Main heading

Eco Schools Home | School Grounds Home | How to run a School Grounds project? | Funding Guide | Design Ideas | School Grounds Handbook | Case Studies | Contacts | Training Events

These pages are designed to promote to provide you with contact information for organisations that will be able to assist your school grounds improvement.

Contacts A - Z | Useful Web Resources | DFES Standards | Canadian School Ground Websites | Cheshire County Council

Contacts A - Z

• British Butterfly Conservation Society - The national butterfly and moth conservation charity. Tel. 0870 7744309
• British Trust for Conservation Volunteers (BTCV) - BTCV organise volunteer parties to carry out practical projects such as hedge laying, pond creation or maintenance. They often work with local charities for individuals with learning difficulties to involve them, as well as pupils, in these projects. BTCV also organise regular training on a wide range of outdoor skills including using garden tools, willow work, hedge laying and coppicing, tree maintenance, etc. BTCV Chester, The Watermill, Warrington Road, Mickle Trafford, Chester, CH2 4EB. Tel 01244 300230
• Centre for Alternative Technology - Machynlleth - Day and residential visitor centre which offers education visits on a variety of topics including organic gardening and composting. Also run a variety of training courses for teachers and have a wide range of resources. Offer a free information service to answer specific queries. Tel 01654 705950
• Cheshire Landscape Trust - CLT can provide advice on trees and hedgerows, including fruit trees and orchards. They organise a number of training courses on related subjects and can donate a certain number of trees, including fruit trees, to schools. CLT also run the Tree Guardian Scheme for Cheshire.
  Tel: 01244 376333, Email cheshire@landscapetrust.fsnet.co.uk
• Cheshire Wildlife Trust - CWT can provide advice and information on the biodiversity and wildlife aspects of school grounds improvement. They can also assist with practical projects such as pond creation, maintenance and bird and bat box building and feeding. CWT also run Cheshire Wildlife Watch, an environmental action club for children through local groups across the UK. Tel: 01270 610180, Email: enquiries@cheshirewt.org.uk,
• Council for Environmental Education - CEE is a national membership body for individuals committed to environmental education. Their website contains a wide range of information and resources on a variety of topics including food and farming, gardening, health, school grounds and waste and recycling.
• Eco Schools - A programme for promoting environmental awareness in a way that links to many curriculum subjects. The Eco Schools process is holistic. It works by involving the whole school together with members of the local community. A variety of projects can be used to work toward Eco School status, including the school grounds. Schools in Cheshire have achieved their Green Flag through school grounds projects linked to work in school. 
• Farming and Countryside Education - FACE is the educational arm of the National Farmers Union and the Royal Agricultural Society. It promotes school visits to farms and provides a range of resources to support them.
• Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens - The FCFCG is a charity that supports, promotes and represents city farms and community gardens throughout the UK
• Groundwork - Groundwork are a national organisation which operates through a series of local Trusts. Some operate a professional landscaping and implementation package for schools. Also some can help schools to attract funding for grounds improvements.
• Congleton, Vale Royal, Chester and Crewe schools - Groundwork Macclesfield, Tel: 01606 723160, Email: macc.vr@groundwork.org.uk
• Ellesmere Port schools - Groundwork Wirral, Tel: 0151 6444700, Email: wirral@groundwork.org.uk
• Garden Organic/Henry Doubleday Research Association (HDRA) - Garden Organic run the Organic Gardens for Schools Programme, which contains tips & advice, reports from schools around the UK, facts and figures, suggestions for half term activities, advice and fact sheets for primary and secondary staff and pupils and advice on links to the National Curriculum. Publications including posters and leaflets are available. Tel 024 7630 8238, Email: enquiry@schoolsorganic.net
• Growing Schools - A national programme to encourage schools to use the outdoor classroom as a resource in the curriculum to reconnect children with their environment. The website contains a wide range of resources as well as details of training available.
• Learning Through Landscapes - LTL is the national school grounds charity that works with member schools to help improve and develop their grounds. LTL run a number of national and local programmes which work with certain schools on a range of issues including advice on design and funding. They also organise training sessions and events throughout the year. School membership costs £50 a year.
  Tel: 01962 846 258, email: schoolgrounds-uk@ltl.org.uk
• Macclesfield Borough Council - MBC provide free trees to schools in the Macclesfield Borough from September.
  Contact Trevor Bithell. Tel: 01625 500500, Email t.bithell@macclesfield.gov.uk
• Mersey Basin Campaign - MBC are helping to improve water quality in the rivers and waterways of England’s Northwest. They are responsible for local river catchment projects, which in Cheshire compromise the Action Upper Weaver (Tel: 01270 537061), Action Weaver Valley (Tel: 01606 79576) and Action Bollin (Tel: 01625 534790).
• The Mersey Forest - The Mersey Forest is the largest of England's 12 Community Forests covering 409 square miles. It falls within parts of the Ellesmere Port & Neston and Vale Royal District boundaries in Cheshire. If a school is located within the Forest area, it may be able to receive help and advice to develop its grounds. In addition, free trees are available to eligible schools.
  Tel: 01925 816217, email: mail@merseyforest.org.uk
• National Wildflower Centre - Liverpool - The NWC is the national leader in wildflower conservation. They offer group visits and activities to learn about the wildflowers that have been disappearing from our countryside and to find out about their conservation. All activities are linked to the National Curriculum. School groups can undertake activities to fit in with current topics being taught. They also offer a sensory tour and activities for groups with learning difficulties. NWC produce a Teacher's Resource Pack for £12.50 plus £2.50 p& p.
  National Wildflower Centre, Court Hey Park, Roby Road, Liverpool, L16 3NA, Tel: 0151 738 1913, Email info@nwc.org.uk
• RHS - The RHS has a schools membership scheme, offered free of charge, apart from a nominal initial administration fee. It provides a termly newsletter, priority bookings for school visits to RHS gardens, reduced rates for teachers, support staff and governors attending INSET courses, an email advice line, copies of the monthly RHS magazine, advice on school gardening issues, support and ideas for teaching about plants in the National Curriculum and eligibility for the RHS School Members Seed Distribution Scheme.
  Tel: 01483 2245234, Email: schools@rhs.org.uk
• Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (ROSPA) - ROSPA has a variety of information relevant to the Health and Safety aspects of school grounds improvement. Tel. 0121 248 2000 Email help@rospa.com
• Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSBP) - The national charity for birds and wildlife. They have a wide range of web based resources such as an A- Z of wildlife gardening, detailed information on bird feeding and bird boxes as well as resources to link birds and wildlife into the curriculum. Run the “Big School Bird watch” in January each year.
• Teachernet (Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto) - National government website for teachers. The manifesto is a vision which individuals and organisations can sign up to to pledge support for learning and development outside of the classroom environment.
• The Tree Council - Exists to promote the planting and conservation of trees and woods, to disseminate knowledge about trees and their management and to act as a forum for organisations concerned with trees. It organises National Tree Week in November, Walk in the Woods in May and National Seed Gathering Sunday in October each year. Free trees are given to community groups and occasionally small awards are available.