New forestry and arb training fund opens in Wales

Tomos Williams, who works for Ceredigion's Lampeter Trees Services, says he wouldn't have been able to gain as many skills as he has without the support of forestry skills funding. 

The son of one of the company's founders - Meirion - Tomos returned to the family business as a groundsman after graduating from Bangor University. He is now a qualified climbing arborist, leading a team of his own.

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“Without the funding I wouldn’t have been able to gain so many skills in such a short time, nor would we have been able to train so many of our staff," Tomos said. "We’ve been able to make sure everyone is up-to-speed. More qualified staff means we can take on more complex contracts and we’re more efficient in all the jobs we take on.

“I love working outdoors. In my day-to-day work I’m in places people usually only visit on the weekend – big estates, national parks. I’ve had the opportunity to work on ancient trees. It’s a special job.”

Lampeter Trees Services, established by Islwyn Williams and his son Meirion in 1993, provides tree care services for the National Grid, councils, Natural Resources Wales and private estates.

Tomos' remarks come to mark the launch of the Forestry and Timber Skills fund, which opened on Friday and will subsidise places on accredited training courses, with up to £20,000 available per organisation. There will be no requirement to use any particular training company - the applicant may choose any certified training provider.

Lampeter Trees Services offers a range of arb-related services (Image: Supplied)

In an England and Wales study of forestry businesses in 2021, respondents listed lack of skills as the main reason for unfilled vacancies.

The Minister for Skills, Jack Sargeant, said: “Foresters, arborists and those who process and work with timber are the original green jobs.

"But we need more of them. We are expecting demand for timber globally to quadruple by 2050.

"It’s vital that we expand our skilled forestry sector both to meet that demand and to achieve net zero targets.

“The fund will also support skills development to increase use of timber in construction which, in contrast to forestry, is a relatively new sector where formal skills and training have not been previously available.”

The fund is part of the Welsh Government’s Flexible Skills Programme. Visit here for more information.