Coronavirus (COVID-19) update

UPDATE MAY 2020

Understandably, but very sadly, all our visits and programmes are on hold now, though we will be rearranging them just as soon as it is appropriate to do so.

Although we can’t take children to farms, we are in touch with all of our schools and farmer hosts and there have been some wonderful examples of video content being shared, children who are attending school growing vegetables with the help of video tutorials from our expert Coordinators, and of course we have our wonderful webcam - have a look at our news page, and all of our social media channels (accessible via the icon at the top right of our homepage) for the latest.  The CT team are really missing the wonderful CT children though and we know farmers are missing their excited visitors too, especially with such perfect weather at the moment!

The daily reality of many children experiencing disadvantage is hitting the headlines, the impact of CV-19 has fallen disproportionately on the poorest. A positive thing though is that outdoor learning is being recommended. We know our moment is coming when high quality outdoor education will be needed more than ever and we are preparing. We are watching with admiration the charities on the frontline now and reflecting on the remarkable transformations that have occurred in a very short time and are putting our minds to how we might transform so that we can be there for the children we serve.

 If you’re a farmer and would like to get involved, or a teacher who’d like to know more please do message us.

We also remain committed to trying to influence policy in support of food, farming and countryside education and have been working with Lord Boswell and Lord Curry on a proposed amendment to the Agriculture Bill . We have also submitted evidence to The COVID-19 and Food Supply inquiry  In the coming weeks we plan to get involved in the next phase of the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission work as well as feeding into the National Food Strategy, the Environment Bill and supporting the Wellbeing of Future Generations Bill. If you’d like to know more please do ask.

In the midst of Covid-19 we haven’t forgotten climate change and were really thrilled to be awarded a grant recently by the HCD Memorial Fund to develop and deliver a programme of 20 climate change related farm visits. We are starting work on the framework now and if this is an area of strong interest for you, or if you know of a farmer who you think should be involved please do let us know.

Thank you for your continued support