We're working with local partners to provide daytime and residential experiences in the Northumberland Coast National Landscape for nearly 800 children.
The Northumberland Coast National Landscape is proud to be part of Generation Green 2. This one-year, £4.5m project is being delivered by 24 organisations and will help more than 25,000 young people living in England’s most socially disadvantaged areas to connect with nature.
The Northumberland Coast is joining other National Landscapes taking part in Generation Green 2, including Cornwall, Shropshire Hills, North Pennines, Surrey Hills and Mendip Hills.
At the Northumberland Coast National Landscape, we are working with local partners to deliver landscape experiences, including daytime and residential experiences. A farm trip will follow early next year, too. Thanks to this funding we are able to cover the cost of the experiences, as well as bus hire, an expense which can be a major barrier to access for schools.
Mudlarks Outdoors founder Bridie Melkerts is hosting 660 children from schools across Northumberland for beach school sessions at Alnmouth. Excitingly, the Northumberland Coast National Landscape is running a third of all the Generation Green 2 day experiences being delivered by National Landscapes in England.
Children from Bishop’s Primary School in Ashington recently enjoyed a sandcastle making competition and helped clean the beach during their Generation Green day.
The year 5 and year 6 children gave us some brilliant feedback:
“Wow, this beach is beautiful.”
“I’ve found treasure!”
“That was the best school day ever, I wish we could sleep here.”
Bridie shared: “The Generation Green sessions have been a great success. The excitement and enthusiasm from the children for playing in, learning about, and exploring their local National Landscape has been a joy to watch. Together they have caught crabs, created amazing natural art, built dens, cleaned beaches, and climbed mountains.
"Many of the children had never visited this stretch of coastline before and for some this was their first time ever at the beach. This Generation Green funding has given these children the opportunity to experience and enjoy their National Landscape together.”
Meanwhile, Ranger Jane Beach School founder Jane Dixon ran a residential with a class of schoolchildren from Gateshead a fortnight ago for Generation Green 2. During their trip children saw the Bamburgh Bones project at St Aidan’s church and visited Holy Island, before enjoying a fish and chip supper and staying the night at Seahouses Hostel. The wide range of activities also included building a sandcastle model of Lindisfarne, looking for fossilised jellyfish (crinoids) that are older than dinosaurs, a sea watch session and litter picking.
Jane said: “My aim was to connect these young people with the natural environment of the Northumberland Coast National Landscape, and this one-night stay was a pleasure to host. The feedback we received was that 46% of children enjoyed the outdoor activities most, while 27% said a night away from home with friends was their favourite part.”
Generation Green 2 is funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) as part of its ongoing support of access to nature.
