Our Coast, Our Sea - Experience wild places with the John Muir Award

29 July 2010

Experience wild places with the John Muir Award

From Northumberland’s windswept coastline to school gardens, people of all backgrounds are experiencing nature with the John Muir Award.

The John Muir Award is a nationally recognised environmental award scheme which encourages participants to take responsibility for the natural environment by connecting, enjoying and caring for wild places. It is free and open to groups, families and individuals. It promotes personal development and learning new skills, and is a great way to celebrate achievement.

Seahouses Youth Project works with the Northumberland Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty to get young people aged 13 to 21 out into a wide variety of habitats along the region’s coastline, and links this activity to the John Muir Award framework – discover a wild place; actively explore it; do something to conserve it; and share your experiences. Recently the Young Rangers built otter holts, visited the Farne Islands and tried wild cooking.

In May three Young Rangers became the first people in Northumberland to achieve the highest level of the John Muir Award, the Conserver Award, through an organisation.
Project Manager, Shirley Wright said, “Here at Seahouses Youth Project, we encourage young people to try new things. The John Muir Award helps celebrate the young people’s sheer hard work and dedication. The skills and love of the great outdoors will stay with them into adulthood.”

The John Muir Award is supported across North East England by a partnership between Durham County Council and conservation charity, the John Muir Trust. The project is funded by Natural England through Access to Nature, as part of the Big Lottery Fund’s Changing Spaces programme.

For further information about the John Muir Award visit www.johnmuiraward.org or contact Katy Standish by email or phone 0191 373 9799.

For more information about the Young Rangers on the Coast call Shirley Wright at the Seahouses Youth Project on 01665 721960 or email