Tree Nursery at Trewoon
We will grow both native broadleaf trees from seed local to Cornwall as well as non-native trees.
We will provide volunteering opportunities to the wider community and socially excluded groups.
All funds generated from the sale of trees will go towards our homelessness charity.
About our tree nursery
Our Community Tree Nursery is located on a three-acre site near St Austell at Trewoon, overlooking Carlyon Bay. The aims of our tree nursery are to meet the need for locally grown trees, generate income to support people out of homelessness, and provide volunteer opportunities.
We are growing both native broadleaf trees from seed local to Cornwall as well as non-native trees. Through volunteering sessions, we aim to create a nature-based hub for people in St Austell and its outlying parishes.
This project is the first of a number of planned social enterprises for our charity, with funds generated from the sales of trees helping to provide income to assist the opening of an Emmaus community in Cornwall. There are already 30 established Emmaus communities across the UK providing a home, work, and training to support people out of homelessness and back into employment. Our own Emmaus Cornwall community will be the first of its kind in the Duchy.
Scroll down for more information about our charity and volunteering for our tree nursery!
Our first volunteering sessions are now available! Please join us for a volunteering session, held every Wednesday until the end of November, to collect tree seeds at the beautiful and peaceful Trewithen Gardens. No past experience is necessary. Meet like-minded people, enjoy the great outdoors, and help our charity’s new Community Tree Nursery at Trewoon.
During each session, we will spend the morning touring the estate and collecting seeds. Gardeners from Trewithen will be accompanying and guiding us. The sessions are variable, meaning there is no set end time. We will go for as long as we can (our last one was a couple of hours) and volunteers are welcome to stay for any length of time. For full details about what the sessions will involve, please visit our volunteering page.
If you would like to join a session, please submit an online form and we will be in touch to confirm your place.
Are you part of a local organisation working with vulnerable and socially-excluded groups? We would like to work with local organisations to offer volunteering sessions to vulnerable and socially-excluded groups. We believe meaningful work for people within these groups can provide a sense of purpose, connection with others and the opportunity to build skills, confidence and self-esteem.
To enquire about partnering with our tree nursery to provide volunteering opportunities for the people your organisation supports, please email [email protected]
We’re looking for a full-time Nursery Manager to join our team. This is an excellent opportunity for the right person to take a pivotal role in the inception and development of a new and innovative community project, the Emmaus Community Tree Nursery at Trewoon. The role is a fixed-term 12 month contact initially with a salary of £27-£33k depending on qualifications and experience.
To find out more about the role and how to apply, please visit our recruitment page.
We have already invested in deer fencing and will be erecting a polytunnel in the near future. Currently, we are seeking the help of anyone who can donate old baths for stratifying seeds, a standalone static or mobile unit that can be used as a welfare hut, or garden tractors, mowers and tools.
If you can help with anything on our list, please contact [email protected]
About our charity
A bed and a reason to get out of itOur vision is for a world in which everyone has a home and a sense of belonging. We are working towards opening an Emmaus community in Cornwall that offers both a home and work for formerly homeless people. The people we support will give up all benefits (except housing benefit) and work as volunteers in our social enterprises; they will be paid a weekly allowance and have board and accommodation.
We are developing social enterprises – with our tree nursery being the first – which will allow us to be financially self-sufficient and to provide the people we support with a route to re-enter the workplace as part of their rehabilitation. Our Emmaus community will provide a home in a supportive environment that will enable people to move on from homelessness. We will facilitate education and training for the people we support, with the purpose of developing skills to enable them to live independently and gain employment or remain in our community home. Each person will have their own room, but meals will be eaten together, housework will be shared, and social activities encouraged and supported.
The funds generated from the sale of trees will help us to establish our much-needed Emmaus community, as well as other initiatives to support socially excluded groups. By volunteering at our newly established tree nursery, you will be helping us to achieve our goal to help as many people as we can out of homelessness.
Click here to see our available volunteering sessions.