Treat your Dad to a great Father's Day out in The National Forest this year (21 June). Forest attractions are laying on activities to give Dad the best day, whatever his interest.

Cheer him on at Conkers, in the first-ever Father's Day Triathlon Challenge (21 June). Go-kart racing, canoeing and bike riding – it's all included in the general entry fee to the 120-acre woodland adventure world at Moira, and there are excellent prizes up for grabs. See more at www.visitconkers.com/events/fathers-day-challenge-sunday-21st-june-2015--216

Or give him a different kind of challenge: free his child within at Stoneywell, the Arts & Crafts woodland cottage hideaway in The National Forest at Ulverscroft: it was created for just such golden fun. Play games of bowls, discover family table tennis with a difference, laze over picnics and raid the laundry tearoom for cake. (Please book your visit in advance for this small but perfectly formed National Trust property.) See more at www.nationaltrust.org.uk/stoneywell/things-to-see-and-do/events/ 

Is your Dad creative or practical? Does he enjoy making things, or simply love being out in the great outdoors? Then how about a wonderful day out in the woods with Greenwood Days, near Melbourne, escaping from daily life having a memorable and rewarding day learning some traditional crafts? Using hand tools and a foot-powered (pole) lathe your Dad (and you if you join him) can create his own garden dibber, honey drizzler, candlestick or other small item. Two or even three generations can share the experience, working together and creating something special for Dad to keep and some wonderful memories. Greenwood Days is set in a hundred acre woodland so there's plenty of space to take a walk and enjoy the woods. For lunch everyone shares in the creation of some fabulous pizzas cooked in the wood-fired oven. See more at www.greenwooddays.co.uk/fathers-day-woods-21st-june/

For more information on The National Forest see www.nationalforest.org

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Media contact:  Carol Rowntree Jones, Media Relations Officer, National Forest Company, on 01283 551211; email: crowntreejones@nationalforest.org For more information on The National Forest see www.nationalforest.org

Digital images are available. Contact media@nationalforest.org

NOTES TO EDITORS:

1. 1. The National Forest area covers 200 square miles of the counties of Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire.  Its objective is to increase woodland cover within its boundaries from an initial six per cent to about a third. No multi-purpose forest on this scale has been created in the UK for one thousand years. To date the proportion of woodland cover in the Forest has more than trebled to 19.8 per cent and in 2012 HRH the Duke of Cambridge planted the eight millionth tree in the Forest. 

2. 2. Year by year, The National Forest has been steadily turning what was once one of the least wooded areas of England into a multi-purpose, sustainable forest.  The National Forest provides environmental, social and economic benefits, including landscape enhancement, creation of new wildlife habitats and major new access and leisure opportunities. It is an excellent example of sustainable development – with environmental improvement providing a stimulus both to economic regeneration and to community pride and activity.

3. 3. To achieve these objectives, the National Forest Company leads the creation of The National Forest, working in partnership with landowners, local authorities, private business, voluntary organisations and local communities and has strong support from Government, politicians and the public.  The Company receives grant in aid from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

4. 4. The National Forest Company's Triennial Review by Central Government in 2013 stated: “Many [stakeholders] stressed the need for the continued role of the NFC to maintain momentum and ensure that the long term aims for The National Forest are achieved. The importance of a 'truly sustainable landscape scale project' was stressed, with the need for continued objectives across a wide agenda including economic growth, woodland culture and habitat networks.”

5. 5. In 2008, the National Forest Company and partners won the inaugural Sustainable Development UK Award, for their work in Ashby Woulds, at the heart of The National Forest.