Andrew Johnston (Chairman of RHET Perth & Kinross/RHET Volunteer - foreground) and Jan Dixon (Owner/Farmer of Solsgirth Farm - background) with Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal and local school pupils.
The Royal Highland Education Trust (RHET) was delighted to host a visit from its Royal Patron, Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, at a food and farming event, held at Solsgirth Home Farm, Dollar this week.
The event, took place on 24th September, and brought together over 350 local school pupils and their accompanying adults for an educational and inspiring hands on farm experience.
HRH speaking to James Rankin (Retired Dairy Farm/RHET Volunteer).
During the visit, HRH The Princess Royal met with several RHET volunteers and observed the impactful work carried out by the rural education charity. The visit offered a unique opportunity for Her Royal Highness to engage with pupils, volunteers, and organisers, while gaining first-hand insight into RHET's mission of educating young people about food, farming, and the natural environment. At one of the stations, pupils helped press apples from the farm orchard, adding the juice to a smoothie bike to then pedal their own ‘Zero Miles Smoothie’. All waste produced in the process was fed to the pigs, just one of the other stations where there was the opportunity to reiterate the journey of food to plate..
HRH The Princess Royal last visited a RHET volunteer farm in 2019, reflecting her continued support and deep interest in the impactful work RHET does across Scotland.
The event was a great success, providing an enriching experience for the 8 - 11 year old pupils from Perth & Kinross, Clackmannanshire and the Falkirk areas. These type of food and farming events, are organised by RHET across the breadth and length of Scotland, the charity receives essential financial support from the Scottish Government, enabling RHET to offer the on-farm experience free of charge which is essential to early years development and understanding of where our food comes from.
HRH shaking Hugh McClymont’s hand (Chairman of the RHET Board). Also pictured: Nikki Bridle (Chief Executive Clackmannanshire Council, Tara Clark (RHET Perth & Kinross Project Coordinator), Katrina Barclay (RHET Executive Officer) and Jan Dixon (Owner/Farmer of Solsgirth Farm).
‘Having our Royal Patron join us on such a busy day, with the sights and sounds of children learning in the outdoors has been an honour’, commented Hugh McClymont, RHET Chairman. ‘I am very proud of the work and effort put into this and similar events held by the local project coordinators and the fantastic support gifted by the volunteers who share their passion for farming and for running the sessions’.
RHET aims to provide learning experiences for Scotland’s young people and their teachers through in-person and online opportunities. This month, amongst other on-farm and in-school events, RHET will support Maths Week with our Collie Maths Tales sessions. These sessions will enable learners to follow working collie dogs on different farms and discover the important role maths plays. The walks will be streamed live into classrooms all over Scotland.