MPs and peers call for funding to help veterans find a career in forestry

Politicians to ask Veterans Minister Johnny Mercer for financial support to help ex-military personnel find a career in forestry.

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Forestry and Tree Planting heard that taster sessions giving people the chance to drive large forestry machines had been successful in Scotland.

The sessions, organised by Confor, were funded by Skills Development Scotland and Scottish Forestry, and supported by John Deere, which provided machines worth up to £200,000.

However, at present, no funding is available to support the taster sessions in England or Wales.

Richard Hunter, Confor’s Technical and Industry Support Manager, urged the APPG to request funding. He was supported by Guy Opperman, Conservative MP for Hexham, and by Ben Lake, Plaid Cymru MP for Ceredigion.

Mr Lake, who was earlier re-elected as Chair of the APPG at its AGM, agreed to write to Veterans Minister Johnny Mercer MP on behalf of the Group.

The APPG had also heard from Scott Cooper who spoke about his own journey from a mechanic in the REME (Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) to a supervisor with Forestry England.

He served more than 23 years in the military, mainly in Germany, working on a variety of vehicles including Challenger Tanks.

Preparing to leave the army, forestry hadn’t been on Scott’s radar until he was told about a mechanic role in the industry. He later became a machine operator and then supervisor, and now oversees safety and operations on harvesting sites. Scott has worked in forestry now for ten years and said he regularly recommended friends - ex-military and others - to consider it as a career.

The meeting also heard from Charles Bushby, Director (for Central Scotland) with Scottish Woodlands Ltd, who served as an officer in the Black Watch until 1994 before retraining as a forester in his 30s. He said the skills of communication and managing people he learned in the military were vital to becoming an effective manager in the forestry industry, as well as how to operate heavy machinery in difficult locations.

Charles added: “I also found that being able to write documents that are accurate and to the point (which I had done in the military) also helped in forestry.”

Richard Hunter said forestry needed an estimated 3,000 people to plug UK-wide skills gaps. As part of Confor’s strategy to address this, he works with High Ground (which helps ex-military personnel move into land-based careers) and the MoD’s Career Transition Partnership (CTP).

Mr Hunter said taster sessions where ex-military personnel could try out large machinery were vital to ‘make it real’. Scottish courses had been extremely successful over the last two years, he said, but new funding was needed to hold these courses elsewhere in the UK, not least because it was costly and difficult to move such heavy machines.

“Industry is behind it, and will supply the kit, and the interest is definitely there - but we need funding to make it happen in England,” he added.

Mr Hunter discussed transferable skills that helped ex-forces personnel make the transition to forestry. “The military trains people very well - making them good team players, good leaders and forward thinkers, all qualities that are needed in forestry,” he said.

“Forward planning is crucial in understanding what actions are needed in forestry, now, or next year for a crop that takes decades to grow. Veterans in my experience get this long-term view. They have served for years, and see their input paying off over the long term.”

He added: “Another excellent quality that veterans bring is life experience, skills not taught in colleges and universitiesthinking on your feet, problem solving and taking action when needed. These are skills that take years to master, but to veterans they are second nature.”

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