I had the pleasure of visiting one of my favourite reserves, Felmersham Gravel Pits with Harrold Cubs. We enjoyed looking at pond and insect life and I was pleasantly surprised to hear that many of the children had seen barn owls on their local patch.

I’ve been on a mission to get our name known more in North Bedfordshire and I recently joined a Bedford Borough Council networking event. It was interesting to find out from youth and mental health charity leaders how the need for nature connection resonates strongly for their service users.

This forms part of an ongoing consultation to develop our new education and community service in North Bedfordshire. Our vision for the new service in Bedford Borough is a beacon Forest School and outdoor curriculum service.

We have a wealth of expertise and education offers in our three counties already. As the first organisation to deliver Forest Schools in our region in the 1990s, we know what a profound effect nature led learning can have on students’ wellbeing, academic achievement and rounded development.

So we will be working to make Bedford Borough the home of our Forest School delivery and training, and also aim to support teachers, education and community leaders to develop their skills, enabling nature-based learning to be embedded within schools and settings.

We’re in the first stages of developing this service and would love your school, organisation or group to be involved - fill in our online survey and tell us your thoughts: thank you to the schools and organisations in Bedford Borough who have already filled this in. 

We are also in the process of developing a short teacher training session based within schools. The training will support teachers to take the curriculum outdoors.  If your staff would like to be one of our trial schools please get in contact so we can register your interest.

I am continuing to offer free Forest Schools, outdoor curriculum linked taster sessions and teacher training workshops to Bedford Borough Schools.  Thank you to those schools that have already hosted us. It has been wonderful to do invertebrate surveying, owl pellet dissection and Forest School skills with your students.

I am looking forward to a family forest skills event we’re running on Sunday 16 October - a chance to make some nature and family connection time and explore some Forest Skill, showing you how to enjoy and use fire skills. We will also be trying out some green wood working crafts using elder, willow or hazel. We hope some of you can join us. There are limited spaces so please book early. 

If you would like to know more about any of this work, are interested in the Wildlife Trust BCN coming into your school, or if your Bedford Borough based community group would like to make a booking for a workshop or presentation please contact ruth.sneath@wildlifebcn.org or call 07540 671951.