Blencathra FSC has won a Gold award for its environmental approach. This is an award for organisations and companies who have a fully implemented Environmental Management Systems and are demonstrating continual improvement of their environmental performance.

Blencathra has earned a Gold award from Cumbria Business Environment Network (CBEN), which recognises companies for being environmentally responsible andoperating within strict European guidelines to minimise their impact on the environment.

Blencathra will feature on German ADR television next month as part of 'Euroblick' (A view on Europe). Keswick and the surrounding area was the main location for the shooting of the programme and Nik Weisner the Producer said 'it is not a 'tourist guide' but rather a reportage about the essence of the region - its landscape, people and their way of life.'

The Field Studies Council at Blencathra last month ran a Butterflies and Moths course for the first time in ten years. Tim Foster ,Head of Centre
said .'It was good to welcome David Brown, a well renowned lepidopterist back to Blencathra. He is the Warwickshire County Recorder for butterflies
and moths and author of several books. We were pleasantly surprised to find that the course identified 71 moth species on the site, many of them found

Several villagers have asked if they can purchase fold–out charts at Blencathra. The answer is sometimes! The Field Studies Council sell over 400000 copies, though alas not all at Blencathra. You will see copies in local bookshops, at National park Information Centres, Whinlatter and Threlkeld Mining Museum. You may also have notice the BBC presenters using them on Springwatch. Last week at the Centre we had a course on Butterflies and Moths and they avidly

The Field Studies Council has been awarded £2 million from the Big Lottery Fund (BIG) Changing Spaces programme to deliver the Eco Challenge Project.

This three year project will involve 7500 students from 250 schools in 22 LEAs in England and will offer schools fully funded 3 night short residential courses for Key Stage 3 pupils at one of the 17 FSC Centres.Support will also be offered on return to school to help apply the skills learnt at a local level for the benefit of all the community.

The Field Studies Council has the mission of - "Building understanding and capacity for real sustainable development that bring about changes".

Over the past ten years FSC has developed a high reputation for developing and delivering projects that successfully meet the needs of individuals, organisations and communities. We have a team of recognised experts with a variety of skills and experience in many different areas of education for sustainability, working with communities, sustainable development, capacity building and change.

This means at times some of the Blencathra Staff work overseas. FSC currently operates in 27 countries. Who is doing what this year?

Tim Foster Head of FSC Centre Blencathra and Richard Fox LDNPA Fix the Fells Project Officer have moved Environmental awareness a stage further at the Blencathra Centre by launching a project with the Tourism and Conservation Partnership to raise funds for footpath repair on Blencathra. This is part of the 'Fix the Fells Project' and for every £1 raised at Blencathra an extra £2 can be drawn from the Heritage Lottery Fund to support the Lake District National Park Authority, the National Trust and Natural England on the route leading up onto Blencathra.

Publications
The new Field Studies Council publication creating a buzz this autumn is the Guide to Bees of Britain. The 8 page chart, produced in conjunction with the invertebrate conservation charity Buglife, shows 28 species of bee, most of which can commonly be seen flying in domestic gardens.

The Field Studies Council at Blencathra were pleased to welcome Doug Scott who took time out of his busy schedule to officially open the Blencathra Eco-garden on Sunday 9th September. Members of the local community, businesses and organisations joined pupils and staff from Ullswater Community College to celebrate the efforts undertaken in the garden.

Since its inception in 1997 the Green Tourism Business Scheme has been championing sustainable tourism in the UK.What is green tourism? Green tourism is a term used to describe best environmental practice within the tourism sector. It covers issues such as business efficiency, environmental management, waste, transport, as well as topics such as social responsibility and biodiversity. The scheme criteria cover over 120 measures of sustainability and there are 3 levels ,Bronze,Silver and Gold.