London children to experience Britain's magical waterland
The Broads Authority will be giving London schoolchildren the time of their lives in Britain’s magical water land next year.
The Authority’s Sustainable Development Fund has awarded a £5,400 grant to The Country Trust to bring primary school children and teachers from the borough of Tower Hamlets on two residential visits to the Broads area.
During their week’s visit to Hautbois House, near Coltishall, the children, most of whom have never left the capital, will be taken out on the Broads, spend time with a ranger, visit a farm and a North Norfolk beach.
Stewart Goldie-Morrison, Director of The Country Trust, which took 30,000 children out on day visits last year, said: “Almost all of the children have never left London, so this experience will have a dramatic impact on them and put a different perspective on their lives. When we took children to a farm in Kent one child asked ‘Are we still in England?’ while another visiting a school outside London asked ‘Do they speak English?’
Although the Broads Authority has introduced children from many local schools to the Broads over the last few years, these will be the first residential visits from London to be run in collaboration with the Country Trust and other partners.
Countryside ranger Nick Sanderson, who is helping to plan the programme said: “ This will be an opportunity for us to give London children a completely new and unique experience which will widen their horizons. We hope to do habitat conservation work, increase environmental awareness and see kingfishers and dragonflies as well as other Broads wildlife. It will be something they will never forget.”
The Country Trust has been bridging the gap between urban and rural communities through showing the working countryside to children, their teachers and parents from inner city areas for 30 years.
06/12/10
