We are immensely proud to host The Fiona Barker Memorial Fund. Fiona was tragically killed in a car accident in 2006. Her commitment and passion for the countryside meant that she was a great supporter of our work.

Following Fiona’s death her family established a fund to help with Countryside Learning’s work. Currently, over £55,000 has been raised by the fund. A proportion of this has been used to enable almost 13,000 children from 350 schools across the country to take part in our Countryside Classroom Programme.

Thanks to Fiona’s Memorial Fund, we have been able to establish three Countryside Classroom Days; one on the Hatfield Park Estate in Hertfordshire; one on the Cranborne Estate in Dorset and the third at Chiddingstone Castle in Kent. This has given us an opportunity to promote our work to a wider audience.

Fiona was particularly keen to engage with some of the most disadvantaged children in our cities. In the past the fund worked with other charities supporting children specifically from South London. This enabled around 900 children to attend our Countryside Live events in Lee Valley, Hackney, East London. This unforgettable experience is one that the children will never forget and will have had a significant impact on their skills set and their educational attainment.

More recently, with thanks to the Gale Family Charity Trust, the Southill Estate in Bedfordshire held an Estate Day for local school children. 100 children attended and they were given various talks and activities.

It was so great to see the children get 'stuck in' - they loved the calf and running up the pile of wood chippings. Some of them took part in a falconry display. Fiona would have been very happy seeing so many children learning about the countryside.

Fiona’s family is delighted to have formed a permanent link between Countryside Learning and the children who are most in need. We look forward to building on these links over the years ahead and to making a tangible difference to the lives of young people across the country.

Countryside Learning own 29 woodland sites across the country and we have donated one in Fiona’s memory, at East Haddon in Northamptonshire

If you are a UK tax payer Gift Aid is one of the simplest and most effective ways of giving to charity. It is a scheme introduced by HM Revenue & Customs, which allows us to reclaim the basic rate tax you pay as a UK taxpayer. It means that for every £1 you donate Countryside Learning can claim an extra 25p of tax, at no extra cost to you. 

Or make a cheque payable to “Countryside Learning, Fiona Barker Fund”, and send it to: Mr Gary Richardson, Countryside Learning, PO Box 8, Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, HX7 5YJ