A CAMPAIGN has started to provide a free book to every primary and special school in the county to help re-connect children with nature.

Herefordshire Wildlife Trust has teamed up with county landscape artist Richard Bavin on a campaign to deliver a copy of The Lost Words, written by Robert Macfarlane and with illustrations by Jackie Morris to every primary school and special school.

The campaign is encouraging people to donate £10 to cover the cost of one book and they can specify which school they would like their book to go to.

Each book will contain a book plate stating the name of the school and the donor.

Mr Bavin, who is resident artist with Herefordshire Wildlife Trust, said: "I have written to all the headteachers and have had some really enthusiastic responses and we have had over 40 donations in just the first couple of days.”

The book’s publisher, Penguin, has agreed to supply books at the special price of £10 for the campaign while Hereford firm Print Plus has printed the bookplates free of charge.

Children are spending less time outdoors in nature than previous generations and it is hard for parents and teachers to alter this trend with pressures of increasingly busy and urban lives and the lure of the screen.

A reflection of this was the removal of many words connected with nature from the Oxford Junior Dictionary including acorn, bluebell and conker in recent years.

The Lost Words was inspired by the decline of children’s engagement with nature and the loss of the language which describes it. For each of these ‘lost words’ Mcfarlane has written a ‘spell’ which brings wildlife to life and each is accompanied by an enchanting illustration.

Jackie Morris is donating an original drawing of an otter to one donor, to be pulled out of the hat.

Herefordshire Wildlife Trust has worked hard for over a decade to engage children with natural environments.

The trust’s WildPlay Rangers programme has introduced thousands of children to the joys of playing outdoors in whatever green space their community offers with staff and volunteers giving young people the confidence and inspiration to build dens, hunt for insects and splash about in streams.

To join The Lost Words campaign in Herefordshire, or to find out more about Herefordshire Wildlife Trust’s work with young people, families and schools go to

www.herefordshirewt.org/thelostwords