Tees Valley Arts has been awarded another significant grant from the Ernest Cook Trust to support creative environmental education and awareness raising in the Tees Valley.
The Ernest Cook Trust was founded by the late Ernest Cook, great grandson of Thomas Cook, founder of Thomas Cook Travel Agency. The Ernest Cook Trust is one of the UK's leading educational charities, actively encouraging children and young people to learn from the land through hands-on educational opportunities.
Tees Valley Arts (TVA) is an arts development agency based in Middlesbrough, working across the Tees Valley which champions participation in high quality arts and stimulating creative activities as a tool for improving the quality of life and learning for individuals and communities. TVA’s current biggest project is Green TV, a £245,000 Heritage Lottery Funded project, which is helping to enthuse and inspire young people across the Tees Valley with some of our best wildlife and nature sites – all through creative hand-on fun arts activities.
This is the second grant of £10,000 awarded by the Ernest Cook Trust to TVA’s Heritage & Environment programme, the first being in 2008. As well as helping to develop more exciting projects like Green TV for the people of the Tees Valley, this money will help TVA develop a series of off-the-shelf outdoor environmental learning through the arts workshops that schools and youth groups can book. These workshops will be delivered by Joe Dunne, TVA Heritage and Environment Officer. Joe has a first degree in Fine Art and a Master of Science degree in Managing the Environment; he has many years experience working with environmental and conservation organisations in the UK and abroad and delivering environmental and outdoor education.
Joe Dunne, TVA Heritage and Environment Officer said “We are absolutely delighted that the Ernest Cook Trust is once again supporting the work we do. We see this as another huge boost to the environmental education sector in the Tees Valley. Teesside has a wealth of regionally and nationally important natural heritage (wildlife) sites that we should be extremely proud of and through working with other wildlife organisations we hope to creatively enthuse people with them.
"And through projects such as Green TV we are hoping to bring about a renewed enjoyment, understanding and ownership of local natural heritage by local people in the Tees Valley, and this grant will help us develop more great projects like Green TV.”
Picture caption: Joe Dunne, TVA’s Heritage and Environment Officer delivering outdoor environmental education through the arts, 2011
