The High Sheriff of Wiltshire visited Brokerswood Country Park near Westbury on Friday 16th July.
Dame Elizabeth Neville was invited to the country park to recognise the work of children who have taken part in a youth training scheme run by Wiltshire Council.
The scheme, funded by Splash (Schools and Police Liaison Activities for School Holidays), was held over a five-week period and has been teaching children from the Trowbridge area various outdoor skills, including how to build a camp fire.
The children who have taken part are all year 6 pupils from schools in Trowbridge experiencing difficulties in mainstream education.
Matthew Laird, outdoor development trainer for Wiltshire Council, says that the scheme has been a real success.
“Brokerswood have provided us with a superb location for the scheme,” he said. “The purpose of it has really been to help the children to develop their learning ability and to also have fun.”
“What we have done is taken the children to an environment where they can relax, and we’ve worked with them to build up their confidence and helped them to learn practical skills from scratch. Brokerswood has been a perfect venue and we would like to thank the park for being so welcoming. It’s really a way of encouraging them to work around the obstacles in their lives and to learn new skills.”
The children also cooked lunch for the High Sheriff and other guests including the headteachers from their respective schools.
For more information on Brokerswood visit www.brokerswoodcountrypark.co.uk
