Page 6 - Managing Partner Awards Shortlist
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A significant achievement post-pandemic, is local walking group, Heart and Sole relocating
their weekly walk to Beaulieu. This was largely down to the ease of walking on the paths but
also because with the development still under construction, there are many more paths
coming offering varied routes each visit. The group regularly attracts more than 20 walkers
with some weeks attracting close to 40.
Nominations for Education Site of the Year
The Old Brickworks
The Old Brickworks is meeting local needs on the local doorsteps rather than making people
travel to a "regional" hub. From a standing start we now have regular holiday sessions and
schools and community groups using the purpose made education area. Doing this during
the period of the pandemic was very significant and a great achievement.
Elba Park
Rangers at Elba Park delivered education activities with 22 groups from local primary
schools, with almost 700 children in total. Regular sessions with Portland Academy post-16
students re-started in September 2021. These students have a variety of different physical
and learning disabilities and now enjoy weekly sessions in the park.
Groundwork were successful with a bid to the Green Recovery Fund and part of that project
involved 6 Kickstart trainees. They spent a total of 12 weeks at Elba and completed a
number of different training courses including chainsaw maintenance, strimmer use and
herbicide spraying.
Kiveton Community Woodland
This year saw the final year of the Outside is Fun project at Kiveton. The funding by Natural
England finished in March 2022. The project has been a great addition to the team and the
sites. It has allowed us to look at a model that we could take forward for further school work
and allowed us to develop greater relationships with the local schools in close distance to
the Community Woodlands.
The project further developed the programme of teacher training (CPD – Continuous
Professional Development training) to equip them with the skills to begin using outdoor
learning. The project has also led to the start of school permits being developed for the sites.
A further evaluation report will be available on the findings of the project.