Following the meeting there will be a talk and presentation by guest speaker Mark Antcliffe, native woodland development officer for the North York Moors National Park Authority.

Gill Pullen, chairman of the friends' group, said: "The friends are always keen to encourage more people to come out and help us as we have a lot of projects that we would like to undertake.

Volunteering in the woods is great way to get to know the woodland really well and also get a bit of exercise in the fresh air." The next volunteer day will take place on Sunday July 27 from 10am, meeting at Raincliffe gate car park.

This last year has been very busy time for the friends' group as it has been working hard to complete the new easy to follow circular woodland walks.

With the help of funding from the O2 Community Fund, the group has way-marked three routes to help people explore and experience some of the more interesting areas of the wood.

The walks vary in length and times but the friends say they are easy to follow and can be accessed from many of the woodland car parks. A leaflet is now also available for anyone who wishes to use the routes.

These leaflets will be available at the meeting or can be downloaded from the friends website www.raincliffewoods.com