Countryside Alliance - love the countryside

On Thursday 10th December, the Daily Telegraph published a review of the rural decade. In "The Noughties: Ten years of a labour government have left the countryside more united than ever" Adrian Tierney-Jones wrote: "Rural communities have survived the decade with renewed resolve". The Alliance's Head of Media Tim Bonner observed that it has been a parlous decade due to wrong priorities: "Foot-and-mouth, Bovine TB, post office closures and, of course, the Hunting Act dominated the political agenda when real rural issues like affordable housing, local services and the rural economy should have been the political priorities."

On Friday 4th December 2009 the Countryside Alliance was a co-signatory on a letter to the Daily Telegraph urging Government not to waste the opportunity to revitalise our Post Office network. The Countryside Alliance is part of a coalition which also includes the Communication Workers Union, Unite, the Federation of Small Businesses and others. This coalition is lobbying for the future of the network. Read on for the letter in full.

Countryside Alliance Chief Executive Simon Hart explains why there are no barriers to outdoor education: Education is an important part of our Rural Manifesto which we will continue to promote to all political parties and candidates prior to the General Election. In particular we are calling for outdoor education to be included in the National Curriculum. This would ensure that children gain access to the countryside as part of their education and experience all the learning, health and personal development benefits that it has to offer.

As part of our Rural Manifesto the Alliance is calling for outdoor education to be included as an entitlement within the National Curriculum. The results of our research on the benefits of taking children outside the classroom and the low risks of doing so have been featured in the Guardian (online 2nd and print 3rd October), The Daily Mail, The Daily Express and numerous other press outlets. We are delighted to receive support from teachers themselves who believe a more proportionate approach balancing risk and the benefits of outdoor education is needed. Please click here to download a letter of support published in the Daily Mail this week (15th October 2009).

This weekend the Guardian newspaper featured the results of our education campaign which can be read here. There is an ever growing body of research highlighting the health and personal development benefits of outdoor education and yet for many children the countryside still remains an enigma. It’s a sad fact that children and young people have become increasingly disconnected from the countryside, with many finding basic flora and fauna identification a challenge.