Coed Cadw, The Woodland Trust in Wales
Communications Consultancy, Campaigns and PR
I’ve worked with Coed Cadw, the Woodland Trust in Wales, for several years, providing strategic communications support across campaigns, media relations, stakeholder engagement, social media and content creation.
My role has ranged from acting as a communications consultant and sounding board for the in-house team, to planning and delivering individual campaigns, managing proactive and reactive press activity, and helping translate complex environmental and policy issues into stories that will resonate with Welsh audiences.
That means the subject matter can vary enormously. One week I might be working on communications around woodland creation or climate resilience; the next, developing media activity around sustainable farming, ancient woodland, Wales’ temperate rainforests or changes to environmental policy.
I’ve written press releases, statements, spokesperson quotes, social media content and campaign messaging; briefed senior spokespeople; worked directly with journalists; supported stakeholder engagement; and helped Coed Cadw brief, appoint and manage external creative and communications agencies.
I’ve also worked closely with filmmaker and photographer Will Barker to develop photography, video and digital content for Coed Cadw. Having worked together across several sustainability and food-system projects, we’re able to approach content strategically: starting with the story, audience and desired outcome rather than simply producing creative assets for their own sake.
Turning a Welsh tree into the UK Tree of the Year
One of my favourite campaigns for Coed Cadw centred on a centuries-old sweet chestnut tree in Acton Park, Wrexham, which was shortlisted for the Woodland Trust’s UK-wide Tree of the Year 2023 competition.
As the only Welsh tree on the shortlist, there was a clear opportunity to turn what could have been a relatively straightforward competition announcement into a much bigger Welsh story.
I developed an integrated campaign spanning PR, social media and community engagement, focusing on the tree’s history, resilience and importance to local people, while giving audiences a very simple action: vote for Wrexham.
The campaign built momentum around the competition through media coverage, social content and activity within the local community. Will’s photography helped give the story a strong visual identity, while sustained PR activity generated coverage across Welsh and UK media.
And it worked.
The Wrexham sweet chestnut secured 17% of the UK-wide public vote, beating 12 other shortlisted urban trees to become the Woodland Trust’s UK Tree of the Year 2023. It went on to represent the UK in the European Tree of the Year competition.
The campaign and result generated coverage including BBC Wales, ITV Wales, The Guardian, Nation.Cymru and Time Out.
An ongoing Welsh press office
Beyond individual campaigns, a significant part of my work with Coed Cadw has involved providing flexible press-office and strategic communications support.
I’ve helped build stories around initiatives including the distribution of free trees to households across Wales, the future of Wales’ temperate rainforests (featured here, in The Guardian), woodland creation, farming policy and the role trees can play in building a healthier and more climate-resilient Wales.
For me, the most interesting part of the work is often finding the human story inside a complicated environmental issue. Policy, land use and climate change can become abstract very quickly; good communications needs to show people why any of it matters in the places where they live.
It’s also a good example of the kind of client relationship I really enjoy: becoming a trusted extension of an internal team, able to move between strategy, campaign planning, PR, stakeholder engagement, social media and creative production depending on what’s needed.