The guide dog puppy, Cosmos, named by The Enchanted Forest Community Trust, has now successfully completed their puppy socialisation training with Guide Dogs just in time to join in the world-wide celebrations for International Guide Dog Day on Wednesday 27th April.

Cosmos, a female golden retriever, was born on 21 January 2020, alongside her four other canine siblings named Flossie, Wendy, Harley and Hazel. Placed with a puppy raiser in Perthshire during the pandemic, she learned the socialisation skills she’d need to train as a future guide dog, before leaving her puppy raiser to begin early training at Forfar.

Guide Dogs received a donation of £5,000 from funds raised by The Enchanted Forest’s 2019 show, Cosmos, and the pup was formally named after that year’s event. She is the first puppy in the history of Guide Dogs to be called Cosmos.

Every hour of every day, someone in the UK goes blind. When someone loses their sight, Guide Dogs is there to make sure they don’t lose their freedom as well and their guide dog training programme is one of the best in the world. The organisation was founded in 1931 by two amazing British pioneers, Muriel Crooke and Rosamund Bond. Guide Dogs grew from the humble beginnings of training the first four British guide dogs, to become the world’s largest breeder and trainer of working dogs, transforming 36,000 lives along the way.

International Guide Dog Day started in 1992 and is now held annually on the final Wednesday in April. It aims to raise awareness of the need for guide dogs, to honour the work of these faithful companions in changing people’s lives, and to encourage the public to support Guide Dog training charities.

Lesley Williamson, Chair of The Enchanted Forest Community Trust, said:

“We’re absolutely thrilled that Cosmos has moved into early training. Last year I had the pleasure of a very well-behaved walk with her at Faskally Wood, home of The Enchanted Forest, before she went off to the “big school”. She has a lovely character, and we hope her training continues to go well so that she can make a difference to someone living with sight loss. It’s been extraordinary to support a puppy through puppy raising, and we’ve very much enjoyed the updates we’ve had from the charity throughout the process. It’s truly humbling to know that Cosmos will make such a difference.”

Kyla McVicar, Business Development Manager at Guide Dogs Scotland, commented:

“We are extremely grateful to the Enchanted Forest Community Trust for their generous support. Every puppy named through Name a Puppy helps us reach the needs of more people living with sight loss in our community. We can’t thank the Enchanted Forest Community Trust enough for their kind support and are delighted that they have enjoyed following puppy Cosmos’ journey with us.”

The Enchanted Forest Community Trust has operated since 2010 as a charity, creating economic wealth and redistributing event surpluses to local community groups and charities to directly benefit the community. Over the last three years the Trust has donated around £129,000 to local community groups and projects, including Guide Dogs.

The Enchanted Forest Community Trust has helped to ensure that Pitlochry can look forward to a spectacular display of colour this Spring, by making a donation to local group, Pitlochry In Bloom.

Pitlochry in Bloom is a dedicated committee and small group of volunteers, whose summer floral displays, hanging baskets, feature beds and spring and autumn bulb planting provide a colourful welcome for visitors and keep Pitlochry looking its best all year round.

The organisation has faced a challenging two years, with the pandemic curtailing almost all of their regular fundraising events. Despite this, volunteers have continued to give their time to plan and plant throughout the seasons, knowing how much pleasure the flowers bring to the community.

Kate Howie, Chair of Pitlochry in Bloom, said:
“We’re very grateful for the generous donation of £500 from The Enchanted Forest Community Trust. Financial support from local businesses and organisations has been crucial for us this year, as many of our fundraising activities were unable to go ahead.

Thanks to generous donations from organisations like The Enchanted Forest Community Trust, we have been able to plant over 5,500 bulbs in the Autumn, which will soon be bursting into life in our feature displays all around the town this Spring. Everybody looks forward to the first signs of new growth and cheery colour in the Spring, and perhaps this year it’s needed more than ever.”

Lesley Williamson, Chair of The Enchanted Forest Community Trust, added:
“We are delighted to help bring in the Spring to Pitlochry and support the fantastic work that Pitlochry in Bloom do for the community. Spring is about looking forward after the bleakness of Winter. After two years of darkness in our beloved Enchanted Forest, as a result of the pandemic, we are all very much looking forward to a blooming good show in October this year. Until then, we can enjoy the magnificent floral displays created by the Pitlochry in Bloom team.”

Scotland’s trailblazing sound and light show, The Enchanted Forest, will return to Faskally Wood this year from Thursday 29th September – Sunday 30th October 2022. For more information visit www.enchantedforest.org.uk. Tickets will be on sale from June 2022.

To find out more about the latest work of Pitlochry in Bloom visit www.pitlochryinbloom.co.uk

The Tayside Mountain Rescue team has further strengthened its rapid response service this winter after receiving a generous donation of £10,000 from The Enchanted Forest Community Trust last year.

A custom-built Ford Ranger has since been purchased by the charity just in time for the winter months thanks to the significant cash boost. The new all-terrain emergency vehicle, which replaces a nine-year-old Land Rover, will be stationed at the Aberfeldy base and used by the team for emergency call outs.

A portion of the money has also be put towards a major Tayside Mountain Rescue project which seeks to extend and develop a training base in Aberfeldy. With around 68% of all annual call outs across Perth and Kinross coming from North Perthshire alone, the idea is to create a training hub for additional emergency responder volunteers, specifically from this area.

Tayside Mountain Rescue is a group of around 50 volunteers with a plethora of specialist outdoor skills including remote medical expertise, technical rigging, swift water rescue and search management.
The team, which is the fourth busiest out of the 28 located across Scotland, operates in all weather, all terrain and at all hours.

Kevin Linklater, President of Tayside Mountain Rescue, said: “This state of the art vehicle is great news for our team and the local residents. It’s been kitted out to provide everything we need to help people who get into difficulty while they’re out enjoying the Tayside countryside. It’s a vast improvement on the old vehicle – more economical to run, greener and with the very latest technology.”

Offering space onboard for five of the volunteers, the Ford Ranger comes fully equipped with blankets, first aid kits, a defibrillator, a fridge with refreshments, lighting for night-time, power packs for charging phones and various ropes and related climbing equipment to aid rescues.

Kevin continued: “Developing an outpost for training in Aberfeldy is one of our key objectives as it will offer training opportunities to other emergency responder volunteers and essentially build a bigger and stronger team. Donations like the one from The Enchanted Forest Community Trust and other support from our community take us a step closer to our goals. As a charity which relies 100% on volunteers, funding is imperative to allow us to maintain our life saving service – and protect its future for years to come.”

The Enchanted Forest Community Trust made its donation after the rescue team provided safety support to the show’s technicians as they beamed a stunning laser light into the night sky above Pitlochry over the first weekend in October last year – allowing hundreds of residents to watch from the safety of their own gardens.

Lesley Williamson, Chair of The Enchanted Forest, added: “We’re very proud to hear that our donation has assisted the rescue team to purchase a much-needed new vehicle, as well as edge a little closer to their ambition of opening a training base in Aberfeldy. With so many of their fundraising events cancelled due to Covid 19 over the last 18 months, it’s certainly been a challenging time. It is even more important that the community gets behind them so they can continue to do their fantastic work.”

For more information about the latest work of the Tayside Mountain Rescue visit www.taysidemrt.org

The Enchanted Forest Trust, organisers of Scotland’s most popular sound and light show, have affirmed their long-standing support of Pitlochry’s Winter Lights with a generous £2000 donation.

The inspirational Winter Light Display, which is coordinated by The Pitlochry Lighting Committee, brightens up the town centre in the Winter months, and normally creates a twinkling welcome to the Highland Perthshire town for the event’s many thousands of visitors. Although the event will not take place this year, the charity re-affirmed its commitment to the town cementing an illuminating relationship which has lasted nearly a decade. The fixed lighting display illuminates key sections of the town as well as its main thoroughfares and creates a sparkling atmosphere for winter visitors to the town.

Lesley Williamson, Chair of The Enchanted Forest Trust, commented: “We are really delighted to continue the Trust’s long-standing support of Pitlochry’s Winter Lights. The town is very supportive of the event and we know that local businesses are very much looking forward to our return in 2022, with many local hotels and B&Bs already reporting very strong forward bookings for Autumn next year. As always visitors can expect a warm sparkling Highland welcome to Pitlochry when they visit, this year and next.”

Alistair McMenemie, Chair of the Pitlochry Lighting Committee commented: “We are very grateful to The Enchanted Forest Trust for their unwavering support of the town. The lights are supported by a number of prominent local businesses and it is testimony to the community spirit among organisations in the area that we work together to provide visitors with the most dazzling of welcomes to our beautiful Victorian town.”

Tickets for The Enchanted Forest 2022, Scotland’s multi-award-winning sound and light show, are now on sale. The much-loved event normally attracts over 80,000 visitors a year to Highland Perthshire, contributing a significant boost of over £7.6 million to the local economy. The 2022 Enchanted Forest show will run from Thursday 29 September to Sunday 30 October 2022 at Faskally Wood near Pitlochry.

For more information please visit: www.enchantedforest.org.uk

The Enchanted Forest, Scotland’s favourite sound and light show, has underscored its trailblazing credentials by being this first outdoor illumination event in the UK to plant a tree as part of the national Queen’s Green Canopy initiative, set up to mark Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022.

The tree has been gifted to the event by Forestry & Land Scotland, and will be planted at Faskally Wood in Pitlochry, where the event is held annually.

Alex Cairncross, Deputy Lieutenant of Perth and Kinross met with Lesley Williamson, Chair of The Enchanted Forest Community Trust at Faskally Wood on Friday 1st October marking the official launch of the Queen’s Green Canopy at the start of tree planting season which will see people from across the United Kingdom invited to “Plant a Tree for the Jubilee”.

The Queen’s Green Canopy (QGC) is a unique tree planting initiative created to mark Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022. With a focus on planting sustainably, the QGC will encourage planting of trees to create a legacy, in honour of The Queen’s leadership of the Nation, that will benefit future generations. The Queen’s Green Canopy will also dedicate a network of 70 Ancient Woodlands across the United Kingdom and identify 70 Ancient Trees to celebrate Her Majesty’s 70 years of service.

Faskally Wood, where The Enchanted Forest is held, was created in the 19th century by Archibald Butter whose historical home on the Faskally estate is now owned and managed by the National Trust for Scotland.  The forested lands were acquired by Forestry Commission (now Forestry and Land Scotland) and used as a training school for young foresters owing, in part, to its extensive range of tree species planted across the 55-hectare woodland. It now boasts over 23 species including Douglas fir, wild cherry and oak, with some of the trees over 100 years old. The tree that will be planted as part of the Queens’ Green Canopy will be a Red Oak, noted for its flaming red Autumn colours.

Lesley Williamson, Chair of The Enchanted Forest Community Trust commented:

“We are absolutely delighted to be marking this auspicious occasion for Her Majesty with the planting of a beautiful red oak tree in Faskally Wood, home of The Enchanted Forest. This is a tree that will be enjoyed for generations to come and, we hope, many thousands of visitors who attend the event every year.”

Alex Cairncross, Deputy Lieutenant of Perth and Kinross commented:

“The Enchanted Forest event is one of Scotland’s favourite Autumn events and we are so pleased that they are leading the way on this magnificent campaign to create a lasting legacy for Her Majesty, The Queen, to celebrate her Platinum Jubilee Year. Faskally Wood is stunning at all times of the year, but especially in Autumn and uniquely at night, thanks to The Enchanted Forest.”

The much-loved event normally attracts over 80,000 visitors a year to Highland Perthshire and thousands of tickets for the 2022 event were released on Friday morning.

For more information please visit: www.enchantedforest.org.uk and www.queensgreencanopy.org

Tickets for The Enchanted Forest, Scotland’s multi-award-winning sound and light show, for 2022 have gone on sale to the general public today, Friday 1 October.

The much-loved event normally attracts over 80,000 visitors a year to Highland Perthshire, contributing a significant boost of over £7.6 million to the local economy. The 2022 Enchanted Forest show will run from Thursday 29 September to Sunday 30 October 2022 at Faskally Wood near Pitlochry.

The Enchanted Forest 2021 show was cancelled earlier this year because of the pandemic. While many of the logistical challenges facing the organisers have now been addressed, this came too late for The Enchanted Forest to safely proceed with its plans. Tickets purchased for the 2021 event have, however, been automatically rolled over to 2022.

Nela Popovic, Executive Director of The Enchanted Forest, said:

“We’re delighted to announce our 2022 event dates and that our tickets are now on sale. It has been an incredibly challenging environment for many events and charities over the past two years because of the Covid 19 pandemic. The economic impact of our event on the local community is substantial so we are delighted to be able to share this positive news.

“We would like to extend our thanks to our customers for their patience and loyal support over this time and we look forward to welcoming them back in 2022. We are immensely excited to report that almost 20,000 tickets for our 2022 show have already been sold to those who were scheduled to attend the cancelled shows in 2020 and 2021. We’re expecting demand to be very high this year as a result. We are urging people to plan ahead and book early – this is a sell-out show and we know that demand is high. Next year the lights will shine brighter than ever in Faskally Woods.”

Tickets for The Enchanted Forest 2022 will be available to purchase at enchantedforest.org.uk from 10am on 1 October 2021.

For more information please visit: www.enchantedforest.org.uk

It is with heavy hearts and great sadness that we have reached a decision to cancel The Enchanted Forest in 2021.

Like a great many events we had sincerely hoped that we’d be able to operate this year. We have planned with that in our hearts, while waiting patiently on the necessary guidance and clarity from Government that would enable us to proceed safely. That clarity and guidance has, sadly, not been forthcoming in sufficient time for us and, regrettably, the financial risk of proceeding with our plans and potentially having to cancel at a later date without insurance to underpin potential losses is too considerable for a small charitable event operator to bear.

This year’s event was intended to mark our 20th anniversary and, while we may not be able to come together in the forest as planned, we will be looking to mark the occasion in a way that celebrates the incredible magic and success of 20 years of The Enchanted Forest.

Our beautiful home of Faskally Wood has stood proud and tall throughout this pandemic, and we hope our customers have kept safe and well. We are confident that we will be able to return one day, and we look forward to when that will happen.

Our provisional dates for the event in 2022 are Thursday 29 September – Sunday 30 October.

Tickets purchased for the 2021 event will be automatically rolled over into 2022. In due course we’ll be reaching out to everyone who has purchased tickets to confirm their new dates. Everyone who has purchased tickets for this year’s show will be given advance notice of their new dates prior to tickets going on public sale later this year. In the meantime, if anyone wishes to arrange a refund, our ticket agent will be in contact with details of how these can be processed online, or you can contact them directly at tickets@enchantedforest.org.uk

If you have any questions, our customer services team are here and happy to help. Please drop us an email at info@enchantedforest.org.uk

The Enchanted Forest Community Trust, the organisers behind the UK’s pioneering sound and light show, The Enchanted Forest, has today launched a nationwide search for new charity trustees.

The organisation recently announced it has strengthened its senior management team with the appointment of a new Executive Director and a new Chair and the latest move comes as the Trust prepares the event to return to operations following the COVID-19 shutdown, and in anticipation of its 20th anniversary show due to take place this October.

Lesley Williamson, who took up the reigns this month as the Trust’s very first female chairperson, commented on the launch of the campaign:

“Like all events and charities we are facing challenging times, and the need for strong and supportive governance has never been more important. The Board of Trustees of the Enchanted Forest Community Trust has been, and continues to go, through a period of change and it’s now time for us to strengthen that team as the country emerges from the restrictions.

“While the restrictions around COVID-19 have been incredibly challenging for the event, we must always look for the silver lining. If anything it has taught us that we can operate some aspects of our organisation virtually, and this significantly widens the net to attract talented individuals with the right experience to join our Board of Trustees. For the first time ever, our search for trustees will be nationwide and we are keen to hear from anyone who is interested in being part of the future of one of the UK’s pioneering sound and light shows.”

The Enchanted Forest already draws in over 80,000 visitors to Highland Perthshire annually, is a mainstay of Scotland’s tourism calendar and hopes that it will return in October 2021 to delight audiences and help contribute to the long-awaited shot in the arm to the Highland Perthshire tourism economy.

For more information on becoming a trustee of The Enchanted Forest Community Trust, visit their website www.enchantedforest.org.uk

The Enchanted Forest Community Trust, the organisers behind Scotland’s pioneering sound and light show, The Enchanted Forest, has strengthened its senior management team with the appointment of a new Executive Director and, for the first time ever, a female Chair.

Lesley Williamson takes up the reigns this month as the Trust’s very first female chairperson. With decades of experience within the hospitality, tourism and events industries, including senior positions such as the Non-Executive Director of Northumberland Tourism, Chair of Made in Northumberland, and Vice-Chair of the North East Hoteliers Association, Lesley brings a wealth of expertise to the role.

Lesley is joined by Nela Popovic as Executive Director. Nela is a senior events professional with over twenty years’ experience, including working in large sporting and mass participation events, museums, and galleries. Nela joins the Trust from her position of Managing Director at Make It Right Projects, a mass participation and charity consultancy specialising in all aspects of event and project management, which has provided services for high profile events such as the 2012 London Olympics and 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

The moves are expected to strengthen the charity’s leadership team to develop The Enchanted Forest’s growth strategy, bringing additional expertise and innovation to the much-loved event, which already draws in over 80,000 visitors to Highland Perthshire annually. While the 2020 Enchanted Forest event had to be cancelled due to covid-19 restrictions, the Trust is busy planning this year’s milestone 20th anniversary event, subject to the easing of restrictions and it being considered safe to operate.

Looking to the future, the Trust will also be bolstering its board of trustees during 2021 with the launch of a trustee recruitment campaign this Spring.

Lesley Williamson, Chair of The Enchanted Forest Community Trust said:

“The Enchanted Forest is such an iconic Scottish autumn event, and I am excited about taking up the role of Chair as we look to the future and strive to make it a bigger and better event year on year. Of course, it has been a challenging time for the events industry, and we dearly hope the 20th anniversary event will run as planned. We want it to be a real celebration of how much the event has achieved in the last twenty years and the joy it has bought to the thousands of visitors that have attended every year.
“I am delighted to be welcoming Nela to the team. She brings decades of experience and expertise from working at a senior level in the events industry and we’re both excited about the future of The Enchanted Forest as we look to the next decade of growth.”

Nela Popovic commented:

“It’s a privilege to be working for such a highly esteemed event, and I look forward to working with Lesley and the board of trustees to deliver an event which continues to exceed visitor expectations year on year.”

For more information, please contact Emma Davies on 01738 700134 or 07963 817302 or email: e.davies@volpa.co.uk.

Tayside Mountain Rescue has received a generous donation of £10,000 from The Enchanted Forest Community Trust to contribute to its life-saving activities. The charity, which operates in all weather, all terrain and at all hours, is a group of around 50 volunteers sporting a plethora of specialist outdoor skills including remote medical expertise, technical rigging, swift water rescue and search management.

Like so many charities in the UK, Tayside Mountain Rescue’s fundraising has been adversely impacted by the pandemic. When The Enchanted Forest Community Trust approached the team for practical assistance in the siting of technical kit to run a night sky laser show in return for a donation, the team swung into action. Their efforts resulted in the night skies around Pitlochry beaming with hope over the first weekend in October as the event signalled its return to the area in 2021 delighting local residents with a laser show that could be watched safely from the confinement of their own back gardens.

Lesley Williamson, Executive Director of The Enchanted Forest, said: “We are delighted to be making this donation of £10,000 to Tayside Mountain Rescue. The work they do in rural landscapes like ours is invaluable, helping people when they are in need, and often in the most challenging of circumstances. It is a very challenging time for them, with many fundraising events sadly cancelled this year, and we wanted to what we could to help them. We are confident the funds will assist in enabling them to continue delivering life-saving services to the Tayside region.”

Kevin Linklater, President of Tayside Mountain Rescue commented: “We are very grateful The Enchanted Forest Community Trust for their timely donation. Like so many charities, we have been forced to cancel several of our own fundraising events this year and this donation will go a long way to boost our team funds. It is very much appreciated, and our team really enjoyed providing support to the production of the community laser show earlier this month.”

For more information about attending The Enchanted Forest in 2021 and to buy tickets, visit enchantedforest.org.uk.

We are looking forward to The Enchanted Forest returning to Highland Perthshire in October 2021.

To mark our return, on what would have been our show opening weekend (Friday 2nd – Sunday 4th October), we will be projecting a laser show into the skies around Pitlochry every night. This is our way of saying thank you to YOU. You have supported us over the last nineteen years and we wanted to let you know we are still with you during these challenging times.

The Enchanted Forest is operated by a charitable trust and this year, despite the challenges presented by COVID, we were still able to continue to support 29 local projects and organisations with cash donations amounting to over £68,000. This was the seventh year in a row that The Enchanted Forest Community Trust has been able to give back to our community and we hope to continue our good work in 2021.

These are testing times for us all. The Enchanted Forest has always been a community led event, managed by the community, for the community. We believe that there is true magic in the power of communities working together.

Although it cannot take place this year due to COVID restrictions, The Enchanted Forest normally welcomes over 80,000 visitors to Pitlochry and Highland Perthshire every year, providing a very real boost to local businesses. This year we know the event will be missed by many in what has been an extremely difficult year for all of us.

Like everyone, we want to look to the future with positivity and determination, therefore tickets for our 20th Anniversary event will be on sale to the public from Monday 5th October 2020 and we are optimistic that our confidence in the future of the event will be shared by our visitors.

Please stay safe, look after each other and we’ll see you next year.

The Enchanted Forest Team

For ticket information please visit: www.enchantedforest.org.uk

Exactly two hundred days since mass gatherings were halted in the UK as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, organisers of The Enchanted Forest, Scotland’s pioneering sound and light show, are lighting up the skies of Pitlochry and surrounding area to mark what would have been the start of their 2020 event on 2 October and to signify their support for the local community.

The much-loved event, which normally attracts 80,000 visitors a year to Highland Perthshire, was cancelled due to the pandemic and the prohibition of events and mass gatherings. Normally providing a significant boost of over £7.6 million to Highland Perthshire every year, the event will be sorely missed by the local economy.

Organisers behind the event, The Enchanted Forest Community Trust, will mark what would have been the start of their 19th show on the weekend of 2nd – 4th October with a nightly laser show over the skies of Pitlochry to be viewed safely from the living room windows and back gardens of the local residents, in line with current restrictions. The bold beacon of hope is intended to signal to the local community that, although the 2020 event has been cancelled, there are big plans afoot for the 2021 show, the 20th anniversary of the trail-blazing event.

The planned activity includes the temporary erection of an 5 metre sized illuminated Enchanted Forest logo right at the heart of Pitlochry, signaling to fans that tickets for the 2021 show will be available to purchase from The Enchanted Forest website from 10am on Monday 5 October.

Although the event is not taking place this year, the annual charitable giving of the Enchanted Forest Community Trust is still taking place. This year the Trust has donated £68,000 to 29 local projects, the seventh year in a row the event has given back to the community in which it finds its home. This has included much needed COVID-19 rescue funds to The Birks Cinema in Aberfeldy and Pitlochry Festival Theatre, both of which have been directly impacted by the pandemic. Tayside Mountain Rescue, will also receive a donation of £10,000 from the Trust in return for their practical assistance in the siting of the night sky laser show.

Keith Moncrieff, Chairman of The Enchanted Forest, said: “Whilst we totally understand the reasons, we are extremely disappointed that The Enchanted Forest is not able to run this year. I know so many people will be feeling the loss of the event, in many ways. For this reason, we have decided to mark what would have been the start of the event on 2 October with a fantastic laser show, which will run every night over what would have been our opening weekend. At the heart of Pitlochry our illuminated logo will take pride of place outside the Visit Scotland Pitlochry iCentre this weekend. Our team are already making plans for the 2021 show and we are determined that for our 20th anniversary show, the lights will shine.

“We are also delighted that, despite these challenging circumstances, we have still been able to support 29 local projects financially, which we hope has been a welcome boost given the unfortunate loss of income that Pitlochry and Highland Perthshire will experience due to the cancellation of the 2020 event.”

Tickets for The Enchanted Forest 2021 will be available to purchase at enchantedforest.org.uk from 5 October at 10am.