Woodcraft is a national organisation that centres around youth empowerment. It has groups all around the UK and aims to teach young people about the power of cooperation. 

 

Nuala Doak, 17, started attending a woodcraft group in Newham when she was 11 years old but even before that she had been a member in Waltham Forest from the age of 7. She said that "woodcraft is a friendly, fun-loving organisation that welcomes everyone and listens to it's young people". Being a woodcraft member has given Nuala lots of amazing opportunities such as going to Austria on a Youth Exchange in 2019, and talking to the Mayor of Newham about stopping climate change. 

 

“Woodcraft has given me transferable skills that I will use for the rest of my life". Through Woodcraft, children like Nuala have been able to develop many competencies. For example, Nuala has been able to improve her leadership skills and advance her social justice education through leading a series of workshops about the arms fair in Newham Excel centre, the stop DSEI campaign and the act of peaceful protest. 

 

However, Woodcraft doesn’t just aim to improve children’s knowledge of contemporary political issues. It gives its members a holistic experience through another one of its key values: getting back into nature. It takes children camping, teaches them bushcraft skills and educates them not only on the environment and ecosystems around them, but how to protect and conserve those ecosystems.

 

Overall, the charity Woodcraft is open to all young people and seems like an amazing organisation to get involved with.