The relationship between Tino Rawnsley and both the Silvanus Trust and Working Woodlands works two ways. Andrew, originally from Yorkshire, now receives a wage subsidy from the Trust to help Tino in his workshop. The apprenticeship is working well and Andrew is turning out to be an accomplished craftsman. Tino, on the other hand, has been helping Silvanus put on special courses. He is brilliant at painting a picture in the head of what is going on in the woodland and bringing it all to life.
Children especially find themselves absolutely fascinated.
In 1998 Silvanus helped place ten trainees and a year later in 1999 some seven, all in the West Country. IT IS ALL VERY WELL to make the product but it needed a market, and Simon Humphreys of Notterwood Designs in Liskeard, Cornwall, is one of those people with a broad enough vision to realize how to make the link between the growing trees and the final crafted product. Simon worked for many years as a forester in Wales and then, in 1983, worked for the Dartington Action Research Trust which was seeking to restore neglected woodlands. Restoration needed some justification and it did not take any great leap of the imagination to appreciate that if a market could be generated then the rest would follow. The opportunity for Simon Humphreys to turn thoughts into action came some three years ago with the help of the European Social Fund.