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Waterways Trust Scotland - John Muir Award

Local School Kids Rewarded for Putting Their Best Feet Forward for the John Muir Award

Forty Scottish children will be rewarded for their successful completion of The Waterways Trust Scotland’s Feet First programme with a John Muir Award presented by Robin Harper MSP at the Scottish Parliament, Holyrood today (Monday, 14 December).

The children, some as young as P3/P4 from Clovenstone and Longstone primary schools in Edinburgh, took part in the programme which included guided wildlife and heritage walks, as well as learning activities based on the Union Canal, Water of Leith and South Esk.

The Feet First initiative “not only encourages children to be more physically active, but through using the framework of the Award, children build a very valuable connection with a local wild place” said Rebecca Logsdon, regional manager, John Muir Award.

Karen Moore, development director, The Waterways Trust Scotland said: “This is excellent recognition for all the pupils involved. I know they have really enjoyed their programme and we hope they have learned a lot about their local canal.

“Feet First has been running for two years and in this time many members of the community and schoolchildren, such as these rewarded today, have actively engaged with the programme. We look forward to Feet First’s continued success in 2010 and thank the John Muir Trust and our funders for their support.”

In addition to being an enjoyable form of exercise, the walks add a new educational dimension to the schools’ curriculum, adding to understanding of health, heritage and environment. The towpaths along Edinburgh’s canal connect the children with the vast array of wildlife and wealth of history in the heart of their communities, introducing them to many local points of interest including carved statues of the notorious Burke and Hare and the romantic grottos of Craiglockhart Dell.

Funded by Scottish Natural Heritage, Forestry Commission Scotland and a private donor, Feet First provides the expertise, resources and support to schools to enable the children to experience and learn more about the outdoors. The programme is guided by the John Muir Award’s ethos of discovering, exploring and conserving wild places, and sharing their experience within the school, at home and beyond.

The John Muir Award is open to individuals, families, groups and organisations. Participants of the Feet First programme, which attracts interest from many different groups; older people interested in gentle exercise, people living with mental or physical disability, wildlife and history enthusiasts are all encouraged to apply.

Several successful walks with numerous groups in the community - such as patients undergoing treatment for lung disorders at Leith Hospital, Link Living which works with vulnerable people in the community and Wester Hailes’ Women’s group - have taken place on the Union Canal over the past year, with the walks introducing participants to a wonderful natural resource on their doorstep.