RSPCA education hubs are spreading the message of animal welfare, with nearly 38,000 young people having benefited from this vital work.
Staff at the RSPCA’s four education hubs are celebrating a successful 2023 including a major expansion in the charity’s outreach work while also closing in on a milestone figure of the numbers of children and young people they have reached with animal welfare lessons.
Spearheaded by the charity’s Prevention and Education department, whose work aims to inspire everyone to treat animals with compassion and respect, the education and community engagement hubs based at Mallydams Woods Wildlife Centre, Newbrook Farm, Stapeley Grange Wildlife Centre & Cattery and West Hatch Animal Centre & Wildlife Hospital.
They are on course to exceed a staggering 38,000 children, young people and accompanying adults as at the end of November their vital work had delivered learning to 37,668 young people.
The hubs offer a variety of programmes through outreach, onsite and online courses and sessions and work alongside RSPCA branches and other local organisations to encourage young people to learn and take action for animal welfare.
At Mallydams Wood in Hastings, the education team (pictured hosting an outreach workshop for local guides) has engaged with around 12,000 pre-school children, primary school children, young people as well as adults in the last three years with the help of lottery funding, which has been in place for the past 12 years. Of those taking part, 5,000 people were targeted for high impact sessions during which they learnt how to take on compassion and responsibility for animals through activities centred around sentience (feelings), behaviour, animal needs and citizenship.
Newbrook Farm Education Centre in Birmingham has marked one year of its lottery-funded programme, ‘Wild Things’, which has seen 251 young people taking part in activities, including developing new ecosystems for animals to thrive in. Data from a wellbeing survey has shown that the young people participating received a boost in their mental health as a result of focusing on animals and trying to help improve the quality of their lives.
At West Hatch in Taunton, staff working with the Outreach Officer funded by RSPCA South West Somerset branch have doubled the number of people receiving education sessions. Now further work is underway working with other branches across the South West to explore more education opportunities.
At Stapeley Grange in Nantwich, Cheshire, a new Outreach Officer has been hired to widen the community work across the region, including in Merseyside, Greater Manchester and North Wales, from the start of 2024.
The growth of the Education hub’s onsite Education Officer team will enable the hub (part of whose outdoor education area is pictured) to increase its work with the Cheshire East Virtual School, while programmes are being developed that will focus on the RHS Chelsea Flower Show garden, which has been relocated to the Cheshire site.
RSPCA Senior Community Engagement and Partnerships Manager Hayley Worsfold said: “Each of our hubs deliver incredible experiences and offer essential animal welfare education to communities who might otherwise have limited opportunities to engage with nature, pets, and wildlife.
“They use community-based and natural environmental learning to connect with and support school children, young people, and families.
“In doing so, they aim to promote positive behavioural changes and attitudes towards animal welfare, whilst enhancing the emotional wellbeing and resilience of learners..”
A recent survey of those participating in the hub sessions revealed that nearly 90% per cent said the experience had influenced them to share the RSPCA’s beliefs that animals have emotions, feelings and needs; that animals’ lives are important in themselves; that animals enrich our lives; that all animals deserve a good life; and that all of us can help make the lives of animals better.
For people who are further away from the locations of the RSPCA’s four education hubs, there is plenty of information online at the charity’s education website to empower those keen to learn more about animal welfare through practical activities and resources.
The RSPCA is also part of the Pet Education Partnership (PEP), a collaborative initiative between eight UK leading animal welfare organisations – including PDSA, Blue Cross, Cats Protection and Dogs Trust – with the aim of making animal welfare education accessible to every child in the UK aged between five and 11, and ultimately incorporating animal welfare into the curriculum.
