THE unique and exciting history of the Forest of Dean is to be explored and celebrated thanks to £2.5m National Lottery funding.

The Foresters’ Forest is the landscape partnership programme for the Forest of Dean that brings together 32 separate partners in delivering a major programme to invest in and secure our natural, built and cultural heritage over the next five years.

Sue Middleton, Programme Manager, said: “This is a fantastic endorsement of the hard work our community based partnership has put in over the last two years, developing our heritage projects into an integrated programme. It’s thanks to the efforts of our enthusiastic project leaders and hundreds of volunteers that this Heritage Lottery Fund funding will enable us to explore our history whilst protecting and celebrating what is special about the forest.”

Find out more about the Foresters’ Forest projects and how you can get involved on Sunday, April 23rd at the Activities Festival on Speech House field, or visit www.forestersforest.uk, Facebook or Twitter.