Hundreds of schoolchildren in Hampshire to discover rare chalk stream

Whitchurch Conservation Group (WCG) has received a £31,838 grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to deliver the Whitchurch School Heritage Programme, which will give around 700 Year 1 and 2 pupils the chance to discover the River Test and Whitchurch Silk Mill.

Lucie Follett Maitland, chair of Whitchurch Conservation Group, said: “This funding helps us to open up the river and the Mill to children who might otherwise never get the chance, at a time when school trip budgets simply don’t stretch to it.”

Pupils from five primary schools – Whitchurch, Overton, Oakley, St Mary Bourne, and Longparish – will take part in 20 full-day visits during the 2027 summer term.

The programme will include riverside learning with Wessex Rivers Trust and a hands-on heritage session at the Mill, led by heritage specialist Ruth Kerr.

The funding covers coach travel and lunches, removing the two biggest barriers stopping rural primary schools from accessing heritage-based learning.

The project builds on WCG’s record of community-led heritage and regeneration work, including shopfront improvements in Whitchurch’s conservation area, the Whitchurch Children’s Festival, and the Mill Trail tourism initiative.