Happy Banana

Yes Steve. The one in Leeds is for brash because I don't want to tow a chipper up there and it's only a thirty foot Birch but the Kidderminster request would be for chip, brash and cord. Cheers John

Morning Ladies and Gentlemen. This is a dual request for two locations. Does anyone have a tip site they can recommend for a very small job in Leeds (LS19) Yeadon? It's a Silver Birch I am removing FOC for a friend and I am not quite sure if I can fit it all in my trailer. It's a 320 mile round trip from my home so if I can't drag all the arisings back in one go I'm a bit stuffed. I would like to broadcast the same request for Kidderminster (DY14) as I have been procrastinating about finding somewhere by using a mate's site closer to Birmingham but I need something more suitable closer to my own post code on an ongoing basis. Thanks everyone for taking the time to read and possibly comment. Kind regards John

I studied on a distance learning basis for written exams to change career about twenty years ago. I wasn't running a business but I was working full time. I think the two main keys are to properly assess how long you think it will take you to complete the work for the qualification and then to have the discipline to programme the work to a schedule you stick to. Once you know how many hours it requires you then make a proper assessment of what you can realistically achieve in a week. Then schedule your weeks (as many as you require to complete the course) so that you have an end date that you are aiming to finish the study by. In terms of your weekly workload (perhaps you think you can find five hours across a seven day week) you need to be absolutely resolute with the time slot for study. If you set aside one hour a day on Monday to Friday, make sure it has a specific time slot and make sure you do the study in the allotted time slot, no excuses, never second, always first. It will become a bit of a religion to you if you manage to keep your discipline in the first few weeks but that's kind of the way it has to be if you are already working and definitely if you have a young family or are running a business.

Bummer. Thanks for the kind wishes. John

Bummer. Thanks for the information Great, thanks for replying. I've done distance learning for much higher levels in a different discipline before and I don't struggle for motivation but I hear what you're saying. I've just enrolled now so I'll find out soon enough. Cheers John

Yep, girlfriends and rock bands will kill your study ethic quick! Thanks for sharing. I'm just going to enrol on the HCC on Monday and get it done. I'll do the level four with tree life and hope that not waiting till September to start their level 2 course doesn't impede me too much. Cheers John P.S. Are you still in the band?

Thank you Paul. You're right it is fully booked. I'm not sure where that course would sit relative to my enrolment on a level 4 ABC certificate. I'm also not sure I meet the entry requirements for the ISA course anyway because my previous arb work has not covered all the relevant work experience to be honest.

Hello everyone. I am about to start a Level 2 certificate in Arboriculture. I wanted to enrol at Treelife because of their reputation but because they purposely don't offer it on a correspondence basis I would have to wait till their residential classes start in September. To get round this and hit the ground running I want to use the Horticultural Correspondence College which would mean I could enrol now and start studying today. My plan would be to switch to Treelife for the Level 4 after I pass the Level 2. Has anyone got any experience of the HCC and/or an opinion on my plan? Cheers John from Happy Banana