06 September 2005

Pupils to be inspired by television survival expert

Survival expert Ray Mears is supporting an initiative by Britain’s national mapping agency, Ordnance Survey, to provide free maps for every 11 year old in the country. The television presenter shot to fame through programmes such as World of Survival, Trips Money Can’t Buy (with Ewan McGregor) and The Real Heroes of Telemark.

Ray’s love of the outdoors started as he was growing up in Southern England on the North Downs, where he discovered countryside abundant with wildlife. Now he wants youngsters to use their free maps from Ordnance Survey to experience the same thrill as he did when he went exploring.

Ray Mears says: "My passion for the outdoors really began as a child. Looking for adventure, I remember setting off with a compass and my first ever Ordnance Survey map, relishing the freedom these tools offered me. Successfully reaching the spring which I’d set out to find filled me with a sense of achievement. Giving youngsters a map of their own gives them the opportunity to do what I did - get out there and explore while learning vital navigation skills."

This is the fourth year of the Free maps for 11 year-olds scheme. In the last three years, over 2½ million maps have been distributed to British schoolchildren. From this August another 750,000 Year 7/ Primary 7 pupils will be able to get their free OS Explorer Map of their local area. The children themselves keep the maps – they can take them home and benefit from having it with them at all times.

This year, to encourage youngsters to use their maps, they can enter a competition to spend the day with Ray Mears learning about bushcraft and having a go themselves. This could include eating from nature’s larder, learning how to fashion a rope out of raw materials, or even making fire. All pupils have to do is answer a few simple questions about map-reading and describe how they use their free Ordnance Survey map.

Information on how to enter the competition is included with the free resources that accompany the free maps. These include a map reading made easy leaflet and a teaching pack.

"We are delighted Ray Mears is supporting the free maps for 11 year olds campaign," says Vanessa Lawrence, Ordnance Survey’s Director General and Chief Executive. "Maps really bring the area where children live to life. They also play an important part in the school curriculum. They help youngsters understand more about the world around them and enable them to explore the landscape confidently, responsibly and hopefully with great enjoyment."

Minister for Schools for England Andrew Adonis says: " Providing free maps to schools is a welcome initiative. Encouraging more young people to engage safely with the world around them opens up a range of new ways to learn. I would urge all schools to get involved."

Education and Lifelong Learning Minister for Wales Jane Davidson says: "This is a wonderful scheme that gets young people out and about in Wales' beautiful wilderness, while teaching them about hands-on, practical geography. It's great to see Ray Mears involved in this campaign. He's a bushcraft master who I'm sure will teach the lucky competition winner a trick or two about surviving in wild Wales and how to get the most out of their free Ordnance Survey map."

Deputy Education Minister for Scotland Robert Brown says: "Map reading is a great practical skill for everyone, but maps are more than a source of information. They can spark the imagination and motivate youngsters to get out and explore their local community and learn more about the history and geography that they live with everyday. This is a superb initiative by Ordnance Survey. It will encourage Scottish pupils to learn new skills and discover hidden knowledge of their local area."

To take advantage of the scheme teachers have to first register their order on the map-maker’s web site, www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/freemapsfor11yearolds.

 

 

 

---

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