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Country Land and Business Association

Education: open up your land to countryside visits!

Education: open up your land to countryside visits!

The CLA encourages its members to host countryside visits on their land. From small holdings, to large estates, woodlands and equine businesses, they can all provide a fantastic countryside experience. 

There are a number of different ways CLA members can get involved. It could be a one-off farm open day, starting a forest school, or offering work experience to agricultural or land management students. 

Many CLA members are already hosting successful visits. You can read about their experiences and pick up hints and tips here.
 
Free publicity for your farm education programme with the Bayer/Face Awards 2010 – deadline 12 March 2010
 
FACE and Bayer CropScience are celebrating the work of farmers and land managers who encourage children and young people to learn more about food, farming and the countryside.
 
The awards are a fantastic opportunity to share your experiences of providing countryside education and promote work which often goes unrecognised. There are a number of categories to enter including awards for access, careers and innovative learning. The closing date for applications is 12 March 2010. Full details of the awards and an application form are available on the FACE website www.face-online.org.uk or by emailing Jessie Cooke Jessie.cooke@cla.org.uk
 
For the past two years, the CLA has arranged a countryside visit of its own, inviting inner-city schoolchildren to spend the day at The CLA Game Fair. The visits have been funded by The CLA Charitable Trust which works to help those who are disabled or disadvantaged to visit the countryside, provides the needed facilities and promotes education in agriculture, horticulture and conservation.

For more information about the CLA Charitable Trust and the grants it provides please visit www.clacharitabletrust.org.uk . The school visits to The CLA Game Fair have also been supported by The Country Trust and The Ernest Cook Trust.

If you are interested in hosting a countryside education visit, the following organisations may be of interest:

The Country Trust, www.countrytrust.org.uk
Country Channel Education, www.land-education.co.uk/beginners/
Countryside Educational Visits Accreditation Scheme, www.face-online.org.uk/cevas/
The Countryside Foundation for Education, www.countrysidefoundation.org.uk
The Ernest Cook Trust, www.ernestcooktrust.org.uk/
Farming and Countryside Education, www.face-online.org.uk
Game To Eat, www.gametoeat.co.uk
The National Trust, www.nationaltrust.org.uk/learninganddiscovery
National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs, www.nfyfc.org.uk
Think Food and Farming, www.thinkfoodandfarming.org.uk

To help CLA members with countryside education visits, CLA Insurance Services has agreed to extend the public liability section of cover for participating policyholders at no extra cost. The company will also supply a safety checklist to help your events run successfully. For additional insurance cover to be effective, members should contact CLA Insurance Services in advance of the event taking place. For more information, please contact Adrian Lockyer on 01234 408601.

If you are a CLA member currently providing school visits we would be interested to hear from you. Please contact Jessie Cooke at jessie.cooke@cla.org.uk or call 020 7235 0511.