Well, as John has been away on annual leave, I’ve been away from Oatridge for over two whole weeks and so much has happened that I don’t know where to begin! As I mentioned before, I spent just under 10 days in Doncaster with CSV on what is basically a heritage version of an action break.
It was a good chance to brush up on my leadership skills, being responsible for the welfare of ten students aged 16-18, including five Japanese students with varying language skills. Everyone tried really hard to overcome language barriers and ended up having quite a good time. It was quite nice to get some more experience in heritage, rather than environmental, conservation, too.
On Monday I was up at Toryglen, to getsome experience of how the summer kids’ club works. It was good to meet Abi, the project officer for Toryglen who does a fantastic job. I haven’t had much experience in environmental education before and I certainly felt moved by the interest and care that some of the children take in stringing the peas and collecting willow sticks for the raisedbeds.It was nice to see Colin and Danny again, too – the strange thing about BTCV is that you meet people doing the same job as you on various courses, then find yourself too busy to remain in touch. Besides, I always like visiting other groups and seeing how they operate, it’s the best way to learn.Yesterday I was up at Jupiter, participating in the Green Gym with Nancy. Jupiter is an old brownfield site that has been redeveloped by SWT into a thriving wildlife centre in industrial Grangemouth. Jupiter is where many of the plants we use on our project are grown and propagated.Today, of course, I’m back at Oatridge, ready to catch up on everything that needs to be done. I’m starting to feel a bit sad that I’ll be leaving in just over two weeks; I certainly hope I can find someone else to keep up the blog once I’m gone…