In January 2025, Antonia Illingworth joined the Forest of Marston Vale Trust as our first Forestry Trainee - a role funded by the Nature Recovery Project (TNRP). As part of National Apprenticeship Week, we’re celebrating her year working alongside our Forestry Team, gaining practical experience and professional qualifications in woodland creation and management. As she now moves on to her next adventure, Antonia reflects on her year with the Trust.

---

Written by Antonia Illingworth. Posted 12th February 2026

I recently completed my year as a Trainee Forester with the Forest of Marston Vale Trust, developing a strong foundation in woodland management.  Funded by The Nature Recovery Project, the traineeship gave me the chance to experience a wide range of approaches and opportunities. I’d highly recommend it to anyone starting out in forestry or conservation — or anyone who enjoys practical outdoor work, who is keen to learn and wants to explore new career possibilities. 

Learning practical forestry skills

Over the year, I gained recognised qualifications alongside practical site experience. Training in areas such as Forestry First Aid, tree inspection, pesticide use and tractor operations has helped me work safely and confidently across a wide range of forestry tasks, giving me skills I’ll carry forward into future roles. 

I’ve also gained a wide range of practical experience, working across every stage from planting and maintenance through to felling and turning timber into useful products such as charcoal. Working alongside contractors, I’ve helped build fences, fit gates and maintain paths, and even had supervised experience using a digger. I also developed skills in biodiversity monitoring, including surveys for newts and harvest mice, and assessing woodland health through Woodland Condition Assessments. During placements with the Ranger Team, I’ve led volunteer tasks, using my outdoor skills while engaging with the community — many of whom I volunteered alongside before starting the Traineeship. 

Developing skills beyond the woodland

Alongside practical work, I also developed office-based skills, gaining experience writing Woodland, Deer and Squirrel Management Plans to support healthy, sustainable and biodiverse woodlands. I also enjoyed learning to use QGIS mapping software to create digital maps that help explain and plan woodland management. 

I particularly enjoyed the creative side of the role, including writing blogs and case studies for the Communications Team and editing videos for social media. The traineeship also helped me develop confidence in meetings and interviews, and even gave me the chance to interview candidates for the next traineeship intake. It’s exciting to see strong interest in careers in forestry and conservation, and it’s been great to welcome Alex and Anna to the Forestry Team. 

The traineeship also opened doors to conferences and professional events, helping me understand current challenges and innovations in forestry while connecting with people across land management, farming and conservation. Joining networks such as the Emergent Generation Network has been especially valuable, and I’d recommend it to anyone starting out in careers linked to food, farming, forestry or conservation. 

---