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The Garden Classroom Urban Forest School
PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Urban Forest School (UFS) provides nature-deprived urban primary school children the opportunity to experience their local area in a whole new way and develop confidence, new skills, resilience, and improved social and physical wellbeing. UFS sparks a curiosity in nature and helps children build a lifelong connection. Delivered in hyper-local natural spaces, 2,000 children per year participate in regular, equitable sessions that emphasise child-led learning, reflection and safe risk-taking.

Beneficiaries

  • Children / Young People

    UFS benefits under-represented children facing multiple socio-economic barriers to accessing nature. TGC prioritises working with schools with high rates of deprivation and host schools with up to 72% eligibility for free school meals.

  • Number of beneficiaries - 2000

    Each child does an average of 19 2-hour sessions per year.

Geographic reach

  • England: London
BENEFICIARIES REACHED ANNUALLY

2000

The number of visits to UFS sessions is around 24,000

SIZE OF PROJECT PER ANNUM

£200,000.00

TIMELINE

Sep 2025 Onwards

Project Outcome Targets

The overall wellbeing of children taking part in UFS sessions increases as a result of taking part.

A connection to nature is established through UFS's child-led ethos of discovery and curiosity.

Children are more likely to visit green spaces with family outside of school.

Project Activities

  • Engage with schools to promote the benefits of UFS and book sessions

  • Deliver 1,000 UFS sessions per year in hyper-local green spaces

  • Develop and deliver a cooking programme as part of UFS sessions

  • Recruit volunteers from the local community to support UFS sessions

  • Gather weekly feedback from teachers and Forest School Leaders and record numbers of beneficiaries

Resources Needed For The Project

Resource Description Quantity needed When needed How this donation supports the project (Enabling Actions or KPIs)
MONEY We need to raise over £31,000 this academic year to run our UFS prorgamme benefitting 2,000 nature deprived children. We can tailor packages which can include school or borough specific support tailored to social value requirements. Flexible Any contribution will support project planning, facilitator fees, resources (equipment & food) & volunteer expenses.
PRODUCTS We always need items such as wellies, waterproofs and jumpers to ensure that every child can stay warm and dry 30 x wellies 30 x waterproof trousers 30 x waterproof jackets 30 x jumpers These resources can be used for one school Flexible You can help the children we work with who live in poverty and often come to UFS sessions without appropriate clothing.
PRODUCTS We have a kit box for every school which often needs replenishing with items for seasonal arts and crafts & nature play Each kit box costs around £1,500 to replenish and we need at least six boxes per academic year. Flexible Children thrive in UFS sessions and our activities help them grow their ecological literacy through nature based play.
NON-SKILLED VOLUNTEERING Some schools we work with welcome volunteers to support UFS sessions (DBS checks permitting) We ask volunteers to commit to 15 half day sessions and to have an interest in outdoor education. Flexible Volunteers support and enable children to take part in a broader range of UFS activities per session.
Project Impact and Partners
IMPACT REPORTING

Quarterly

March 2021

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
UN SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being UN SDG 4: Quality Education UN SDG 10: Reduced Inequality UN SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
How we monitor the quality and results of our work

We ask for weekly feedback from teachers and Forest School Leaders to formalise our impact reporting

WHO IS ALREADY FUNDING THE PROJECT?

A&O Shearman

Supporting the costs of UFS sessions in Hackney
OTHER PARTNERS

The Orp Foundation

Supporting the costs of the UFS programme