We are currently exploring the creation of a Scottish coppice apprenticeship scheme.
Members of the coppice network Working Group have had discussions with the Bill Hogarth Memorial Apprenticeship Trust - Al during the National Coppice Federation meeting in the autumn, and Al, Angie and Paul by Zoom with Twiggy and Kath. The focus of these has been to work out how we could work with their model for coppicing apprenticeships, in Scotland. Our big challenge is support for the apprentice(s). We don’t have enough of an existing market for coppice products to support someone through an apprenticeship, most people doing coppice work in Scotland are probably doing so on a subsistence basis, or as part of a diverse crofting or woodland management situation. But let us know if you have a business that is thriving and could support a trainee!
At present the best way forward seems to be to host an apprentice who has come through the BHMAT Woodland Pioneers scheme, but watch this space… Funding is the big issue.