Second N.I. Stick Man activity trail now open

The Cloughmills site was chosen to host the trail as part of a pilot scheme devised for community nature sites across the UK, thanks to the support of Stick Man brand owner Magic Light Pictures. It joins Colin Glen Forest Park, which launched a Stick Man trail in November.

The self-guided trail, which offers an interactive learning experience for three to seven-year-olds, has been designed to help children go on their own adventure with the character, find out more about the natural world and learn how things grow. Brightly coloured boards featuring Stick Man and other characters from the picture book will be used alongside an activity pack, with children able to claim a reward for completing the trail.

Chair of Cloughmills’ Community Action Team, Patrick Frew, said: “Learning about nature and the environment and creating community resources are very important parts of what we do here, so we’re thrilled that we can host a trail at our site. Stick Man is extremely popular with young children, so we’re expecting a great deal of interest from regular visitors and hopefully some new visitors, who’ll appreciate and support the work we do here.”

It’s hoped that, if the pilot trails are successful, the scheme can be expanded so that thousands of parents and young children will ‘twig’ how much fun the trail can be and become new and regular visitors to their local growing group.

The trails have been created by the Growing Together initiative, a Big Lottery funded project which aims to help local community groups to raise their profile and increase their long-term sustainability. There are estimated to be over 2,500 community growing groups in the UK, most of which rely on voluntary support and need more help to thrive.