Since May 2011, 45 events have taken place at 12 different farms and agricultural shows all over the country. The positive feedback from participants has sparked the cooperative to set up a winter workshop programme that will take the ‘farmyard’ into schools.
The new programme will be run by ‘safari leader’, Finlay McLaren, who will be visiting schools across the UK to teach them all about biodiversity on organic farms. An interactive ‘hedgerow’ will form a central part of the workshops and there will also be a special focus on bats, with the children making bat boxes that will be put up on organic farms next spring.
Finlay said: “The safaris have really struck a chord with adults and children alike. We wanted to build on this and create an education programme to run during the winter months when there isn’t as much to see in the hedges.
“The workshops will still have the hands-on elements that the kids have loved, with activities including creating colourful birds, bugs and bats to go on the hedge frieze, and we hope they will help them to really engage with conservation issues. The new initiative has also been developed as a way to reach areas such as inner-city London, where it is difficult to get the children out on to a local farm.”
The Hedgerow Safaris that have taken place this year have been spread across the country from Galloway to Cornwall, and Shropshire to Lancashire. The safaris elevate the humble hedgerow to a thrilling safari route for the children, who take an exciting journey of discovery, identifying plants, looking for insects and hunting for signs of the many animals and birds that live in the hedgerows.
The on-farm safari programme will kick off again next spring following the Winter Workshops.
Source: OMSCo
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