CHILDREN in Tweeddale could soon be enjoying bug hunts and smoothies as part of an innovative project designed to face up to the challenges of climate change.

Hunting bugs and making smoothies with nothing more than curiosity and pedal power were among the highlights enjoyed by children when the Peebles-based environmental group Tweedgreen took a pilot project called Eco-Heroes into primary schools.

Now the group has been awarded a National Lottery Awards for All grant of £10,000 to expand.

“We already have three schools signed up and we have space for another two,” said Rachael Millson, who devised the programme with fellow Tweedgreen member Lorna Slade in partnership with Broughton and St Ronan’s primary schools.

With Lorna now working in Africa as an ecologist, Rachael will be spearheading the work alongside another Tweed Green member, Ruth Noble, who is studying for a Masters degree in Outdoor Environmental Education. They worked together when they piloted the Eco Hero Challenge at two primary schools in their home town of Peebles last year.

“I was looking for a relevant placement for my course when I heard about this and asked if I could help out. I ended up delivering most of the sessions at Kingsland Primary School, which is next door to my home,” said Ruth.

The six-week Eco-Hero Challenge programme is usually delivered through an after-school club and covers topics like energy, travel, food, “stuff” and waste and nature itself.

It aims to explain the effects of carbon fuel emissions and sets out a variety of activities and actions that can benefit the environment, from growing something to eat and building a bug shelter to turning off the television and planting a tree.

Rachael said the idea grew out of a climate change programme, Carbon Conversations, that she and a group of four Tweeddale facilitators have been running for four years. These are groups that come together to discuss how people feel about climate change and explore actions individuals and communities can take to reduce their personal impact on climate change.

“We were doing these programmes with adults and we wondered how we could make the messages we were delivering more accessible,” she said.

“Children can influence their parents’ behaviour. And children are the future so it’s really important for them to learn about sustainability and the ability to live in harmony with the planet.” Ruth said: “We try to be hands-on and do as much as possible outside, showing them wee things they can do as individuals to make a difference.

“At the end of six weeks everyone who has achieved a certain number of challenges receives a certificate and a tree to plant.” An area behind the cemetery in Peebles, where council workers felled a number of poplars that had become unstable and potentially dangerous, now has 140 new native sapling trees planted by Kingsland School pupils.

More trees were planted by pupils of Halyrude School where Rachael used the Eco-Hero Challenge last year for an Eco Day at which one of the star attractions for the children was a static Smoothie Bike that generates power to liquidise fruit for fruit-flavoured drinks.

“We can be flexible depending on what the school requires,” said Ruth. “But children have to have some environmental lessons within the curriculum and we can help to deliver that.” “The children have great fun, especially when we go outside because it’s such a different environment to the classroom,” said Ruth. “They like getting dirty and looking at bugs, and they especially like slugs. They are fascinated by all the different types and colours.” Every child receives a special passport with challenges to complete and they report back with changes they have made in their home lives.

“It’s surprising how much children already know. When I was at school we were not told how trees help you to breathe but now every child over a certain age knows that.

“Many were able to put their hands up and tell you about the carbon cycle and after we did the tree planting and went through it again they all got it.

“It’s a way of educating people and helping them to feel that they can make a difference. A lot of people think that there’s nothing they can do because it’s such a big problem. But if everybody does a little bit it all adds up to a lot more and it all helps people to feel that they can do something. Hopefully it will change some attitudes and lead to changes in behaviour.” Ruth and Rachael are already thinking about how they can spread the initiative over a wider area with a programme that could incorporate other schools across the country