Welcome Back!

Welcome back to our blog

Since our last entry in 2013, Boot Up! Outdoor Learning has gone through some major changes but despite all that we are STILL HERE!!!!

In 2014 Falmouth University ceased funding the Boot Up! Project and the transfer was made setting up a Social Enterprise and Boot Up! Outdoor Learning became a Community Interest Company with charitable intent, run by the previous project leaders Jane and Hannah Atkinson. 

Since July 2014 we have made great strides and improvements and our core activity of providing outdoor learning to vulnerable children in Cornwall is still at the heart of what we do. 

We have also set up a new part as Falmouth Forest School detaching the public facing activities away from that of our education offer at Boot Up! and under that banner we have brought on line Kids' Parties, Nature's Playground Saturday Club, WILDside Youth Club, and training in L3 Forest School Leadership. 

Nature's Playground Saturday Club

New Yurt 2016

We hope to keep you updated with all the good things that are happening at Boot Up! through our blog and website so WATCH THIS SPACE! 

Boot Up: Free The Trees!

A brilliant new project at Boot Up, created by one of Falmouth University's Creative Event Management students, is 'Boot Up: Free The Trees!'
The project is designed to recruit a number of volunteers to help maintain the Boot Up garden and reclaim areas of land that have been taken over by brambles.
Only half way through the project and already a huge amount of progress has been made by the voluntary team, fantastic work everyone!
If anyone is interested in getting involved with the project please get in touch and visit the facebook page on www.facebook.com/bootupfreethetrees to find out more!

Below are a few snaps from the voluntary project so far...

Before...

After!

Lunch in the garden!

Proud of all the hard work!

The stuff WE did in 2012

Easter Fun

 The unusual weather of a heatwave and drought has made the end of the Winter term into lots of fun. Our Easter activities all took place outdoors. Kim made a wonderful cake and we decorated eggs and played team games which was great fun. 

and of course, there was the Easter bunny nest and eggs to be found.....

Active Allotments

Yes its that time of year again! Digging and preparing the allotments in March is always a lot of hard work but is also heaps of fun! 

 Off over the fields to harvest Hazel rods for bean sticks

 What a lovely day!

Creative Garden

Creative Garden Project

In the spring term we began to design and make a garden for The Den. After clearing brambles from a large area we started to plant bulbs and seeds to provide flowers for the garden and food for the bees.

Led by a Student Ambassador there were some garden design and planting workshops 

We dug a flower bed to create a wildlife border to encourage bees 

 and then we had a hilarious time adding manure (horse poo) which was smelly and sticky

Everyone had a chance to join in the design of the garden and each person had a chance to make a presentation of their ideas and then a collective decision was made, taking elements from each design

We planted some seeds for the garden in a cold frame

The soil is nice and healthy with plenty of wriggly worms

Then we went to the Garden Centre to choose Bee-loving plants that had a cheerful mix of pinks and red colours

 and a Bee loved the soooo much it came and landed on them! 

 after we had made the wildlife bed, we took delivery of a lorry load of turf and we began to lay he lawned area which was an instant transformation!

Its going to be a great space - so calm and pretty

Fire Crackers!

We wanted to make the Tall Trees Allotment area more appealing and accessible to all, so we decided to make a Fire Pit and surround so that we could end our busy day toasting crumpets and chatting about our day. 

We began by going on an expedition to the woods to harvest some trees to make the pergola and surround.

Once the resources were back at the site we started making the fire pit with branches

We built it up slowly layering logs and pegging them in with stakes we whittled

        we sourced some logs to make the uprights for the benches

and we aded them to the pit surround and then added our wonderful funky chairs that we made with student Ema

                                                          Don't they look GREAT! 

 We had a masterclass from Jane in lighting fires using the one-minute-fire technique

 and soon everyone was up to speed in being able to light a fire from a fire-steel and some shavings

Crumpets - yum yum