January Update
Schools
We’ve had a busy two weeks back to work, and play, on the land. The playgroups are back on (Wednesday 10-12pm and Friday 11-1pm) and the Saturday Outdoor Play sessions, (10-12pm) Also the schools sessions are back on and Andrea has been busy. Thanks to all the schools for coming to the land and helping the community to get outside more. It’s great to see so many groups coming to the land out with our sessions. Its been lovely snowy and frosty weather. Despite the conditions lots of people have come out to play. Forest School will be starting next week with Dunard Primary school and we have a new volunteer Lynn who will be supporting Andrea in leading the Forest School. Lynn is also Level 3 Forest School trained. School children will be coming to work with Kathleen Friend on the beedookit project – they will be building a periscope so that the bees can be safely observed. We’ll be posting more information about this on the website soon.
We’ve welcomed a group of students from Strathclyde University teacher training department who will be leading some sessions for schools over the next few Mondays. We also have a group of 28 Canadian Academics coming to visit the land – through an inspiring Scotland and Glasgow City Council collaboration on showcasing outdoor learning in Scotland. They will be coming to see what we are doing for supporting and creating opportunities for outdoor play and learning.
Strathclyde University Teacher Training students
Mental Health
Our focus this year is going to be on Mental Health and we hope to do more to support adult mental health in our community. We know that one in four people in Scotland will experience a significant mental health problem and that the financial cost of mental health in Scotland is in excess of £10 billion per year. We hope to play a small part in our community to support the other services already making a difference. We believe that no matter who you are you will benefit from time outside in nature and lots of evidence supports this – getting outside makes you feel good. Also, the great thing about nature is that it has no adverse side effects, apart from the cold!! We’ve already welcomed a group from the Restart project in Maryhill and had a fire together on the land and we hope to do more on for supporting mental health and well-being. The Conservation Volunteers will be leading a 5 Ways to Well-being group on the land starting on Friday 16th February (time TBC) for 4 – 6 weeks. We’ve applied for a joint funding application to continue this project for at least another year. If successful, we will be able to do more for mental health in the area as the TCV will train up people within our community to help to continue to deliver the programme long into the future. We’re continuing our collaboration with Glasgow University and some of the Masters students will be researching various aspects of both community and nature on mental health. We met with them on the land this week. Please get in touch if you are a local doctor or work with groups who could benefit from the targeted sessions. childrenswood@ gmail.com We’ll keep you posted.
Healthy Eating
Riikka, will be continuing the after school healthy eating programme. The Afterschool Food Club returns on Wednesday 24th January! Sessions will be held at the Kelbourne Street Scouthall from 3.30-4.30. We would love to know how many families are interested in attending, so if you are planning on coming please email childrenswoodfood@gmail.co
Gardening
Joni is on annual leave so the Wednesday gardening sessions won’t be returning until February. Daniel is around on a Friday and will be working on various jobs including the sensory garden and in the community garden building raised beds. The next Volunteer Action Weekend is the first weekend of February 12-4pm. Come and join us. The more people involved the better
Burns for Bairns – 27th January
Our lovely pal, Children’s Wood supporter and Patron, and all round talented guy Tam Dean Burn will be coming to the Children’s Wood next Saturday 27th of January to perform Burns for Bairns. Bring your lunch and stay on after the Sat am Outdoor Play session for Tam’s 12pm performance. Have a look at Tam’s previous Rabbie Burns reading in the wood from 4 years ago. https://vimeo.com/85288731
Other upcoming information
There are two larger projects happening on the land this year, the beedookit and the the National Theatre for Scotland production of the Play The Reason I Jump a play based on the book by Autistic 13 year old boy who has Autism. The performance will be happening during the last 2 weeks of June. We know how powerful the land can be for people who are on the Autistic Spectrum, we have seen the benefits in terms of language, emotions and behaviour so we are excited to support this project. Do get in touch if you are interested to know more. The Beedookit will be built over the next few months and the bees will be going into the beedookit at the end of March/April.
We are also applying for a building warrant to do up the shed, Alex MacGregor is currently drawing up plans. This means we will have running water a small kitchen and a toilet Yay! We’ll keep you posted as we will have to fundraise to make this happen. Do let us know if you’d like to help raise money by raising for the Children’s wood when doing any charity fundraising events.
There will be the usual community events and other activities happening so we’ll keep you posted.
