Where can a year take you in the playwork field?
Well for me it’s been a full circle, as this time last year I was here in the same little eco-cabin on Little Arthur Farm on St Martin’s drafting a nature play based John Muir Award and I am here again working on another nature play based John Muir Award. I am feeling like a writer that retreats to a writing den, were they are inspired by the peace, tranquility and natural beauty of the Scilly Isles.
Last year I was delivering a cross generational environmental play based Discovery level John Muir award for Play England’s Exploring Nature Play Southwest project, where families were engaged in discovering and exploring local wild places through nature play activities and end up with 14 participants gaining a discovery level John Muir Award.
Two of the young people were so inspired and infused by their time with Sylvan Adventures on this project that they have asked to do their Explorer level John Muir awards with us and especially do an overnight wild camp, which of course I was over the moon to hear. However that left us with the problem of how we could fund such a project?
Then a few months later along came the New Wave funding opportunity for young people to organise and deliver projects which were creative and cultural based in Torbay, that they wanted to see happened. Jacob and Chelsea with the support of their parents were successful in securing a grant.
So now I am here and really excited to be am to facilitate a two tier John Muir Award based Nature awareness project, which they have called “Nature Explorers”. This is going to involve Jacob and Chelsea and few other returning discovery level John Muir award holders working towards their Explorer levels whilst they design and co deliver the activities to another group of young people, wh are working towards their Discovery level John Muir award.
For more details please contact Dan Best at danbest@sylvanadventures .org or check out our Facebook page or website.