Eco Emeralds receive surprise a royal visit
October 5, 2020The Eco Emeralds, a group of young environmentalists who inspired the Backyard Nature campaign funded by the Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation (IFCF), received a surprise visit from HRH The Duke of Cambridge earlier this year.
His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge with the Eco Emeralds at All Saints Catholic Primary School in Anfield. Also pictured are Richard Walker, Trustee of the Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation and Head Teacher Jeremy Barnes.
The children, aged between 7-11 from All Saints Catholic Primary School in Anfield, Liverpool, were in the process of building a huge bug hotel which they named Bugingham Palace. Aside from quizzing The Duke on his floss dancing skills, the young Liverpudlians and Prince William discussed the importance of caring for and protecting nature.
On 5 October, 9pm-10.30pm, ITV will air Prince William: A Planet for Us All, putting the Eco Emeralds and Backyard Nature on prime time TV.
To celebrate the release of the documentary the non-profit organisation Project Maya, who run the company Seedball, are giving away 200,000 wildflower seedballs with support from Semble, IFCF and Clarion Futures, the charitable foundation of Clarion Housing Group. This initiative is aimed at community groups and schools to give more children across the country the opportunity to take action on the biodiversity crisis in the UK.
Richard Walker, Trustee of the Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation, said “I’m proud to support Backyard Nature and have been inspired by the incredible children who helped shape the campaign and care so passionately about protecting wildlife in their community. I strongly believe that children need to know about nature in order to want to protect it, and this campaign is about supporting them to do just that”.
Amanda Horton-Mastin, CEO at Semble, said: “We work with nearly 4,000 community groups across the UK and we are inspired every day by their passion for making change from the ground up. The Eco Emeralds have been instrumental in driving the national Backyard Nature campaign and reaching children in communities that might otherwise not have the opportunity to get involved in environmental action. We are over the moon to see them being recognised by Prince William for the work they have done to protect nature.”
Nearly 11,000 children from across the UK have signed up to become Backyard Nature Guardians, and the campaign has inspired over 600,000 hours of nature engagement for children.
To find out more, visit www.backyardnature.org.
