Kids Fund Recipients 2011
The following groups successfully applied for Kids Fund and visited an FSC Centre during 2011. Here are their stories.
Forches Youth Club
Tonge Moor Primary School
Global Action Plan
Elevating Success
Bankside Open Spaces Trust
The Green Dreams Project
The Disraeli School and Children's Centre
Rushey Mead School
By becoming an FSC member or making a donation to Kids Fund you can help even more children have life changing experiences like these.
Forches Youth Club
The Forches estate in North Devon has significantly higher levels of social and economic disadvantage than almost all other local wards. The Forches Youth Club was established to improve the lives of young people with creative expression, sports initiatives and personal and social development activities.
The Youth Club took a group of 20 9-17 year olds to FSC Nettlecombe Court in Somerset. Despite living so close to Exmoor many of the young people had never been, so it was important for them to learn about what is out there, close to their homes and learn more about nature and their environment. Andie Scilly the Lead Youth Worker said: “It was wonderful to see the young people getting excited about getting close and hands-on with nature through activities such as setting mammal traps and badger cams.”
Although the schools offer residential trips like this the families who live on Forches often find the cost prohibitive. The organisers added: "The experience was a very valuable one for all the young people involved and it is something that we would have been unable to have achieved without the Kids Fund grant that we received."
Tonge Moor Primary School
This Bolton-based primary school has just under 300 pupils and holds events and courses to involve the wider community, including its Eco-Warrior group. 42 year 6 pupils from the Eco-Warrior Club visited FSC Castle Head to undertake a selection of adventure activities with an environmental emphasis.
Janet Pendlebury Business Manager at the school attended and described the visit: “The activities on site included canoeing, habitat investigation, low ropes, climbing and abseiling. All of which allowed the children to improve important skills such as communication, listening skills, idea exchange, cooperation and perseverance and to develop leadership skills and foster increased self esteem. The children were also encouraged to provide support and guidance to each other to help them forge better relationships.
Many of our children had never experienced a countryside setting and had little awareness of the variety of flora and fauna to be seen and enjoyed.”
Back at school the skills learnt will be used to continue the work of the eco group at school and in the community. With many children living in areas with high deprivation they would not have experienced a trip like this otherwise.
Global Action Plan
A group of 10 teenagers from Global Action Plan in Ballymun visited FSC Derrygonnelly in July 2011. Their main objectives were to develop team-building skills and broaden the young people’s experiences of outdoor activities and eco-action pursuits, hopefully giving them skills to take back to projects in their local area. They undertook a range of activities including butterfly and insect catching, raft building and surfing.
The Global Action Plan group has been running for 10 years offering weekly sessions for 13-17 year olds to educate them about environmental issues and develop their skills and confidence. The area has high levels of crime, poverty with young people at risk of leaving school early and drug or alcohol dependency. The participants often rely on the group activities and visits like the Derrygonnelly trip to experience new environments away from Ballymun and develop their knowledge and confidence.
Comments from the young people included: “I learnt that if you get involved it’s not as scary as you think.” (Clare Purvis)
“It was challenging, but it was such good fun when you participate.” (Ashley Maughan)
Elevating Success
Two groups of 40 young people from disadvantaged parts of Croydon enjoyed a visit to FSC Epping Forest in August 2011. They are all part of Elevating Success, a not-for-profit group set up to provide training and personal development to individuals and help them to enhance their lives and communities.
Many participants have not previously travelled out of their Borough so this trip really broadened their horizons as well as developing their knowledge, team working skills and confidence.
The organiser said: “To be out and about, away from their neighbourhood was a valuable experience for each participant. The opportunity to interact with a new environment through activities such as compass reading, and pond dipping was appreciated by all.”
“As we know there were major disturbances across London during August and one of the trips happened the day after. The children were even happier to be away from the devastation in their area at that particular time and enjoyed themselves immensely.”
Bankside Open Spaces Trust
Young people aged between 16-25 years from London enjoyed a fantastic day out in the great British countryside thanks to a grant from the FSC Kids Fund. The young people are part of the Bankside Open Spaces Trust Youth Volunteer Project and give up their free time to volunteer on projects such as gardening, youth work, event management, community work and administration in the Southwark and Lambeth area.
One young volunteer Cyrus Jackson commented: "I loved this trip. I've never been to the countryside, so this was a great experience."
The group spent their time exploring the area of Box Hill, learning about the history of the area and the different species of plants and their properties, including wild garlic, oregano, yum yum and poisonous plants.
The Green Dreams Project
The Green Dreams Project was developed in partnership with Warwickshire Wildlife Trust and the Ingleby Foundation to combine youth work and environmental work to engage with young people who are experiencing mental ill health. They brought three young people to FSC Castle Head for a residential visit.
The young people were very vulnerable but the centre provided them with their own area of accommodation and meal times so they felt comfortable and safe. They also created a programme of activities designed especially for their needs.
Organiser Melanie Scobie said: “The highlights of the residential were the night walk, walking up a hill in the pitch black with little pink sheep’s eyes watching you all the time and the conservation willow coppicing was really enjoyable. The young people really enjoyed working together, chopping the wood and learning a new skill.”
The Disraeli School and Children's Centre
The Disraeli School and Children's Centre is a larger than average primary school serving an area of high deprivation. Skills such as writing have been identified as particularly low standard, partly because children don't have experiences to draw on. The school strive to offer chances for these 'life experiences' wherever possible, as many children do not have the opportunity to do this with their families. A grant from Kids Fund helped them to take 63 7 and 8 year olds on a visit to FSC Amersham.
The visit helped to develop the children's social, emotional and behavioural skills through exploring the local environment and working together as a team. Activities included shelter building, pond dipping and bug hunting. The experiences have also helped the children to create imaginative stories and descriptive accounts, given the children essential tools to enhance their writing.
"We had an amazing time, I loved it especially getting dirty finding the minibeasts, I learnt a lot about their habitats.We don't get a chance to do this at school" Corey
Rushey Mead School
A group of students from Rushey Mead School took part in a trip to FSC Castle Head, selected because they already give up their time to help improve their local environment, through the school's Eco Management and Audit Scheme or Litter Club.
The students are from an inner city, multi-cultural area with high numbers having English as a second language, and many hadn't been outside the county before. The trip gave them responsibility, new challenges and the chance to learn about the environment with activities like tree coppicing and mountain walks.
Following on from the visit the students went on to organise their own litter week taking full ownership of the various events and also returned with fresh ideas, confidence and a new outlook with regards to their impact on the environment and how they can make a difference.
Science teacher Chris Kurth summarised saying: "An FSC trip is something I would recommend to all schools and all students. As one student said: 'It is a once in a lifetime opportunity'."
Find out how to apply to Kids Fund and bring your group on a life-changing experience.
