Simple Pleasures outreach projects

Nature on your doorstep

The programme was designed to inspire black and minority ethnic community groups to enjoy the outdoors and discover nature on their doorstep by engaging with the 'Simple pleasures, easily found' campaign.

It was lead by Living Classrooms who worked closely with chosen black and minority ethnic groups across Glasgow.

About the project:
The groups involve work with members of minority groups and people from the wider Scottish community including refugees and asylum seekers from a diverse range of backgrounds and faiths. So far, this has included the Red Cross orientation service, Greater Pollok integration network (GPIN), Andalus, The multi cultural elderly centre, The Glasgow Women's Library group and Karibu.

Groups have been taking part in a range of different experiences. Everything from climbing trees, clearing Himalayan Balsam, skimming stones across lochs, creating herb gardens, having picnics, building fires, making natural tea, wood carving, map reading and lots more.

The sessions are a great opportunity to discover some of the local green places in the city and get away from the hustle and bustle of the busy roads and streets. Some participants have been particularly interested to learn about some of the flora and fauna in the local parks, others have worked a bit harder by clearing rhododendron from an area of the woods.

The groups are also hoping to use the above experiences within this project to complete the John Muir Award. They have been busy filling out their record books with notes on their different discoveries they have made. Each groups reflections 'celebrating their experiences with nature' have been captured through photography, video and vox poxes - these will be exhibited and they will produce their own copy of a 'Simple Pleasures' leaflet for their area.

Next steps:
This strand of the 'Simple Pleasures, Nature on Your Doorstep' programme concludes in 2011with the hope that it will continue in 2012 and engage with further communities.

To find out more about this particular project, please contact Suzanne Downey