Sinai attracts additional funding to set up Forest School

Following our successful Crowdfunder project in May 2021 Sinai Park was able to attract additional funding from Staffordshire County Council and the Transforming the Trent Valley (TTTV) project and set up its long-dreamed of Forest School in the meadow at Sinai.

We received a grant of £1700 from TTTV, £2450 from Staffordshire County Council and £2500 from the generous pledges made by our supporters on Crowdfunder. This total allowed us to not only buy all the equipment needed for the Forest School, from mud kitchen units to rope swings, but also to pay for a wonderful new Forest School Co-ordinator, Sarah Ryan, an outdoor learning practitioner based in Burton.

Through Sarah’s hard work we were able to deliver our pilot Forest School programme with Burton Albion Community Trust which saw young people coming up to Sinai every week for two months and learning everything from whittling to mindfulness, fire lighting to map reading.

The Sinai Forest School shares many of the same aims as the Transforming the Trent Valley project which are;

0. Conserving, protecting and/or enhancing natural, built or cultural heritage
1. Helping people learn about their natural, built or cultural heritage
2. Helping communities celebrate the natural, built or cultural heritage
3. Increasing people’s awareness and enjoyment of the Trent Valley for residents and/or those working in or visiting the area

The project has been so successful that we are now working more closely with Staffordshire Wildlife Trust and Derbyshire Wildlife Trust to bring many more people up to Sinai to help increase biodiversity on site as well as run school sessions and events such as the recent ‘Make a Reindeer’ craft workshop run just before Christmas.

We have also been invited to apply for more funding from TTTV to continue with our Forest School programme which will help us retain Sarah Ryan in the long term and offer a wide variety of learning and wellbeing programmes from Sinai Forest School.

For more details, contact laura@sinaiparkhouse.co.uk.