The Jurassic Coast Trust’s volunteer Ambassadors have completed an outstanding year of outreach activities, capping off 2019 with a visit to Westcliff Primary Academy School in Dawlish, a short hop over the River Exe from Exmouth.
Ambassadors Anthony Cline, John Ayres & Chris Woodward were invited by the school to take part in a careers, hobbies & interests fair held during the afternoon.
All Key Stage 2 classes from the school came in to see, handle and talk about the Jurassic Coast fossils on display. The three JCT ambassadors in attendance (although retired, they don’t currently come under the appellation of ‘fossil’ themselves as yet!) were there to answer the numerous questions posed by the pupils on the day.
The level of interest and engagement of the children can be in some way judged by looking at the photographs included here. Many thanks to Penny Rundle, Deputy Head of Teaching and Learning, for inviting the Trust into the school for this purpose. An excellent time was had by all.
Penny Rundle said of the day, “All three of the Trust’s Ambassadors were brilliant! John, Antony and Chris brought a fantastic selection of resources with them which looked great. The children were incredibly enthused by the whole event and the gentlemen were extremely knowledgeable and engaging. I couldn’t thank them enough. We’ve had parents commenting this morning that their children were bursting to tell them what they had learnt last night. “
This school session in Dawlish completes what’s been an incredibly productive year for Exmouth’s Ambassadors. Various permutations of the group, which, along with those mentioned above, includes Sheena Paterson, Jenny Moon and John Wokersien, have:
- Represented the Trust at Devon County Show, Exmouth Festival and Exmouth Christmas Fayre
- Attended the opening of the new Tourist Information Centre in Exmouth, and provided the centre with Jurassic Coast-themed take away items for visitors
- Delivered a training session for volunteers from the Tourist Information Centre
- Offered guided commentary for 150 people on an autumn cruise with Stuart Line Cruises, raising over £1,2000 for the Trust
- Delivered a session for school children at the recent “Protecting the Environment” conference at Ocean
- Delivered learning sessions for Tipton and Topsham Primary Schools
- Delivered a series of Jurassic Coast talks for W.I. groups in East Devon
Additionally, Ambassador Jenny Moon has recently published a book of folk tales inspired by her time on the Jurassic Coast.
All these public activities help to build awareness, knowledge and understanding of the World Heritage Site amongst the local community. From there, we hope it will lead to people valuing the Site more, and claiming ownership of it as the truly world class place that it is.
