what we do
The Country Trust achieves its aims by organizing and conducting visits for inner city children and their teachers to farms, estates and other rural locations. This is carried out in two ways; day visits and residentials.
Day visits.
A class of children from one of the inner city schools chosen by the Trust’s regional managers visits a rural host farm for the day. The host treats the group as privately invited guests and shows them how the farm is managed for the benefit of the animals, the humans and the environment.
A typical day might consist of the following:
| 10:30 | Leave school |
| 10:30 | Arrive at host |
| 10:45 to 12:00 | Tour of farm, including livestock and arable operations |
| 12:00 to 12:45 | Lunch and play time |
| 12:45 to 13:45 | Visit woodland with forester and gamekeeper |
| 13:45 to 14:30 | Tour of vegetable garden |
| 14:30 | Leave host for return to school |
| 15:30 | Arrive back at school |
The Country Trust helps the school with the cost of transport. The services of the Trust are completely free and there are no entrance fees as the Trust’s hosts enjoy educating children about the countryside and feel passionate about it.
Residential visits.
At present, the Trust has residential programmes running for schools in London, Leeds and Bradford. In 2009 a residential is being organised for a Stoke-on-Trent school as well. The idea behind the residential programme is to give inner city children a real flavour of the countryside and expose them to experiences they would not normally come across in their city life. Some activities are designed to challenge them, some to educate them and some just for pure fun. Many children taking part in these trips have never been away from home before and it is a major step in their lives.
A typical residential visit might involve the following:
| Day 1 | Shelter building in the forest, Night walk in the woods |
| Day 2 | Visit to a nature reserve to bird watch, pond dip and learn about the coast |
| Day 3 | Visit a dairy farm, falconry centre and heavy horse breeding centre |
| Day 4 | Tour a medieval castle and have lunch on the beach |
The Country Trust helps the school with the cost of accommodation and transport and offers the time of its staff for free.
The Trust is involved in other activities such as taking stands at agricultural shows, arranging talks about food and farming in schools, arranging cookery demonstrations.
