available. New work can also be a new feature which adds more functionality to ShopMate or a new report making it easier for customers to see their data.

What qualities do you bring to the role?

• Hard working
• Keen to learn
• Quick at learning new skills
• Willing to help others in team with issues
• I have experience using MySQL and programming languages like HTML and CSS

What is difficult about your role?

Finding a solution to a bug problem especially if it requires rewriting of old code.

Also, working to tight deadlines to output new releases of ShopMate.

What is the best thing about working at the company?

• Flexible working hours.
• Learn to program in different languages.
• Exposure to many different areas of ShopMate.
• Working in pairs on problems can help if you do not understand or get stuck.
• Team members always willing to help when they have more experience in an area.

Why would you recommend working in the industry?

It is a large industry and you get to work on range of different areas.

TRDP is always expanding giving you to the chance to work on new and exciting software.

Name:  Jan Rose

Company:  The Retail Data Partnership Ltd

How long have you been with the company: 6.5 Years

Job Role:  Wholesale Relationship & Senior Manager

Where did you find the job advertisement to apply for the role?

I originally joined the company as the Administration Manager and applied for the vacancy via an on-line advertisement for positions in Stamford.

Why did you want to work for the company?

At the time I was working in the care industry after having a break from an office environment where I had been for the previous 25-yrs.  I had always wanted to work with people but the care environment wasn’t for me and so I decided to go back to what I knew best, which was working in business.  I didn’t consciously choose to work at TRDP, at the time I was just looking for a job but, what a job and fantastic company I found.

What interested you about the industry?

I wish I could give a response to this question that is truly inspiring but to be honest I fell into retail and the convenience sector.  Yes, I have always shopped but never really thought about the process and didn’t even know what a barcode was until 7-yrs ago.

Can you describe a typical day for you?

Well no two days are ever the same, that’s for sure!

My time is split primarily in the office but also on the road, managing our Wholesaler relationships, ensuring that our corporate customers are happy and that our partner’s field teams have as much information as possible to promote our ShopMate EPoS system.

As well as managing our existing wholesale partners at a corporate level, I try to visit as many regional teams around the country, which means that I get to meet a lot of extremely interesting people and travel to all four corners of the country (hopefully not in the same week though!)

What qualities do you bring to the role?

I hope that if you asked some of our partners this question, the answer you would get would be that ‘I believe in delivering’.  Being able to listen to our customers and partners and ensuring that our business delivers the best service and solutions so that they can run their businesses well.

As part of the Senior Management Team, my role is to contribute ideas and initiatives that will build on our already solid foundations and ensure that we move into the future with a business portfolio that drives us forward for many years to come with a happy and well organised team of employees, all focused on our business objectives but, enjoying the process of getting there as well.

What is difficult about your role?

The convenience sector is not an easy industry to be part of and over the last few years there have been many hurdles.  My role of managing our partner relationships means that I need to be able to adapt quickly to requests and feed these back into our organisation.  The most difficult aspect of this, is managing the needs of the customer against the business needs of The Retail Data Partnership and the frustrations of getting changes implemented quickly enough to make the difference.

What is the best thing about working at the company?

It’s hard to know where to begin really.  The Retail Data Partnership is not like any other business I have ever worked in before or experienced, and I do experience a lot of other companies during the course of my day-to-day role.  Many companies promote that great service is at the heart of their business and that they recognise the importance of their staff.

At The Retail Data Partnership, we have ‘Customers’ whether they are external or internal, we have an ethos whereby we strive to ensure that everyone is treated as we would like to be treated ourselves; it sounds a little corny but it’s true.

There are no boundaries here, I started off as the Office Manager because I had many years of office experience.  I don’t have a degree or a string of qualifications but I do have life skills that our business appreciates and recognises which has led to me moving from middle management to senior management. 

The saying ‘hard-work pays-off’ is definitely true here, if you give 100% you will get that back ten-fold.

Why would you recommend working in the industry?

If you enjoy a challenge and constantly changing targets, then convenience retail is the industry to choose. 

EPoS technology is an area whereby you can visibly see the benefits it can provide to retailers.  Seeing our customers receive their new systems and observing increased sales and footfall because of the solutions we have provided and, getting great customer feedback in the field is an incredible buzz.

There are currently dozens of openings for volunteers across Lincolnshire and one of the people helping others into the roles saw his own life transformed by giving his time for free.

Jody Raggo is now an area officer with Lincolnshire Community and Voluntary Service (LCVS).

He originally joined LCVS eight years ago in a voluntary capacity. Back then his confidence was low, he felt stuck in a rut and he was struggling to motivate himself.

Jody had taken stop-gap jobs in retail and catering on leaving university with a degree in English and film studies, but wanted to shift to an administration role.

A training coach he was referred to via the Job Centre advised volunteering after Jody faced five months of unemployment, applying for roles that he didn’t get due to lack of experience.

Jody was nervous when he joined LCVS (then called South Lincolnshire CVS) as an administration volunteer in February 2010, but it proved the perfect platform into a new career when seven months later a paid role became available.

He said: “I enjoyed being around a close-knit and friendly team of paid staff and fellow volunteers and was able to utilise my existing skills and knowledge to my fullest effect.

“I was able to gain work experience and qualifications through my volunteering (I completed a Level 3 NVQ in Business Management whilst I was volunteering), which then led to a paid job in September 2010 that I have been in ever since.

“It has helped me gain confidence and a sense of being within a community again as well as given me self-belief in my abilities and skills.”

His experience not only led to a new career but also led him to continue volunteering long term.

Jody, 37, of Boston, continues to volunteer as a dog walker at Jerry Green Dog Rescue, in Algarkirk, and on resident committees Witham Central and Carlton Road Neighbourhood Action Group and High Street South and Boston East Neighbourhood Action Group. With LCVS, Jody has previously worked in East Lindsey and is now area officer in Grantham and Boston. His role involves promoting and enabling volunteering and supporting community groups with things like funding and policies.

Jody said: “Volunteering is very fulfilling and can help change lives. It certainly has mine!

“There are many roles that people can do and I believe there is a voluntary role for everyone out there whatever your skills and experience may be. I would definitely encourage people to give it a go.”

LCVS supports people to volunteer in Boston, Spalding, Louth and Grantham in a wide variety of roles ranging from radio presenting to race marshalling.