Expanding the Arb Ambassador initiative

In March, Sarah Hanson attended a Reading senior school careers fair to represent the Association for the second year running. She was accompanied by Dr Jon Banks of Bartlett Tree Experts and local ARB Approved Contractor Beechwood Tree Care Ltd.

As part of this year’s stand Jon took with him two tools for measuring plant health and vitality which attracted plenty of interest (the Arborcheck instrument for measuring chlorophyll fluorescence and the PhotosynQ MultispeQ). Beechwood Tree Care organised some mini competitions and ran kit displays for the students, which encouraged a lot of engagement.

Sarah, who is Natural Environment Officer at Reading Borough Council, and her industry colleagues found the event a rewarding experience. She said, ‘Promotion of arb as a career option is still clearly required and it was really useful to show, between us, the wide range of careers within our industry, both inside and outdoors. There was really good engagement from both pupils and parents alike. We are all keen to do it again.’

Sarah Hanson

Dr Jon Banks

Sign up to become a volunteer Arb Ambassador

We’re harnessing the support of Association members to help us show the next generation of arboriculturists that arboriculture is a fantastic career. In 2024 we sent out over 80 boxes of arb resource packs requested by members who were attending community events and careers days.

In less than a year over 80 members have signed up to become a volunteer Arb Ambassador, to promote the industry and connect children and young people with arboriculture. We’re now creating a new portal which will help us link up Arb Ambassadors with incoming opportunities.

Whether you’re a member or not, we’re looking for tree care professionals to help us fulfil requests for anything from careers and schools talks to community events and tree walks. We’ll provide you with all the help and resources you need to raise awareness of arb as a career with endless opportunities to learn and grow.

Arb Ambassadors form part of our national outreach programme to engage children and young people, as well as the wider public, in arboriculture and the importance of the tree care profession.

We’ve also made it easier for teachers and groups to sign up and help us to link our Arb Ambassadors with them. Once a school or group gets in touch, our team will find the right Arb Ambassador for them and all the help and resources they need to raise awareness of arb as a career with endless opportunities to learn and grow.

An expanding network: Map showing the spread of Arb Ambassadors ©Google Maps

Neil Davies

Callum Throw, Director of ARB Innovators