Schools and Community Project 2007-2010 End of Project Report

Summary

The Somerset Schools & Community Project originated as a follow on project from the previous HLF funded Avalon Field Teaching Project. The project has been composed of two parts – Bird Friendly Schools (BFS), which aimed to take the interest shown by schools in the natural environment into the schools themselves and Community Events to enthuse and engage local people about the natural and man-made heritage of the Avalon Marshes. Volunteers were recruited across Somerset (including NE Somerset) and contact was made with more than 30% of primary schools in the area. All participating schools were linked with a local volunteer and received 3 visits from this volunteer during the year. Generally volunteers worked with a single class, but this varied with the most enthusiastic volunteers working with many classes in a single school. Volunteers

Volunteers were recruited for the project from many different sources. After an initial ‘quiet period’ when few enquiries occurred, there has been a constant stream of people wanting to be involved. Press releases (local Press & RSPB Birds magazine), posters on Reserves (NE’s & RSPB’s & West Sedgemoor) and posters up at events gave us a strong team of volunteers to support our events. Direct Mailing of Somerset RSPB members was successful in recruiting the volunteers who wanted to visit schools.

Volunteers have come from many different backgrounds. Many were former teachers or had worked in schools. The expertise and support these individuals were able to give the rest of the team helped contribute to the overall success of the project. Several volunteers were at the start of their career and they used the project as a way of gaining experience in public engagement roles. By the end of the project several of these volunteers had gained employment in the environment world - Anna Graham started as a BFS volunteer and admin assistant for the project and took over the project management for the final 5 months of the project. Alexia Hollinshead, who was also a BFS volunteer and admin assistant, gained employment from the RSPB at Arne Reserve and has since moved on to Public Affairs Officer (Visitors on Reserves) at RSPB’s regional office in Exeter. BFS volunteer Craig Burrows has since been working for the Somerset Wildlife Trust and Jo Collett has secured a contract with the Environment Agency.

Other volunteers have become involved in other voluntary roles with both RSPB & Natural . These have included practical conservation tasks (Suzie Fowler joined the Shapwick Heath Green Team), admin roles (Rebecca Wilcox helped with complex IT tasks), building and renovating the Avalon Marshes Lifelong Learning Centre (Neville Henderson & Stewart Gould) and species’ monitoring (Alison Mackenzie on Shapwick Heath). The expertise of the volunteer group were greatly enhanced by several professionals involved in the environmental world who were keen to develop links with Natural England & RSPB’s community work in Somerset – volunteers included Lucy Vincent, a director of Wildfowl & Trust and Stephen Moss producer and author for BBC Natural History Unit.

By the end of the project a total of 55 volunteers had been recruited for working in schools and a further 92 individuals had participated in community project events. The total number of volunteer hours amounted to an incredible 6396.5 and the project could not have achieved this level of success without them. Resources, Training and School Visits

Throughout the project regular ‘training events‘ were held for volunteers going into schools. These proved very popular and many volunteers used them as a networking opportunity to link with other volunteers in their areas. The training enabled a consistent approach to be adopted by all volunteers going into schools. Volunteers were equipped with full sets of BFS resources (see right) that had been previously ‘tried and tested’ with primary aged pupils – thus ensuring all visits were of a high quality.

The wide range of different events that occurred during the project period meant that no specific training could be given to this group of volunteers. Generally new volunteers were linked with experienced ones when helping for the first time.

Statistics

The initial target for the project of 91 schools was achieved early in the second year. By the third year more than 30% of schools in Somerset had links with the project and most schools were involved for the entire three year period.

Number of Schools involved – 122

Number of Bird Friendly School Volunteers – 55

Number of School Visits by Volunteers - 486

Number of Children engaged in Schools (many more at Events) – 5197

Total Volunteer Hours in Bird Friendly Schools – 3209

A staggering total of 41 large events (not including guided walks) have taken place over the three year period, which has enabled the vital engagement of thousands of children and their families in the area.

Number of Volunteers involved in Events - 92

Total Volunteer Hours at Events – 3187.5

Community Events

Wild Days Out (4 per year) - families bring their children along for a free day of wildlife themed games and activities based at the Avalon Marshes Centre e.g. Pond Dipping, Nature-themed Art and Trailer Rides onto Shapwick Heath NNR.

Avalon 24 (annual) – 24 hours of guided walks across 5 nature reserves of the Avalon Marshes. Aimed at everyone from 1 to 101 encouraging them to get out and experience the rich natural and man-made heritage of the Avalon Marshes. Joint venture between RSPB, Natural England, Somerset Wildlife Trust (SWT) and The Hawk and Owl Trust.

Avalon Marshes Open Day (annual) - families bring their children along for a free day of wildlife themed activities based at the Avalon Marshes Centre e.g. Puppet Shows, Story-telling and Willow Weaving. Joint venture between RSPB, Natural England, Somerset Wildlife Trust and The Hawk and Owl Trust. The Environment Agency also attended.

School Days (2-4 per year) - 250 children in 2 nd year of project and 450 in 3 rd year so far. Local schools are invited to attend a day of nature themed workshops based at the Avalon Marshes Centre and on Shapwick Heath NNR.

The project and Avalon Marshes Reserves have also been promoted at external events such as a Green Fair in the local town of .

Avalon Marshes Wildlife Group

A wildlife group has been set up for RSPB Wildlife Explorer and Wildlife Trust Watch Members in the area (youth membership for both organisations), although non-members are also welcome. The Group is jointly run by RSPB, Natural England and Somerset Wildlife Trust and aims to engage and enthuse youngsters and their families about their local environment, in particular the natural and man-made heritage of the Avalon Marshes. It is being lead by three representatives, one from each organisation and seven assistant leaders, who will run a mixture of indoor and outdoor activities throughout the year. Activities will be based partly at our Lifelong Learning Centre at the Avalon Marshes Centre and partly out on our National Nature Reserves of Ham Wall (RSPB), Shapwick Heath (NE) and Moor (SWT). The first meet in June 2010 was very successful with 45 people attending. The Group will continue to run following the end of the project.

Local Media Links

The events and Avalon Marshes Wildlife Group have benefitted greatly from the excellent and loyal media coverage of Glastonbury FM, which will continue to be involved in future promotion.

RSPB Birds Magazine advertised the project including the Bird Friendly School and Event Volunteer Roles.

Mendip Times , Central Somerset Gazette, Fosse Way Magazine and The Word have all played a part in advertising Avalon 24 and the Avalon Marshes Open Day.

A monthly activity and competition called ‘Bird Brain’ has been started in local press : The Polden Post (read by 100s of villagers across the Polden Hills and The Bridge Magazine (read by the residents of Burrowbridge village). This is aimed at young families in order to engage and inform them of birds they are likely to see in their local area. This will continue to be run by a volunteer following the end of the p roject.

Response from Volunteers , Schools and Event Participants

The response from BFS v olunteers has been very positive; they have enjoyed their visits and benefitted greatly from the training . Many of the volunteers have also made a lasting and very positive impact on the children, teachers and in some cases entire schools:

Frances Snelling (BFS Volunteer) –

“They certa inly took the birdwatch to heart - Hilary took all the childrens’ certificates home to write in their names and there was a 'presentation' during school assembly next morning - so quite an occasion!”

“I made my last visit to Wookey School yesterday, which went very well - they are a very keen school as a whole, not just 'my class' and have a wildlife area with pond etc which is being extended”.

The response from schools has also been very positive with children continuing to count and watch the birds in t heir playgrounds (and indeed their gardens and local areas) throughout the year. S ome have even been inspired to become RSPB Wildlife Explorers. T eachers have also got a lot out of the experience:

Danielle Teal (Year 5/6 Teacher at Burrowbridge Primary School) –

“Thanks for coming into our school and working with the children they really enjoyed learning about all the different birds, I did too!” As a result of successful visits, some of the teachers are keen for volunteers to continue their links with the schools and many of the volunteers will do so in conjunction with the RSPB’s Great Crane Project. This will be vital in maintaining these positive links with the community.

Event volunteers (some of which are also BFS volunteers) and participants continue to enjoy the real sense of community spirit, as well as the fun and educational activities, which make our events so successful. We are lucky enough to have volunteers who are able to really engage and inspire the public with their knowledge and enthusiasm for the natural world. Some families return again and again to the events, they just cannot seem to get enough! Partnership Links

Throughout the project the excellent link between RSPB & Natural England on the has been maintained & developed. With time, other organisations have also linked into many of the events that have been arranged. In particular The Hawk & Owl Trust have joined in with many ‘Wild Days Out’ and their support for the two Avalon 24’s has been tremendous. The Somerset Wildlife Trust and Somerset County Council have also participated with events and their input has increased the range of activities offered to the public tremendously.

Two volunteer BBQ’s were arranged over the project period with many Somerset Schools & Community Project volunteers attending and sharing experiences & expertise. Staffing

The first two and a half years of the project were managed by Simon Beard, whose experience in education and existing contacts with local schools were invaluable to the success of the project. Simon’s enthusiasm and dedication were second to none. Following a move to work for Natural England as a community Outreach Advisor at the same site, the end of the project was managed by Anna Graham. Anna Graham was and continued to be a BFS volunteer for the remainder of the project and had also helped Simon Beard with community events and project administration prior to taking over as manager. Due to the strong partnership link between the organisations, Simon Beard and Anna Graham have worked together on school visits and community events.

Thank You Event for Volunteers and Staff

In recognition of the overwhelming contribution and dedication of volunteers and staff members to the project, an End of Project Celebration and Thank You Event was organised. This was held three weeks prior to the end of the project and was a great success with guest speakers Stephen Moss (BBC Natural History Unit) and Chris Sperring (nationally renowned naturalist from The Hawk and Owl Trust). Everyone really appreciated the gesture. Legacy and the Future

• Thousands of children and their families have been engaged and inspired in schools and at community events through overwhelming commitment of volunteers and staff.

• Thanks to help from volunteers, there are now two permanent classroom facilities (Lifelong Learning Centre) at the Avalon Marshes Centre site, which will continue to be used for school and family events, training courses and staff meetings.

• Resources left over from the BFS visits, those created for games and activities and those purchased over the course of the project, will continue to be used at community events.

• A number of the BFS volunteers are continuing their links with their schools through the RSPB’s Great Crane Project and/or are volunteering as Assistant Leaders for the Avalon Marshes Wildlife Group.

• All community events will continue to be run by Natural England and neighbouring conservation partners and the Avalon Marshes Wildlife Group will continue to inspire families with the natural and man-made heritage of the Avalon Marshes.

Thanks also go to:

RSPB staff Tony Richardson (Regional Director), Peter Exley (Public Affairs Manager), Tony Whitehead (Public Affairs Officer), June Young (Volunteering Department) and Trish Harper (Office Administrator, Somerset Reserves), Steve Hughes (Site Manager, Ham Wall), Ray Summers (Warden, Ham Wall) and Stephen Couch (Assistant Warden, Ham Wall) for their help, support and guidance throughout the project.

Natural England staff Phil Holms (Senior Reserves Manager, Somerset), Simon Clarke (Reserve Manager, Shapwick Heath NNR) and Jon Macaulay (Reserve Warden, Shapwick Heath NNR) for their enormous support and contribution, especially with regards to equipment and event preparation.

Somerset Wildlife Trust staff Mark Blake (Brue Valley Reserves Officer), Alys Laver (Brue Valley Reserves Assistant) and Toria Hare (Community Volunteering Facilitator) for help with events and Jessy Emery for her help and support with the Avalon Marshes Wildlife Group

Annie and Neville Henderson for their support at the Avalon Marshes Centre; The Hawk and Owl Trust staff, in particular Chris Sperring, and volunteers for their help with events, especially Avalon 24; Eddie Wills, former Warden of Moors Centre and Bob Croft and Richard Brunning of Somerset County Council for their contribution towards events.

The Heritage Lottery Fund, without whose financial contribution, the Somerset Schools and Community Project would not have been possible.