Member Article

How the acorns have grown

Northumberland Wildlife Trust received a grant at the start of last year to become part of a Big Lottery Fund Well-Being programme to work with groups of military families in the Region.

The wildlife charity delivered a programme of wildlife projects, aptly titled ‘Acorns to Oaks’ with six schools, including Stamfordham First School which were chosen because of their connection to Albermarle and Otterburn Barracks and RAF Boulmer .

Between February and April of this year, 29 pupils, aged between 5 and 7, from the School got their hands well and truly dirty with Northumberland Wildlife Trust’s People & Wildlife Team - from den building and camp fire cooking to climbing to the top of Northumberlandia.

According to the Children’s Education Advisory Service, military families experience frequent job/school/house moves and parental absences which can cause social isolation and stress, particularly for children, hence the need for a support from initiatives such as the ‘Acorns to Oaks’ project.

Tracy Evans, Northumberland Wildlife Trust People & Wildlife Officer said: “It is heart-warming to see how the little acorns have grown into study oaks and it was wonderful to see the pupils embrace wildlife and the great outdoors as enthusiastically as they did.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sue Bishop .