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Education & Publicity For the family 
The amazing pulling power of Fox Club and Watch events was evident again this spring, with over 150 people drawn to the Bug Club in Bude and 200 to the YOC Roadshow in Truro. We've certainly discovered the secret of entertaining and informing the whole family with our wildlife experiences - so do come and enjoy them, whatever your age.Look out in particular for our special events in Wildlife Week (7th to 15th June), and our fortnight of insect activities in July. We're never short of ideas, with so much variety in the expertise available from Trust members and other organisations. Perhaps your local branch would like to work with us in staging family events? We could also do with your help in distributing Fox Club and Watch leaflets - we know that many more children are keen to join, if only they can get hold of membership forms Photo: Tim Neale Michael Horswill, aged eight, encounters a Malaysian jungle nymph at the Bug Club event in Bude. School Grounds Appeal The main thrust of our work with schools is now the improvement of their grounds for wildlife and education. Thanks to funding from Whitbread, and a great deal of effort from Trust members and staff, the BTCV, the school and its community, we are in the process of setting up the grounds of Rosemellin Primary School in Camborne as an example to the county. The Trust's School Grounds Appeal has so far raised around £1,500, and further donations (specify SG Appeal) will be very welcome. Together with cash contributions from the selected schools, we hope to use this to obtain much larger grants from outside sources to fund up to ten major school developments. Details of the Trust's School Grounds Grant Scheme will be circulated to schools in due course. We expect to receive far more than ten applications from schools for this, but all schools will still be able to obtain the sort of advice and help we are currently providing. This usually consists of an initial two-hour visit and written summary, for which we make the charge of £45 plus VAT - a small investment in relation to a school's grounds maintenance budget, and a good way of avoiding costly mistakes and identifying opportunities for saving money. In fact it neednÕt cost a lot to make a real difference to the range of habitats - as we will gladly demonstrate.  A range of innovative developments is transforming the nature of Rosemellinn School's grounds. Photo: Peter Bone And there's more Apart from the above, the education and publicity section has been juggling with a diversity of other jobs as usual: arranging walks, talks and activities for any group, advising on community conservation projects, answering the public's enquiries (particularly on amphibians and ponds), producing this magazine, preparing press releases, and much more. Some of the Trust's key publicity work so far this year has concerned amphibians and pond life, dolphin deaths, wildlife legislation, educational events, and the lottery grant for Cabilla, all of which have received coverage by television as well as the other media. If you were absent from the planet on Orange Frog Day (12th March) you can be forgiven for missing that campaign. Our unique orange frog pin badges are still available in return for a minimum £1 donation to the Habitat Appeal. Mark Nicholson |