School children from Ullswater Community College (UCC) and Lazonby Primary School came together to create a large tile mosaic about the River Eden.
The UCC students have been working on the design of the mosaic over the past year as part of a larger European-funded education project. The focus of this education project is the effects of flooding on rural areas. The art work shows a farm before and after flooding.
The idea of working with a primary school came from the UCC students. They went to Lazonby Primary School and gave a presentation about the project and their design. Following this, Lazonby School pupils went to UCC to make the picture a reality in the form of a large tile mosaic.
The tile mosaic was created in four sections with groups of students working on each section. Now completed, the sections will be joined together and the final tableau will be put on display for people to see. The exact location is still to be decided.
The tiles for the mosaic were supplied by Ceramic Tile Distributors (CTD) in Carlisle and Topps Tiles in Penrith. Further materials such as adhesive, grout and tools, were donated by Topps Tiles of Penrith.
John Sander, Head of Citizenship at Ullswater Community College said, “It has been superb to see students of different ages from the two schools working in harmony. The finished mosaic will raise awareness about flooding in an unusual but most effective way.”
David Henderson from Lazonby Primary School said, “This was a fantastic project to be involved with and the children were so proud of the final mosaic. It has been a pleasure to forge links with Eden Rivers Trust and UCC, I only hope this link can continue”.
Becky Helm, ERT Education Officer, said, “The students have worked so hard over the last year, using their spare time to bring this project to fruition. It is great to have something tangible and attractive at the end to show other people. They learnt a lot about the effects of flooding on the rural landscape, something which is often overlooked. They all seemed to have a great time and enjoyed working with the children of Lazonby.”
This schools project forms part of the ALFA project which is currently being delivered in the UK by The Eden Rivers Trust, Environment Agency, Durham University, and Association of Rivers Trusts. ALFA stands for Adaptive Land use for Flood Alleviation.
The ALFA project aims to protect citizens in the North West Europe region against the effects of flooding due to climate change. This will be done by creating new capacity for water storage within river catchments. The project areas are located in six river catchments in United Kingdom (River Eden), Belgium (Kleine Nete), France (River Seine), Germany (River Emscher and River Rhine) and the Netherlands (River Meuse). The ALFA project is funded by the European Union under the INTERREG IVB Programme. More information about the project can be found at www.alfa-project.eu
If you would like to learn more about the work of Eden Rivers Trust, you can visit www.edenriverstrust.org.uk. Alternatively, email office@edenriverstrust.org.uk or telephone the office, which is at Skirsgill Business Park, Penrith, on tel. no. 01768 866788.
