When Enable2 heard of the campaign by Vicky Cooke, a local French teacher, to get a copy of "The Lost Words: A Spell Book", into every school in Bradford, we stepped in to help. The book, created by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris as a response to certain nature words such as “conker”, “acorn” and “kingfisher”, no longer featuring in the Oxford Junior Dictionary, has activism at its very heart: to save humanity’s connection with nature, and the wellbeing we gain from this connection.
Get Out More CIC, a local social enterprise that has previously partnered with us to deliver social return projects, introduced us to Vicky and told us about the campaign. Get Out More’s mission is to help people engage with nature and feel better about life by getting outdoors, so the cultural phenomenon of "The Lost Words: A Spell Book" that brings nature words back into children’s lives is fundamental to their purpose.
Vicky had sourced donations and other crowdfunding in order to place "The Lost Words: A Spell Book" into most schools in Bradford, but not all. Enable2 funded the remaining 60 books so that every primary school in Bradford could have a copy and all primary school children can enjoy this wonderful and important book.
On the 8th November 2018 at the Bradford Primary Improvement Partnership, the books, with an inserted letter from Enable2, were handed out to head teachers. Vicky was there for the event and got to see her campaign mission accomplished.
“I really enjoyed seeing those books being given out this morning! Hopefully some of that enthusiasm will filter down to the teachers and children. Thank you once again for your participation in this project.”
Not just saving the words of nature that we all know and love, "The Lost Words: A Spell Book" has become part of a larger movement about the importance of our human connection with the natural world. Enable2 are delighted to have been part of this and the effort to keep these special words alive for Bradford children and their future to come.