The Land Trust has
launched a new education strategy, as the green space management charity looks
to inspire people of all ages to spend more time outside and enjoy all the
benefits that spending time in well managed green space has to offer.
Working in
partnerships with local schools and nurseries and providing volunteering
opportunities, through projects such as our Green Angels programme, the Land
Trust is aiming to increase the amount of time spent by young people outdoors,
and give them the opportunity to learn new skills, enhance their future
prospects and make a difference in their community.
The time currently
spent outdoors by children is worrying low and it was these statistics,
combined with a crisis in childhood obesity and mental health, that encouraged
the Land Trust to act, with director of portfolio management, Alan
Carter, explaining: “The Land Trust has been delivering educational activities
on our sites since its inception but this strategy is about developing that
offer further and making a real difference in the communities who live and work
close to our sites.
“The UK Government
wishes to use and develop the natural environment to improve the education and
lives of all children, with a particular focus on those from deprived
communities.
“This desire is set
against a backdrop of rising childhood obesity levels, decreasing childhood
mental health and decreasing levels of interaction of children and young people
in the natural environment. In fact it is reported that three quarters of UK children
spend less time outside than prison inmates, while a fifth of children do not
play outside at all on an average day.
“These findings are
completely unacceptable and if they are allowed to remain unchanged we risk
generations of people missing out on enjoying time outside and the physical and
mental benefits that brings. With over 60 sites across the country we recognise
that we are in a unique position to make a real difference and our refreshed
education strategy is the first step in that process.”
Over the next three
years the Land Trust will have a strategic focus on developing relationships
with schools and nurseries within walking distance of our spaces.
The charity is
investing in six new outdoor learning areas across their sites at Wellesley
Woodlands, Bewsey, Kiverton, Old Hall, Silverdale and Hassall Green, while also
training rangers and teachers as forest school practitioners, to enhance the
variety of activity on our sites.
The Land Trust is
also working with an external body, Nature-Nurture, to produce an education
pack for use by local schools near our site at Davey Down. This will then be
developed to provide some more generic learning packs to be made available to
schools across the country.
There is already a
huge amount of educational activities going on at Land Trust sites across the
country, with the number of school visits rising from 3,500 to 7,500 over the
last five years.
Elba Park is a site
playing a lead role in this work and was awarded Land Trust Educational site of
the year after delivering activities to nearly 1,000 school children over the
last 12 months.
Based in Sunderland
the team at Elba have built excellent working relationships with local schools
which has seen children enjoying activities such as geocaching, pond dipping,
meadow sweeps, crafts, surveys and identification, bulb and tree planting, and
heritage activities.
Students from
Portland Academy, a school for young people with special educational needs and
disability, attend weekly sessions at the site with post-16 students
undertaking the Duke of Edinburgh award.
Carter continued:
“Our site at Elba Park is a great example of a site that has really embedded
itself into the local community and what they have achieved is a real testament
to the hard work that has been put into building relationships with schools in the
local area.
“If we can replicate
the success of Elba Park across a number of our sites then we can make a huge
impact and effect real change in so many people’s lives.”
