Become a Friend of the Forest today

World Friendship Day may sound like a cringey, commercialised way of getting more money for greetings cards…and it partially is. Or at least originally was, anyway.

Invented by the founder of Hallmark in 1930, it literally was an attempt to create another ‘big holiday’ in the States, but it largely died out in the west until more recent years, when the UN designated 30^th July as the International Day of Friendship, with a far more meaningful sentiment behind it:

‘Our world face many challenges, crises and forces of division — such as poverty, violence, and human rights abuses — among many others — that undermine peace, security, development and social harmony among the world's peoples. To confront those crises and challenges, their root causes must be addressed by promoting and defending a shared spirit of human solidarity that takes many forms — the simplest of which is friendship.'

We need your friendship

As a charity, we rely on friendship to survive with many vital donations coming from our Friends of the Forest. Without the revenue from our Friends, we wouldn’t be able to keep doing what we’re doing and we definitely wouldn’t be able to strive to plant another 5 million trees in future.

You can help us to create woodlands, plant trees and look after our existing 11 sites by becoming a Friend of the Forest, and receive free parking at the Millennium Country Park as a little something back from us. Friends can also visit our Wetlands Nature Reserve for free, and enjoy 10% discount on weekend room hire. If you’re a regular visitor, it makes a lot of sense! 

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There are loads of other ways that you can help us create the Forest - from volunteering, donating or fundraising or even Dedicating a Tree to a loved one as a gift. Everything you spend or donate on our website goes directly into helping us to plant more trees, and create more woodlands across this bit of Bedfordshire. That's what friends are for!