Blog
July 2016
The school holidays are here and some parents may be wondering how on earth to keep their children entertained over the 6 week break. Get Out More CIC is keen to make sure that children and young people are able to get outdoors and enjoy fresh air and active play in Keighley’s parks and woodlands this summer, rather than be stuck inside in front of screen devices.
Thanks to a grant from the Big Lottery’s Awards for All fund, Get Out More are running a number of outdoor programmes for children and young people from Keighley East ward. Called the Outdoor Adventure Club, the programmes will give young people a chance to take part in outdoor activities like den building, woodland crafts, bushcraft and campfire cooking. All the sessions are run by qualified outdoor leaders who are skilled in encouraging children and young people to enjoy the outdoors safely.
The sessions are as follows:
- Hainworth Wood; sessions for children aged 8 and under and their families. 30-5pm on Tuesdays 26 July, 2 & 9 August. Meet at Hainworth Wood Community Centre
- Park Wood; free outdoor activities in the woods for young people aged 9-15 years 1-3.30pm on 17, 18, 19 & 20 August. Meet by the gate to the woods on Kendal Street
- Forest School at Riddlesden St Marys Primary School on 26 July, 2, 9 & 16 August. Places for the forest school must be booked in advance, contact [email protected]
Managing Director Annie Berrington said, “The summer holidays are a great time to be outdoors, come rain or shine, but many children get bored at home or spend too much time playing on their phones and devices. Keighley has some wonderful and accessible outdoor spaces that we can enjoy for free. The aim of the Outdoor Adventure Club is to encourage children and young people to get out more, meet new people and enjoy what nature has to offer. If the programmes go well we hope to continue some sessions after school and in the next school holidays too”
We are looking for any willing volunteers from local groups along with individuals who use and enjoy Acomb Wood and Local Nature Reserve to join us for a litter pick on Thursday 7th July
We are meeting at 1:30 at the signed entrance behind Tesco Express on Acomb Wood Drive. Volunteers should bring a drink, plus gloves and a litter-picker if you have one. We will be there for about an hour and volunteers participate at their own risk.
For further details contact Ruth McBain: 07970 956177 [email protected] or for information on how to book your child onto forest school, please visit http://www.getoutmorecic.co.uk/events/
Our Forest School Project Manager Ruth McBain says “This is a great opportunity for us to get together with other people and really get the woods ready for our brand new forest school sessions. Tesco Express are very kindly letting us put any litter collected into their bins, so even a small positive action like this can get a community communicating.”
The work forms an essential part of Get Out More’s commitment to invest its profits into communities in which the social enterprise works. In the past this has included donations to local friends groups, woodland conservation work and supporting disadvantaged children’s groups to access nature.
Get Out More holiday forest schools are coming to Harrogate! This new forest school for children aged 5-11 years starts in the summer holidays and will contain the usual fun mix of games, den-building and crafts, all rounded off with a campfire.
The forest school will be run in Harrogate’s stunning Hookstone Wood, once part of the Royal Forest of Knaresborough, quarried for sandstone in the 19th century, used by the Home Guard for training in WW2 and now a leafy Local Nature Reserve much-loved by the community and ready for forest school!
Get Out More CIC Managing Director Annie Berrington says: “We’re really pleased to be bringing our popular holiday forest schools to Harrogate. Our current programmes in Ilkley, Bingley and Saltaire have been providing exciting outdoor adventures for hundreds of children in West Yorkshire over the last 5 years so we’re excited about growing into North Yorkshire and giving more children the chance to get out more.”
The sessions have the approval of Harrogate Borough Council and will provide support for the area and ancient woodlands because part of Get Out More’s commitment is to invest its profits into the communities in which the social enterprise works. In the past this has included donations to local woodlands friends groups, woodland conservation work and supporting disadvantaged children’s groups to access nature.
The summer holiday forest school will run on 18 & 19 August from 10am-3pm each day. All sessions will be led by qualified forest school practitioners, who are looking forward to starting off this new group and hoping they will prove as popular as the long-running holiday forest schools elsewhere.
Forest school practitioner Sam Colman, who will help run the sessions, says “I’m really excited about giving children in Harrogate the chance to get out into beautiful woods, connect with nature and most importantly, have fun! I’m chuffed to be working with Get Out More to give more kids, more amazing forest school experiences.”
Tickets are £20 per day and are available here