This week saw the first of several Sustainable Development Funded events take place, with a guided walk to Rendlesham Forest in partnership with East Suffolk Lines Community Rail Partnership.

This funded event provided access for all members of the group to Rendlesham Forest and utilised existing public transport links, to promote sustainable visiting and accessibility.

The group were met off the train at Melton and caught the Connecting Communities Bus to Rendlesham Forest, where they were met by a member of Forestry England for a 3-mile guided walk along the Phoenix Trail. 

Connecting Communities provides a bus service where there isn’t one, making harder to reach places like Rendlesham Forest more accessible for people without a car.

Jason, who attended the walk, said:

“Thank you for today, it was such a brilliant day, I really enjoyed it and had such a great day out!

It was really nice to do the walk and chat to the people, also loved the train trip which was really good fun. I think the walk offered so much and is so good for peoples mental health. It’s really good to have opportunities like this. I hope they will continue and increase in popularity.

I was very impressed with the linking up of transport and the walks, this has been an issue which I’m really pleased is being looked into further as I certainly would do more and I know my friends would too.”

For more information, please contact Jenny Moss, Landscapes for All Officer, at [email protected].

You can find out more about Connecting Communities at https://communities.suffolkonboard.com. Learn more about East Suffolk Lines at https://eastsuffolklines.co.uk.