Brief Description

The Country Trust is a small but dynamic national educational charity, founded in 1978, and dedicated to bringing alive the working countryside for children least able to access it. Our work has three connected strands; Farm Discovery day visits to real working farms, Countryside Discovery Residential trips and yearlong Food Discovery projects teaching children to grow, cook and explore all aspects of food.

We aim to share knowledge, ignite curiosity and broaden the horizons of disadvantaged children.   75% of the UK’s land area is farmed, but the majority of us live in towns and cities, disconnected from the people and the land that sustains us. We bring communities together who would otherwise never meet, helping each to understand their importance to the other.

We focus on primary schools with a greater than average percentage of children eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) as well as schools providing for children with SEN/D. By the time they start school, children from the poorest families and therefore eligible for FSM, have already fallen behind in language and personal development, and are twice as likely to be obese, and to have Special Educational Needs.  We also work with groups supporting children and families experiencing disadvantage for example young carers, Looked After children and refugees.

We operate throughout England and in N Wales, working with around 19,500 children annually from primary schools in urban areas of high deprivation such as Leeds, Bradford, Manchester, Newcastle, Birmingham and London as well as areas of coastal deprivation and former industrial areas.

Vision & Mission

Our vision, shared with others: Every child understands farming, the countryside, and how our food is produced through high quality learning experiences.
Our particular mission:To bring food, farming and the countryside alive for the children least able to access it, whether through disadvantage or disability.

Aims & Activities

We have 8 outcomes-the difference we want to make:
Children, their parent helpers and teachers are more knowledgeable and more aware of food, farming and the countryside.
More farmers are able to share their love and passion for what they do
Children are more engaged with formal education as a result of increased ‘real world’ and interactive learning experiences
Children are better able to make informed decisions about the food that they eat.
Children feel more responsible for their own and the wider environment.
Children have more opportunities to develop and display non-cognitive skills, to experience patience, wonder and success.
Children feel more at home in the countryside and greenspace.
More teachers see the potential of countryside as a learning resource and feel more confident to use it to enhance their teaching

Our work has three connected strands; Farm Discovery day visits to real working farms, Countryside Discovery Residential trips and yearlong Food Discovery projects teaching chidlren to grow, cook and explore all aspects of food.

Facts & Figures

                            We provide opportunities for high quality, experiential learning about food, farming and the countryside, helping schools to close the attainment gap for children from low income families. We teach children life skills - how to cook and grow, and we have a significant impact on their intention to eat more fruit and vegetables. 
 We can build teacher confidence to start to use the countryside as a resource to enhance their teaching. Our programmes build a rich bank of experiences which fuel imagination and vocabulary, enable children to talk and be listened to, be challenged and succeed, and increase their self-esteem and resilience. We are confident that children learn and grow with The Country Trust and can begin to make informed decisions, understanding that their actions matter to the world around them. They can also experience the fun and freedom of being a child playing outside, getting their hands dirty, being absorbed in a moment of wonder. At a time of significant change, we also enable farmers to meet the consumers whose decisions will shape what they produce, and how they produce it. We hope this connection will help to build a stronger future for agriculture and for the countryside that sustains us all.

We help to address poverty of opportunity, bringing rich experiences - vital for building language, literacy, self-confidence and self-esteem - to children who lead limited and often chaotic lives.
                            

                            We focus on primary schools with a greater than average percentage of children eligible for Free School Meals (FSM)  as well as schools providing for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. By the time they start school, children from the poorest families and therefore eligible for FSM, have already fallen behind in language and personal development, and are twice as likely to be obese, and to have Special Educational Needs.  We also work with groups supporting children and families experiencing disadvantage for example young carers, Looked After children and refugees. Increasingly, we are also being asked to work with vulnerable parents and families, providing us with opportunities to move whole families onto a new trajectory. 
There were 4.1 million children living in poverty in 2017/18 and this figure is expected to rise to 5.2 million by 2022 . Children living in poverty are defined as lacking “the resources to obtain the types of diets, participate in the activities, and have the living conditions and amenities that are customary... in the societies to which they belong.”  To ensure we can identify these children in areas of deprivation, but also in wealthier areas where outcomes for disadvantaged children are notably worse , we use eligibility for Free School Meals as our measure. We focus on primary schools with a greater than average percentage of children eligible for Free School Meals (FSM).
                            

Awards

No awards received