Funding equips youngsters to cope in great outdoors

The Midlothian Forest Education Initiative (FEI) has been awarded funding from Scottish Natural Heritage to purchase waterproofs, wellies and resources for its members.

The funding, said to be thousands of pounds, will pay for the equipment which will also be available to the schools, nurseries and organisations involved in the cluster.

The group formed a year ago with the aim to help start local projects connecting youngsters with their local woodlands by reducing the barriers faced by teachers and staff who wish to offer more outdoor learning opportunities.

Marian Docherty, Midlothian FEI chair, said: "The group recognised that a key barrier to taking youngsters out into woodlands is making sure they are kitted out properly, particularly with the Scottish weather.

"We are very grateful to Scottish Natural Heritage for the funding which will allow several groups to benefit from access to these resources."