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Visitor Ambassador Course 2008

Schools Project Award

The Stratford Society has won a £500 award from the West Midlands Amenity Societies Association for a project to encourage school age children to appreciate their historic environment and the effect carbon emissions may have on it. It will be used as part of the citizenship curriculum by Bridgetown School and Stratford High School from next September.

The prize was presented last Saturday (May 17) to Beryl Downing, the designer of the project, by the chairman of the Civic Trust, Philip Kolvin, at WestMASA’s annual general meeting in Malvern. He complimented the Society on an idea which could be adapted by other schools all over the country, adapting it to their own local traditions.

The pilot booklet, called ‘Mopopolis,’ includes a Monopoly-style game based on the Mop Fair and contrasts the environment as it was when hiring fairs began in the 14th century with the carbon emissions produced by transport, packaging and daily living now.

There are also sections on how the local councils work and who makes the decisions which will affect today’s teenagers in the future – and how they can help to influence them.

“The project is very much work in progress, but it is a tremendous boost to receive this prize at such an early stage,” says Beryl Downing. “Today’s youngsters are very concerned about protecting the planet and we are hoping that if our booklet proves a useful teaching tool, we shall be able to extend the idea to other local schools.

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Visitor Ambassador Course 2008

For several years the Town Management Partnership has run the Town Familiarisation Courses which have been re-branded – Visitor Ambassador Courses. The one day course is offered in the Spring and the Autumn and is designed to provide staff who come into contact with visitors to Stratford an overview of the town’s main attractions. The courses cover different attractions and involve talks, visits to selected venues and the opportunity to see ‘behind the scenes’ at the Birthplace Trust properties; the RSC; the Butterfly farm etc.

The Visitor Ambassador Course has been inspired by similar courses run in other historic towns. It was originally designed to meet the needs of hotel front desk staff, B&B operators and any who get regularly asked for directions or advice about what to visit in Stratford etc. This year the course will also be offered to Senior Citizens & members of the Stratford Society so that when they see visitors looking lost they can step up and offer their assistance. Graduates from the course will be recognisable by their Visitor Ambassador lapel badges. About 10-12 places are available on each course – people not only have the chance to learn about Stratford but also, we hope have a great day out.

The courses this year are on Monday June 2^nd and Thursday June 4^th. The courses will run from 9.30 – 5.00. They will start with coffee at the Town Hall at 9.30. At 10.30 they will go for a guided walk by John Hogg of Stratford Town Walks – this lasts about 2 hours and is very entertaining and informative, it also takes in a visit to Holy Trinity Church. Lunch will be provided by one of our member hotels/restaurants, followed by a backstage visit to the Courtyard and a visit to one of the Birthplace properties. (Full details to be finalised.)

If you would like to reserve a place for yourselves or any of your staff please contact :

Natasha Roderick-Jones

Stratford-upon-Avon Town Management Partnership www.visitstratforduponavon.co.uk/partnership

Tel: 01789 299011 (2 Lines)

Fax: 01789 296875

Someone who attended the course last year said that the course was…. “very informative. I have lived here for 22 years but you don’t tend to do the things tourists do, I learned things I didn’t know about Stratford and when I went home in the evening I was telling my family all sorts of things so I retained a lot of information as well as having a good time.”

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