Mayor and distinguished guests enjoy getting creative.
l – r Matt Reeks, Head of Recreation Services, EDDC; Judith Plumley, Head of Community & Leisure, EDDC; Dr Nigel Webb, Chairman, Dorset Wildlife Trust; Tracy Standish, Knoll Gardens Foundation Education Consultant; Molly; Linda Barber, Mayor’s Consort; Sue Blundell, Public Relations Representative, Sainsburys and Cllr Julie Robinson, Mayor of Ferndown
The Mayor of Ferndown, Cllr Mrs Julie Robinson, and other local business and civic leaders, went back to their school days when they tried out fun activities for primary school children at the launch of the Knoll Gardens Foundations new education programme at Knoll Gardens near Wimborne on 4 August.
The programme aims to inspire children by using Knoll as an outdoor classroom to promote an understanding of science through fun hands-on activities.
The chairman and trustees of the Knoll Gardens Foundation joined guests selecting leaves and flowerheads from within the garden before smashing them with mallets to extract their individual colours and create unique artworks to take home.
To date most of the events organised by the Foundation have been aimed at an adult audience. The Foundation’s Education Consultant Tracy Standish has now devised a programme of themed outdoor classes for local primary schools that help to fulfil the charity’s aims and contribute to aspects of the national curriculum.
“The environment at Knoll Gardens lends itself to many educational activities,” said Tracy, adding, “The garden at Knoll offers a stunning setting for an outdoor classroom and we hope it will inspire children for years to come, and give them a hobby for life”.
Bob Sweet, Chairman of the Knoll Gardens Foundation said, “We are delighted that so many distinguished guests were able to make time to join us today. I have spent all my working life in the horticultural world. As former RHS Head of Shows, Development and Judging, and now as Horticultural Director of BBC Gardeners World Live, I have seen at first hand the many benefits that interacting with the natural world can bring. The garden at Knoll offers an opportunity to provide this same quality experience throughout the year by offering our facilities as an educational resource to local schools.”
The Knoll Gardens Foundation is a charity that promotes responsible gardening. Based at the Wimborne gardens it believes that the simple act of creating beautiful outdoor spaces encourages us all to spend more time enjoying and experiencing the natural world. In turn that leads to an increased appreciation of the wildlife that will inevitably move in as our gardens become part of a vast living landscape.
