Highland Primary Schools Birdbox project

£7,250 awarded

The Highland Primary Schools Birdbox Project is deceptively simple, namely to supply each of the 175 primary schools across the highland area with x10 birdboxes each over a four-year period. The boxes will be built by the project lead, Tom Rawson, using sustainable and recycled materials, and will be delivered by him and his family. Tom is a teacher himself, based in the Scottish Borders, and has created teaching resources to accompany the boxes. There will also be a bespoke website where the boxes will be mapped using a GIS data mapping system and where pupils will be able to collate and share the results of their observations, in accordance with RSPB &/or British Trust for Ornithology best practice. Tom has run this programme successfully in the borders but is keen to scale it up, particularly into the highlands as that is the area where he grew up. The borders project, which won several awards, along with the other conservation projects which Tom runs in his spare time, have been very well received and helped Tom establish the links needed throughout the highlands to run this exciting project.