Welcome to the unique world of Ashdown Forest, the jewel at the centre of the High Weald

Our purpose

The Friends of Ashdown Forest, founded in 1961, is a membership charity that supports the preservation and conservation of Ashdown Forest, an area of outstanding natural beauty in the South East of England. The charity works to raise funds and awareness to help maintain the Forest's unique heathland habitat, protect its wildlife and promote responsible public access.

Our members come from many different locations and have wide ranging connections. Some live on or near the Forest, some visit regularly, some walk their dogs and ride their horses, and some have family connections going back over several generations. All are united by a great affection for the Forest and a desire to support the management team in its efforts to look after this cherished asset.

The Friends:

Have provided funds to purchase additional land which has been added back to the Forest.
Help fund school education programmes and other projects.
Purchase machinery and other equipment for use by the Rangers across the Forest.
Organise specialist walks and events.
Raise awareness of its unique characteristics.

We hope you enjoy looking around our website. The "About Us" page sets out in more detail some of the projects we have funded. The "About the Forest" section gives a brief history of the Forest linked with some thoughts about the future. Of course, we could not leave out a few notes on Winnie the Pooh which are also included here.

Supporting projects to assist the work of the management team at the Forest cannot be undertaken without addressing the very important subject of fundraising. We have two pages on this. Firstly we set out how to join us and become a Friend of Ashdown Forest. One of the benefits of being a Friend is receiving a copy of the Ashdown Forest News, delivered to your door, which has articles on the flora and fauna, social aspects, and the history of the Forest. Our second page addresses the issues of one-off donations and legacies.

Finally, we have introduced an Archive of Ashdown Forest News which we will be growing over time.

We hope you enjoy looking through our website, and we hope also that you consider joining our society and becoming a member. The membership fee is from £3 per month.

Photo by Dave Brooker