A day in the life of…
Alison Cross, one of our Outdoor Learning Leaders based in the North West
It is only by learning to experience nature that we can hope that people will want to do something to protect it. By introducing young people to their local green space, wildlife and farming, we are able to help them to learn to appreciate it and become enthusiastic about it – that’s our goal.
The above images show:
1. A Blackburn Primary school class arriving for their Farm visit trip within the Forest of Bowland National Landscape
2. Minibeast hunting at a Holiday Activity and Food (HAF) session within a community allotment
3. Giving a talk about dry stone walls to University of Cumbria students at Low Beckside Farm, Cumbria
4. Planting a tree with toddlers at a Little Saplings session within a Burnley park
The remit of the Outdoor Learning delivery team at The Ernest Cook Trust is very broad. Ask Outdoor Learning Leader Alison Cross to describe her typical day and she’ll tell you: “There isn’t one!”
She could be taking a group of school children to a local park to spend time among the grass and trees, leading a nature walk in the Forest of Bowland National Landscape, or encouraging young people with little or no experience of the countryside to get mud on their boots – and their hands.
As a keen conservationist with a master’s degree in Environmental Science from Bangor University, Alison loves introducing children to the joys of the countryside and wildlife. She says:
It can be something as simple as picking up their first worm or holding a spider without squealing – although there often is a lot of squealing. It might be getting their hands muddy. They will sometimes hold out their hands to me and tell me they’re all muddy and I will say, That’s okay!
As children begin to feel more comfortable in an urban green space, they start to consider other habitats, and related things like food production and nutrition, the connections between people and wildlife, the management of water, and wider issues like climate change and sustainability.
Alison says: “It is only by learning to experience nature that we can hope that people will want to do something to protect it. By introducing young people to their local green space, wildlife and farming, we are able to help them to learn to appreciate it and become enthusiastic about it – that’s our goal.”
Unlike many members of The Ernest Cook Trust team, Alison, who has been in her role for eight years, doesn’t work on land owned by the Trust. She spends three days a week leading on Outdoor Learning for the Connecting People and Nature Project, working with the Forest of Bowland National Landscape and the Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust. The project’s focus is on promoting nature, wellbeing and Outdoor Learning, covering the Forest of Bowland and urban fringes, reaching as far as Preston and Lancaster.
Alison stresses she is not a teacher. But in working with teachers, she says she is able to provide them with the knowledge and skills they need to continue educating their pupils about land and nature both outside and back in the classroom.
Alison believes the strength of The Ernest Cook Trust lies in the fact that, as a charity, it has the funding support to take the long view on projects and see them through, partnering with other organisations to help young people develop strong bonds to the countryside.
“We have had to build up those networks from scratch ourselves and it is so gratifying to see young people thrive as a result of the introduction to nature and wildlife that we have given them,” she continues:
We are the bridge linking schools, families, community groups and young people to the outdoors, giving them experiences that will hopefully last a lifetime.
Read more about our work in the North West:
View our privacy policy.
