Ever since the first time I visited the Yeo Valley farm overlooking Blagdon Lake last Summer, I have had a fondness for the dairy company which has seen my shopping tendencies change. Gone are the Onken yoghurts, gone is the cheap milk for £1 and blocks of butter produced by a company which doesn't pay British dairy farmers a fair price. In has come Yeo Valley. It's not only a company which I'm proud to associate my blog with, but a range of products which I'd rather have in my fridge and our tummies. And ultimately, on my conscience.
As an ethical company, Yeo Valley have teamed up with The Woodland Trust to plant 10,000 trees and help preserve Britain’s wonderful woodland. On the underside lid of the special packs of Yeo Valley (marked with the Woodland Trust campaign) is a code which when entered onto the Yeo Valley & Woodland Trust page could result in one of 10,000 trees being won, either to plant in your own garden or donated to The Woodland Trust.
However, their partnership goes much further than that, and that's why a bunch of parent bloggers (including us) were invited to a Woodland Trust day at the Yeo Valley headquarters to meet with the people behind the campaign, and introduce our children to learning about their world via forest exploration and play.
We were welcomed to the Mendips by the larger than life Les, the head ranger at Yeo Valley, who explained to the children all about the different rocks that make up the strata of the hills. Introduced to the forested area by the Woodland Trust, we were invited to complete a leaf trail and a bug hunt which the children were completely engaged in. I was very surprised just how interested The Boy was in the different leaves around, and we quickly identified about ten different trees and bushes in a very small section of wood. Enlisting the help of the kind lady behind the Nature Detectives (the children's Woodland Trust club), he was able to find several different minibeasts as well.
After a luscious lunch prepared by the chefs at the Yeo Valley kitchen, we were revived enough to create dens for woodland creatures (or tiny aliens as Les told the children), and then produce a truly wonderful wizard's wand using detritus from the forest floor.
The wonderful sheets we used are available to download for free from the Nature Detectives website here. They are great generic sheets, and I would really recommend downloading them and using them during the forthcoming Autumn months.
The Woodland Trust have a club for young explorers called the Nature Detectives Club, which has a wealth of resources and challenges available for children. Membership is as little as £12 for one child for a year, as little as 25p a week.
We received a goody bag of Yeo Valley yoghurts to try out, marked with The Woodland trust campaign (and we've entered in our codes and donated trees) and a selection of the wonderful wildlife identification swatch books available to buy from The Woodland Trust directly. The Boy finds these fascinating, in particular the leaf book; it was his bedtime reading for a week after our trip to the farm!
We were invited as guests to the Yeo Valley farm to help promote their campaign with The Woodland Trust, and received the above items free of charge.
ahhhh this brought back memories of a lovely day at Yeo Valley. you have written about the day and the background to the company and its associates beautifully. i love the photo of The Boy standing on the gate and looking throughthe bug view finder.
Loved reading this. I love Yeo Valley products. Must get one of those leaf books for my boys!
What a lovely write up of a fantastic day! It was so lovely to meet you and The Boy x
Lovely post! I love Yeo Valley's ethics too, I being a loyal fan ever since they spoke out about their position on the badger cull which I thought was a really brave move. Lovely photos too! 🙂 x
Yeo Valley is my all time favourite yoghurt product. I even buy my kids the kid pots – mind they don't always get to the fridge while they're still in their. My fitness tutor and I chat on Learncliki and we both do the same thing and chop up banana's into the larger pots. The perfect lunch – filling and healthy!
Wow, looks like a fantastic day. I LOVE Yo Valley, definitely superior products. xx
A great day and a delicious bundle of goodies.
Looks like a great day and certainly taught me a thing or two about Yeo Valley.
Love that photo on the gate so much! Thanks again for all your support.
What a fantastic day out, even better that not only promoted nature, but helps the woodland trust, living in one of the most deforested parts of Europe, I love any company that will support and promote the rebuilding and maintenance of our woodlands.
Great post – a really informative and thoughtful write up of the day. They are a great company, we bought their products when we were in the UK. I love all the activities they had for the kids, it looks really well organised and engaging.
I miss Yeo Valley since moving to the US last autumn. They need to push them selves here in the USA too.
The Nature detectives club is really good, very informative and they provide so many good resources.
Looks and sounds like you all had a fab day out.
#CountryKids
This brings back such lovely memories of the start of a pretty much fantastic summer! Next time I'll grab you for a natter. Love your pics and your boy is a real sweetie 😉
Looks like a lot of fun. I love going exploring with the kids!
Sounds like you had a lovely experience at Yeo Valley and the photos really capture the day.
It looks like a fabulous day out. We're members of the woodland trust. Each Friday we get an email with suggestions of things to do. The children love it. We're a stone's throw from Yeo Valley. It is beautiful country side.
We're fans of Yeo Valley too – being a British farming family, can't not be really.
Looks like it was a great day – really hoping I can get N involved with discoveries and exploration like this when he's older.
These Yeo valley trips always look so much fun. The Boy has become more and more adventurous and looks like he loves nature!
Sounds like you all had a fab day out. We love Yeo Valley too, will keep an eye open for the packs marked with the Woodland Trust.