Wellbeing support for disabled and vulnerable kids
Bristol, England, United Kingdom
Aim
Wellbeing support for vulnerable / disabled children in during the pandemic through Forest School sessions & no contact nature activity kits
The context
Vulnerable and disabled children have been disproportionally impacted by coronavirus due to isolation, reduced services and changes to routines. This is why, even in lockdowns, the government legally permits us to run our Forest School sessions for these groups.
Unfortunately, the families of these children are also more likely to have a lower household income which creates a barrier to accessing services like ours. This is where you come in. Please donate what feels right to you.
What is your donation for?
The pandemic is having a significant mental health impact. We are playing our part in supporting the most vulnerable and disabled children in our community through encouraging time in nature and access to our expert support with social, emotional and mental health needs.
Your donation help us to support vulnerable/ disabled children through:
* the provision of Forest School sessions in local ancient woodland
* respite for their parent/ carer while they are at Forest School
* the development of our no contact activity packs that encourage families to go out and enjoy nature together
What is Forest School?
Forest School is a child led and child centred way of teaching children. It provides the opportunity for everyone to succeed as the learning is self-directed. The children choose the activities, plan for future sessions and are free to learn in the way that suits them best. While it looks and feels like play to the children, they are learning many valuable lifelong skills such as:
• Team working
• Conflict resolution
• Risk assessment
• Creativity
• Problem solving
• Social skills
• Independence
• Resilience
• Physical skills
• Self-awareness
We teach these skills through the provision of a range of activities including:
• Den making
• Tree climbing
• Fire lighting
• Cooking over a campfire
• Tool use
• Team games
• Nature crafts
• Pond dipping
• Simple woodland management (litter picking/ clearing paths)
What are the no contact activity packs?
To compliment the learning at Forest School and to reach those children that are unable to attend due to their health needs, financial restraints or other issues we are developing our no contact/ web based provision.
We have an arrangement in place to provide activity packs to low income families through local food banks and we hope to do more of this, with your support. The packs will also be available for general sale which will create much needed income to maintain our provision.
The packs support families to get the most of their time outdoors through lots of nature connection activities which encourage outdoor adventures and stress busting fun! Activity packs are sent out with food parcels or in the post and include craft materials and QR links to instructional web based videos.
Thank you!
Your donation to help us support vulnerable and disabled children in our community. It is very much appreciated!
A heartfelt thank you from,
Nickie and all the team at Mud Pie Explorers
Company number: 9113083
We are a not for profit Community Interest Company
Sovereign Network Group: Thriving Communities has provided £1,500 of match funding
This project successfully funded on 8th April 2021