We are thrilled to have received an award from the The National Lottery Community Fund Scotland for our Path of the Little People! The fund’s Young Start grant has secured £90,000 to secure its future.
Since 2017, more than 4,000 children, many with vulnerabilities, have made use of the Path. Its purpose is to facilitate learning by experiences in nature. Features including outdoor instruments, a mud kitchen, wildlife pond, crannog and Viking ship allow our staff to deliver learning based around the arts, history, natural science and the environment.
Testimonials from teachers have repeatedly shown us that time on the Path with our learning development workers gives noticeable results, opening up children who struggle to express themselves or focus in the classroom – and therefore providing memories and experiences to improve their capacity for learning.
Fiona Hird, Chief Executive of Wiston Lodge, said: “Thanks to the support from Young Start, our young visitors will continue to learn and have fun through our Path of the Little People project.”
Alan Jones, Wiston Lodge’s Project Development Coordinator, says: “We are all about learning by doing at Wiston Lodge. On some days, our young visitors will ‘dip for beasties’ in aquatic areas and learn about ecology and nature appreciation; on others they may do some gold-panning, and learn about geology and history.”
We are very grateful for Young Start including us in £2m of awards across the country.
The Path and staff-led sessions can be included as part of your stay, or can be a standalone visit. To book please email info@wistonlodge.co.uk or get in touch https://wistonlodge.com/contact-us/
