One of the exciting things about ChariTea Towels is the range and diversity of charities that sell tea towels as part of their fundraising strategy. I am really glad I introduced this category into the Virtual Tea Towel Museum because the stories behind the tea towels, and the artists involved, is absolutely fascinating. Today it is the Woodland Trust. I remember ‘buying’ a tree in the name of John, my late husband for the Woodland Trust. It’s an organisation that he really loved and liked the idea that there isn’t a big plaque with his name on, just that he contributed to the growth of native woodland in UK.
Woodland Trust was founded in 1972 by Kenneth Watkins, a retired farmer and is now the largest woodland conservation group in the UK. The Woodland Trust has three aims (a) to protect ancient woodland which is rare, unique and irreplaceable (b) to restore damaged ancient woodland and finally (c) to plant native trees and woods with the aim of creating resilient landscapes for people and wildlife. Nassim Gribi tells the story of their tea towels: “As a woodland conservation charity, we need creative avenues that shout about our message for better protected woods and trees across UK. Tea Towels give us the opportunity to work with artists and help express the benefits woods bring to animals and people.
To keep it fresh and up to date, we release new Tea Towels quarterly, each one unique to the season. At the moment we have seven Tea Towels available to buy on our website. Three of our latest include the A-Z of Winter Woodland, Holly Tea Towel and Squirrel Tea Towel – all of which bring the festive spirit of winter woods into our homes”. The A-Z of Winter Woodland and the Squirrel Tea Towels also provide a lot of information (and Christmas is always the time for a Pub Quiz!).
”Our tea towels are designed by the incredibly talented Amanda Loverseed; she shares our values for the environment and this can be seen through her illustrations. Her work can be seen on many of our Christmas products, including our new Advent Calendars”. (Her range of jigsaws is also good and very informative).
“We wanted to have a way of letting people represent their support for woods, in the comfort of their own homes. We believe Tea Towels represent Britishness but at the same time they allow us to show guests our individual tastes – there’s no better household item to fly the flag for woodland conservation.”
”It seems to be working well for us as our Tea Towels are admired for their quality and design, which makes them a consistently good seller. Our Tea Towels help fund our objectives of making woods more protected and more accessible to everyone”.
Since its foundation, the Woodland Trust has planted over 38 million trees, saved 616 woodlands, got over 22,500 hectares of ancient woodland under restoration, planted 250 Millenium Woods in 2000, 60 Jubilee Woods to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and a First World War Woodland to mark the centenary of the end of that war. With all that under their belt we should all think about giving someone a Tea Towel for Christmas – take a look at their website.
Virtual Tea Towel Museum 
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