23 March 2004

Ordnance Survey announces Britain’s biggest geography giveaway

Scheme wins praise from Schools Minister

Ordnance Survey is offering a free Explorer map to every 11-year-old in Great Britain from the start of the 2004 autumn term.

The move was announced by the national mapping agency’s Director General and Chief Executive Vanessa Lawrence at a launch event with Schools Minister Stephen Twigg MP. Pupils at Broomfield School in Mr Twigg’s Enfield Southgate constituency were the first to hear the plans.

This will be the third year Ordnance Survey has made available a free Explorer map for every Year 7 pupil in the country. More than 1½ million children have already benefited, making it one of the largest educational resources projects of its kind in British schools.

Mr Twigg says: "This year’s initiative will help hundreds of thousands more children across Britain discover the fun and value of maps. Because the maps will be theirs to keep, they will be able to learn much more about their local environment both in the classroom and at home with their families."

Feedback received by Ordnance Survey over the last two years has been extremely positive, with many children and teachers sharing their experience of using the free maps with various subjects such as local history, citizenship and geography.

Vanessa Lawrence says: "This year’s scheme will take to over two million the number of children who are benefiting from this initiative. We have already distributed more than £10 million worth of maps and we are delighted to extend the scheme for a further year."

All schools will be required to register at the start of the autumn term in order to receive their maps by Christmas. They need take no action at present. Instructions for ordering will be sent to each individual school at the start of the autumn term.

The free maps initiative is supported by resources and activities on the Homework Help section of Ordnance Survey’s free interactive web site for children, www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/mapzone.

Further information on the Free maps for 11-year-olds initiative is available at www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/education.

---

Chief Press Officer - Scott Sinclair

Email: scott.sinclair@ordnancesurvey.co.uk

Phone: (+44) 023 8079 2265

Senior Press Officer - Kate Kemp

Email: kate.kemp@ordnancesurvey.co.uk

Phone: (+44) 023 8079 2977

Press Officer - Paula Good

Email: paula.good@ordnancesurvey.co.uk

Phone: (+44) 023 8079 2635

Press Officer - Paul Beauchamp

Email: paul.beauchamp@ordnancesurvey.co.uk

Phone: (+44) 023 8079 2568

Press Office Co-ordinator - Pauline Hand

Email: pauline.hand@ordnancesurvey.co.uk

Phone: (+44) 023 8079 2251

Press Office fax: (+44) 023 8030 5295