Aed’s Certification as a Forest School Instructor

Hey there, my name is Aed…or Ed… or Aodh, depending on who you ask. :)

At the age of 15, I started my journey as an Apprentice Forest School Instructor with Three Trees Forest school, beginning in 2019 until present.

I had the opportunity to be a mentor one-on-one with kids and facilitate group activities such as games and firelighting skills in an outdoor setting, embodying a learning-by-teaching approach, deepening my own connection with and understanding of what we determine as Nature: the other-than-human world, and gaining a perspective that will stay with me for a very long time - that of our inherent interconnectedness with all of Life on planet earth.

Having grown up in a fairly wild place as a child, between a marsh called the Murrough and the Irish Sea, where swans came to rest and swallows came in murmurations in the late summer, I have been instilled with a deep sense of belonging in places of nature, something I value deeply and hope to share with many people, children and adults, in the future.

To do this, I have decided to continue my journey as a Forest School Instructor and reach out to you, my friends, family, and community, and request some financial support towards gaining my Official Certification as a Forest School Instructor next year.

First I would like to say that, while I don’t see Forest School as THE solution for a complex issue around why, as a society, we are so disconnected from Nature, or why we even have a word like “Nature” to distinguish us from everything else that makes up this planet or the universe at large, what I do see Forest School as fulfilling is that of a community space created under a shared set of values providing an incentive for children and adults to come together and be outside. That, to me, is what it’s all about. To be outside together in community. Everything else: the bushcraft skills, animal tracking, plant identification, etc. follows on from learning that Nature is a place we can call home. A place we treat with care and respect, where we can care for ourselves and others. A place we can belong to.

Whether basking in the sun on a hammock between two birch trees, or learning how to create fire from friction, I believe we can come to find a great sense of presence and being held when in places of nature.

And when we do return home, to our gadgets and gizmos and all our modern conveniences, perhaps we can have a far greater appreciation for all the incredible things they allow us to do, and what the real cost was in creating them by extracting resources from places of natural beauty.

By training to become a FS Instructor, it would also greatly benefit me by having a means of income to support myself and those around me in the future in a way that fulfils me and aligns with my values, and that so I may access things in order to meet my needs that require money that I wouldn’t otherwise be able to.

I don’t like to think of things in terms of financial gain. But I also acknowledge that money has its purpose, and I would rather find a way of sourcing it that sits right in my stomach, something I can stand behind with certainty.

And my hope is that to be a Forest School instructor would fulfil this.

By accepting whatever amount of money you would be willing to contribute, as every little bit would help towards this ambition, I commit to put the time and effort into completing the QQI level 6 accredited course starting April next year (which I have a confirmed place on and which is run by Bridget’s Garden, a non-profit organisation based in Galway), in which I will run a six week Forest School pilot programme as part of its completion. I hope to offer this programme to the families who support me in this endeavour towards the end of the summer 2025.

To be fully transparent, the amount of €2,000 that I am asking for covers the following costs:

• €1,500 to cover course fees

• €300-€400 to cover first aid course and insurance for my pilot programme

• €100 for travel expenses as I will need to travel to Kildare for in person training, as well as to cover any unforeseen expenses (such as insurance/first aid course being more expensive, or for any initial kit I might need)

I would like to say that I am very grateful to you, my community, for taking the time to click on my link and reading this far about me and my story.

I hope to be seeing you and/or your child someday in the woods for some Forest School fun and games!

All the best,

Aed ✨

P.S. Below you will find some testimonials as a reference for how amazing I am. ;P

Marc Barker - my own friend and mentor. Co-Founder of Three Trees Forest School:

“I’ve worked with Aed in forest school since he was 15 years old. Then - as much as now, he has shown a passion and competence for the work that truly stands out from others. I’m so proud to have gotten to mentor him on this path and know that he will make a terrific forest school leader. Please support him in his endeavours.”

Amber Godwin - another friend and mentor. Co-Founder of Three Trees Forest School:

“Aed has been volunteering and working with 3 trees forest school, on and off, since we started in 2019. He has been an amazing support person, with an intuitive sense of what's needed in any particular moment. He's a creative, thoughtful, skilled outdoorsman who is amazing with kids, and I genuinely think forest school is his calling.”