What a journey!
Nearly two years ago I wrote 'UK children are losing connection with the outdoors'
That
was when Landscape Design Trust first decided to fund raise for a
project to keep communities in touch with their environment.
Now
of course, there is plenty of proof that well being is closely
linked to having good quality open space within easy reach. That
doesn't mean that there is enough green space out there, though, or
that people feel comfortable about using it. Or, particularly with
the demise of the charity GreenSpace, enough of us doing anything
about it.
This
summer, we (LDT) hope to be making a contribution to the comfort zone
bit. We will be exploring the wide green expanses of Runnymede with
school children, local community groups and families, many of whom
may find 'out doors' a bit foreign.
We aim to learn from their
reactions and use their experience to create rucksacks. Yep,
rucksacks are going to be the great new open space interpretation
tool – stuffed full of games and projects and old documents and
.... well, we won't really know what will be in those rucksacks until
we are nearing the end of the project!
And,
finally, when we do get to the end of the project, those backpacks
will be available to other families to borrow, so that others can
also find out that 'outdoors' isn't another country at all, but an
extension of their back yard, full of exciting things to do.
It
looks like being an exciting journey for all of us. We are funded by
Heritage Lottery Fund's (HLF) 'All our Stories' programme and that
means leaving a digital record of our project. So it's not just
Runnymede's kids who are getting a new experience. I'm learning to
blog. Wish me luck! Wish us all luck!
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| JFK Memorial Steps at Runnymede www.landscape.co.uk |
