£3k boost will give kids a taste of how farms produce food
A charity fundraising event has raised £3000 to help take pupils in Forth Valley onto farms to learn where their food comes from and how it is produced.
RHET Forth Valley Countryside Initiative hosted a fundraising afternoon tea at Airth Castle Hotel earlier this month.
The 150 guests were entertained by The RHET choir and guest speaker Sandywilkie.
There was also a fashion show of preloved clothes provided by Ooshasc by Mel Anderson and a raffle of prizes donated by RHET supporters.
A total of £3000 was raised which will be used to subsidise transport for pupils visiting farms.
The RHET Forth Valley committee who organised the event said later they were “very grateful”to all who supported the afternoon tea.
The RHET Factor choir had also managed to resume weekly rehearsals in January and worked hard to bring their compilation of songs together for the event.
Following the event, Lynne Reid, RHET Forth Valley chairperson, said“it really was a fantastic, fun afternoon and so good to finally be able to catch up properly with friends and supporters. The funds raised will ensure that we can continue to subsidise transport to farms and farm events for all the children of Forthvalley.
“RHET visits give young people a chance to see how their food is produced and meet the farmers who have the ever-increasing challenge of meeting the demand for affordable high quality food.”
The Royal Highland Education Trust (RHET) was established in 1999. It provides free resources, farm visits and classroom speakers which allow children to learn more about Scottish farming, food and countryside. RHET currently interfaces with around one in eight of Scottish schoolchildren through 12 local countryside initiatives and takes more than 16,000 children out to farms each academic year, providing more than 28,000 children with a classroom speaker talk.
Run as a charity, it receives its core funding from the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland (RHASS). Other operating costs are covered by grants and funds from a number of trusts, companies and funding organisations, including the Scottish Government.
RHET Forth Valley Countryside Initiative is run by a committee of volunteers and activities organised by project coordinator Katie Brisbane.
The classroom talks, farm visits, farm events and resources Forth Valley RHET provide are carried out by volunteers and are free to the schools. If anyone would like to find out more or get involved with RHET please visit our website www.rhet. org.uk