The Wood for Good Campaign is Coming to a Close

Founded 20 years ago by forestry bodies Confor and Swedish Wood, Wood for Good has aimed to support the UK Timber Industry by promoting the use of wood in design and construction

During those decades, wood has gone from a niche design choice in the UK to a serious alternative to steel and concrete. Engineered timber has opened the door for ambitious building projects and the role wood can play in reducing the carbon footprint of construction is now well-known and high on the political agenda.

The timber sector has also become more united and resilient, with many of our supporters working together with the industry to provide a strong and coherent supply chain and a united voice to promote nature’s most versatile building material.

We are extremely proud of what Wood for Good has achieved in promoting the aesthetic, biophilic and environmental benefits of wood and timber. The campaign has been instrumental in making wood’s potential to reduce embodied carbon mainstream and has championed wood as a design tool which improves health and wellbeing.  

As we head into 2023, we now feel we have achieved our original goals, with wood in construction widely acknowledged as a positive contributor to climate change mitigation. With this in mind, it is time to hand the batten on to others and to wind down our campaign.

This was not an easy decision, not least because of the personal connection I and many others feel for the campaign and the role it has played in our careers over the decades. However, we feel that in the work of new trade bodies such as Timber Development UK, and organisations such as Confor who are championing sustainable forestry, the future of wood is in safe hands. 

I would like to thank you, our supporters, who have made the campaign possible both through financial contributions and through your valuable insight. We are in discussions with key partners such as Timber Development UK, Swedish Wood, the Structural Timber Association and Confor on preserving the resources created for the campaign. If you are interested in adopting any of the resources, please get in touch.

Wood for Good will cease operations at the end of March 2023, but all of us who have worked on the campaign look forward to working with the community it has inspired in new ways as wood enjoys a bright future in the UK.

- Andy Leitch, Director, Wood for Good.