Trash Free Trails visits primary schools in the South Lakes

#TrashMobAcademy

Trash Free Trails (TFT) are bringing their first ever educational course to three primary schools in the South Lakes area this October, encouraging students to strengthen their understanding of nature and the impacts of litter on the environment.

The ‘TrashMob Academy’ is a unique youth engagement project offering young people the opportunity to learn mountain biking, running and hiking skills whilst developing positive environmental attitudes, connections to nature and understanding of litter.

Using outdoor education as a catalyst for behaviour change, the TrashMob Academy employs a combination of classroom content, outdoor physical activity and the simple act of removing Single Use Pollution from local green spaces to improve self esteem, confidence and wellbeing for both students and their local environment.

By bridging classroom learning with outdoor skills development, the TrashMob Academy presents a unique opportunity for young people to nurture competence, compassion and a sense of responsibility to themselves, their community and to the places they know and care for.

Having piloted the programme in Wakefield in 2020 to incredible success, this Autumn the programme has been relaunched.

It now includes an expanded outdoor offering and the launch of a free e-learning course.

Trash Free Trails will bring the Academy ‘on tour’ to Stramongate, Old Hutton, Dean Gibson and St Oswalds Primary Schools to celebrate the relaunch.

Each school group will take part in an outdoor classroom session and a litter pick in a nearby green space, before getting to try their hand at a variety of outdoor activities facilitated by the TFT team and outdoor leaders.

Speaking to the value of the TrashMob Academy, Stramongate Primary’s Year 3&4 teacher Tom Morgan said:

“Having the TrashMob Academy visit us is an excellent opportunity for our school and the local community. The benefits for the children's wellbeing, through finding a closer connection to nature and their local environment, coupled with learning about wider climate and environmental issues, is something that is really important, more so now than ever. We are very much looking forward to our sessions.”

The fully fledged TrashMob Academy programme is available to any school as a six-week extracurricular activity, or its content can be embedded into an established curriculum.

Designed to be adaptable and bespoke to the needs of the learning community it engages, Trash Free Trails have created an educational offering with young people and planet at its heart.

To find out more head to https://www.trashfreetrails.org/trashmob-academy

Trash Free Trails would like to thank their supporting partners, whose donations go way beyond the financial:

Go Ape, Spray Way, Cotic, Hope, Trek Bikes, Bosch eBike Systems, The North Face Explore Fund, EOCA, komoot, Red Bull UK & Bangor University.