Who is Stephen?

Stephen, in his words, is a “bit of a runner” and in his day job he works for KW Feeds as a Sales Specialist for Scotland. It is a varied job which sees him out and about helping supply farmers with the right products to feed their cattle. Working in the agricultural sector has seen him become an active volunteer for RHET, assisting in events throughout the Borders in which children are taught about food, farming and the working countryside.

When Stephen is not working, he is usually seen running around parts of the Scottish Borders and beyond, running in anything from half marathon events up to 100 miles. As part of a busy run calendar for Stephen, he is running The Rat Race 100 Series, a 100 mile race from Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland to Edinburgh Castle to raise funds and awareness of RHET’s work in the Scottish Borders. (More information on the Bamburgh to Edinburgh run can be found at https://www.ratrace.com/rat-race-100)

Why RHET?

RHET operates across Scotland with the Project Co-ordinators over 12 regions, engaging with schools and delivering a range of activities for children and young people. This can be nursery boxes to nursery settings ensuring our youngest learners engage with agricultural-based toys, story books and resources. Within primary schools, children might have a classroom talk from a farmer, an opportunity to have a farm visit, undertake activities linked to their learning for example RHET's Moo Maths resource or Reindeer dust learning packs or attend a food and farming event. Within secondary schools the support can be tailored to support particular areas of the curriculum depending on the age and stage of the young people however this can range from Broad General Education (BGE) food and farming events, cookery sessions in Home Economics classes or a field work experience for Advanced Higher Geography classes. RHET also offers digital engagement opportunities for all schools throughout the year, taking the farm directly into the classroom bringing learning alive. However, this range of activities cannot happen across Scotland without the huge amount of hours our dedicated volunteer farmers and friends commit to each week to support our work. Please help us to ensure this work continues.

Within Scottish Borders we work with every school, and every class ensuring the key messages about food, farming and the working countryside, bringing learning alive.

What is our impact?

In the past year alone, RHET across Scotland:

Reached 96,100 children & young people (up 38,100 on last year)

Delivered 1,190 classroom talks & 975 farm visits/events across Scotland

Engaged 10,000 learners online in “Talk to a Farmer” sessions

Supported teachers with 54 training sessions and brand-new resources

Welcomed 250 school groups (6,600+ children) to the Royal Highland Show.