Fun in the Forest

Catching up with a former David Wandless Training Bursary Winne

Last year Heart of England Mencap was awarded £1,000 for Forest School training from the David Wandless Training Bursary. The organisation provides a wide range of services to young people and adults with learning disabilities and their objective behind the training was to enable the people they support to visit forests and woodlands; learning personal, social and technical skills.

Kate who works for Mencap, has been busy learning all there is to know about Forest Schools. Most of the training is aimed at primary age pupils, so Kate has been adapting the learning to run regular sessions which better suit their needs. Heart of England Mencap made contact with a local primary school, The Croft Preparatory School, who kindly offered their woodland area for use.

The initial taster session was run by the school’s children who were keen to share their knowledge. So far the Forest School is going really well, with the people they support really enjoying it and engaging with the sessions. Engaging with the outdoors covers such things as learning about trees, building fires, cooking outside, using a bow saw and whittling, all of which will be explored over the next few months.

“We were really pleased to win the bursary,” shared Cath Errington, Fundraising Manager. “We’re absolutely thrilled to have been given the opportunity to do this training, it’s great to do something new which I think will really benefit the people we support.”

For your chance to fund your own quirky and inspiring idea that is a bit out of the ordinary, you can apply for the David Wandless Training Bursary now! It’s your opportunity to be empowered and enhance your personal development by doing something a bit different.