Financial and technical support
The Trust promotes education in Schools through financial and technical support for a variety of water and environmental projects.
Available to all Company members is access to the Pupils’ Prizes scheme which is aimed at pupils in primary and secondary schools with the object of increasing awareness and understanding of the role of water and the environment in all our lives. Schools are encouraged to include water and environmental projects in a range of subject areas as part of the normal curriculum and prizes are awarded to pupils or study groups producing the best results.
Technical and financial support to schools for special projects such as the provision of ponds and an aquarium has made a significant impact. These facilities allow the children to study water ecology, consider water quality and the need to balance the ecology of water life. Introducing primary school children to CAD (computer aided design) technology, in cooperation with a local IT company, worked well, and found practical application in planning the use of school space. Access to educational resources in London is a real challenge to primary schools. The Trust has focused on two London charities: The London Museum of Water & Steam at Brentford and Spitalfields City Farm in Tower Hamlets. In both cases, the Trust has developed schemes to allow free access to children in deprived areas. In addition, an extra-curriculum course has been funded at the Museum for ‘young engineers’.
The Company has supported eco projects at Ysgol y Gogarth, Llandudno, a school for children with special needs. This has helped the school establish a garden and develop horticultural skills. The school decided to take these skills into the community and the Company was able to fund tools and equipment for the work bus. This project has attracted considerable interest from other schools in the area and beyond. The Company maintains an interest in developments at the school and the Trust regularly allocates funding for further developments.
A recent partner in eco-education has been the River Holme Connections charity, set up to make the River Holme catchment a better place for people and wildlife. The Trust has supported projects related to the monitoring by schoolchildren of invertebrates and connected educational inputs.
The Trust is looking to expand its commitment to the Schools Programme and is pursuing the possibility of widening its links with schools in the London area.
