Wood for Gold chairman Martin Gale has recently sent out letters asking for donations from a number of companies in the industry, with fears surfacing in the trade that funding for the group’s work could dry up.
However, Mark Glover, Bellenden managing director, has said that the campaign has “done well on the core budget we have” and that Wood for Gold has “punched above its weight”.
He added that the campaign is not short of funds for its core activites and would continue “for the foreseeable future”, with the extra donations intended to be used to take Wood for Gold “to the next level” as “there is always more we can do”.
“We want to compete against the concrete and steel industries and want to move the campaign on. For that we need extra funding,” said Mr Glover.
Charles Trevor, Wood for Good managing director, reiterated Mr Glover’s views, saying that the request for donations had been made as Wood for Gold had looked at what it is funded to do and what it would like to do and “the two don’t quite match up”.
Leading timber organisations, including The Timber Trade Federation, wood for good and TRADA are backing the Wood for Gold campaign, with the British Woodworking Federation contributing £10,000 in 2007 and 2008 towards funding its work.
Mr Glover added that meetings with people such as Mark Watts, a senior adviser on sustainability to the mayor of London, and support from MPs such as Steve Pound highlight the continued success of Wood for Gold.
