We have also ‘twinned’ our new toilet with a toilet in Nepal through Tearfund’s Toilet Twinning scheme, so a Nepali village has also benefitted from the installation of our loo! Rich and Elaine have a soft spot for Nepal, having spent some time out there in the early 2000s, so we loved to be able to support this brilliant scheme.

However, we intend to be running Taleblazers for a very long time! This means that DSRT could be waiting a long time before sharing any financial success. We have therefore decided to make a donation of £250 as a New Year’s gift to DSRT, as a kind of interim statement of our ongoing investment in the community and our desire for other organisations we love to benefit from our success.

Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team are a voluntary charity who help the emergency services to search for and rescue lost, missing, injured and vulnerable people. We most frequently associate them with finding lost walkers on the moors but they are also active in helping to find vulnerable people such as people with dementia, children and people experiencing mental health crises. Over 90% of their income is from donations and we are delighted to be in a position to support them.

At the same time, we have also decided to donate £100 to one of our favourite charities, the John Muir Trust, who conserve, protect and restore wild places across the UK. We share their passion for wild places and their John Muir Award programmes are central to our education work.

We will run alternate weeks at our bases at Treacle Valley and at Cockington with a different focus each week. At Cockington we will run an art-based programme, while our Treacle Valley sessions will be focused on traditional crafts and conservation. We want to create friendly and welcoming spaces where you can come and meet other families of children with SEND, learn some new skills, be inspired and have some fun.

Children are very welcome to attend and depending on their age and numbers we may provide alternative activities for them so that parents can relax and enjoy the sessions.

To sign up, please complete our Microsoft Form by clicking here!

Mental Health Benefits

• Stress relief: Crafting can be a great way to relax and de-stress. The repetitive nature of many crafts can help to calm the mind and body.
• Improved mood: Engaging in creative activities can boost the production of endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals. This can help to improve mood and reduce anxiety.
• Increased self-esteem: Completing a craft project can give you a sense of accomplishment and boost your self-esteem.
• Cognitive stimulation: Crafting can help to keep the mind sharp and improve cognitive function.

Physical Health Benefits

• Improved hand-eye coordination: Many crafts require fine motor skills, which can help to improve hand-eye coordination.
• Reduced pain: Crafting can be a distraction from pain and can help to reduce its intensity.
• Improved sleep: Engaging in relaxing activities like crafting can help to improve sleep quality.
• Strengthened social bonds: Crafting can be a great way to socialise and connect with others.

Additional Benefits

• Creativity: Crafting can help you to tap into your creativity and explore new ideas.
• Productivity: Crafting can help you to be more productive by providing a focus and outlet for your energy.
• Mindfulness: Crafting can help you to be more mindful and present in the moment.
• Sense of community: There are many crafting communities online and in person where you can connect with other people who share your interests.

Why not come along to a Taleblazers session and try some of our crafting activities for yourself? 

We also looked at the waterfalls and filtration leading to how clear the water was falling down the cliffs, and had some fun letting the cold water run through our fingers.

The big task of the day was the tarp line and Karl and I arrived early to get the rope in place. We harvested some saplings from the newly-levelled car park area and the team got to work sharpening these into points to use as stakes. Chris meanwhile was salvaging some boards to build a raised fire pit, removing old nails and screws and working with Hollie to cut them to size. It was an amazing team effort with everyone chipping in and showing the children how to use the knives!

The results are fantastic, I can’t believe that this overgrown patch of woodland has become such a wonderful space in such a short space of time and I am so grateful to everyone for all their efforts.

This year’s programme will take place from Monday 18th to Thursday 21st December (10am-2pm). The programme is most suited to children aged 7-11 years although we will accept children with siblings in this age group. We have differentiated activities run by experienced SEN practitioners. Places are free to children who are eligible for free school meals (through means-tested benefits), Ukrainian refugees and home educated children – if your child is not in one of these groups there are paid places available via Eventbrite – see here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/healthy-holidays-christmas-week-haf-tickets-759602761307

To sign up, please complete the form below or visit the sign-up page at https://forms.office.com/e/kUzCt4DQd3.

Are you passionate about the natural world, history, heritage and arts? Are you able to communicate your passion to young people, particularly those who are disengaged from mainstream education? Can you inspire people to see the world with fresh perspectives?

If so, get in touch!

Alternative Education Tutor (Art, Bushcraft, or Primary)

Alternative Education tutors support our young people by planning, delivering and evaluating 1-1 and small group sessions. The programmes we run incorporate activities such as art, gardening, science, environmental education, forest/beach school and bushcraft, with an outdoor element always at the heart of the programme. They are differentiated both at programme and session level to maximise engagement and to ensure our offer is student-centred. The young people we work with on these sessions are usually struggling to access mainstream education and require high levels of individual support.

Full job description and application form:

Creative Associates

Creative Associates work with Taleblazers on workshop delivery and public events. They are creative people who can tell stories in several ways and bring our history and heritage to life. Our communities and landscapes are full of tales: historical, myth and legend, and the role of the Storytellers is to shape those stories into forms that people – young people in particular – can engage with.