A new 'bee bench' project has now been launched at four schools in and around Dawlish, including Westcliff Primary Academy, Gatehouse Primary Academy, Cockwood Primary School, and Orchard Manor School.

The aim of the Roots Community Enhancement project is to provide an outdoor area for children's mental wellbeing. The benches include signs, made by Swift Print in Dawlish, encouraging children to 'bee brave enough to talk, bee-friend others and bee a good friend'.

The eco-friendly benches have been made using as much as 150kg of recycled plastic, and were manufactured by Devon Contract Waste. They will reportedly not require maintenance for many years.

The project has been funded by Devon County Councillor Martin Wrigley's (Lib Dem, Dawlish) locality budget for 2021, costing just under £2.5k. A grant from the National Lottery has also been awarded for benches to be made for Starcross Primary School and three more primary schools in Teignmouth, and manufacturing is currently underway.

Roots Community Enhancement Director and mental health nurse Rosie Dawson said: "This project is all about teaching young people that it's ok to have struggles, that talking can help, and that kindness is key in our communities.

"We offer to support schools' use of the benches going forward, by attending assemblies or chatting with young people at the bench, should they need help to motivate the children to use and nurture this space.

"Children's mental health should always be top of any agenda, as our adults and parents of tomorrow, and particularly now given the pandemic that we are currently experiencing."

Cllr Martin Wrigley said: "I am delighted to be able to help this project, and the school children have been so enthusiastic about the new benches. I am sure that they will be a great help in allowing the children to open up about mental health issues. It should be as natural as talking about a broken arm!"

Emily Almond, Business Support Manager at Devon Contract Waste, said: "The benches are made locally with local plastic, so it's fantastic to manufacture this into a bench that will last decades for these local schools, helping thousands of children in the lifetime of the furniture."

Paul Donkersloot, Headteacher of Orchard Manor School, said: "We are extremely grateful that Roots Community Enhancement have donated a bench to our school. The wellbeing of young people is such a big topic at the moment, particularly after 18 months of uncertainty due to Covid, and we are certain that this bench will support our young people's wellbeing and start important conversations between both pupils and staff."

—————

For daily updates on what's happening in Dawlish, follow us on Facebook and Twitter. You can also sign up to our free weekly newsletter featuring exclusive articles for subscribers - just type your email into the box below.