British Museum launches free Young Friends scheme

Young Friends Membership from the British Museum is now available for all families across the UK to join for free. The scheme invites young people with curious minds to become enthralled and inspired by history and archaeology. It provides the opportunity for the family to learn and get involved, both at the Museum and remotely.

Offering fun ways for the family to get involved with the Museum, both onsite and from the comfort of your own home, elements include:

Bi-weekly emails packed full of activities such as trails, quizzes and craft activities; Details of family events across the Museum; Pre-booking for the Museum’s famous sleepovers; Digital copies of Remus magazine three times a year and access to the full archive.

To sign up to the Young Friends scheme visit: < britishmuseum.org/membership/young-friends

Take nature’s pulse - join the Big Butterfly Count

The Big Butterfly Count is a UK-wide survey which helps to assess the health of our environment by counting the amount and type of butterflies we see. This year, the world’s biggest survey of butterflies will take place from Friday, 14th July until Sunday, 6th August.

Everyone can take part. All you have to do is spend fifteen minutes in an outdoor space on a sunny day (including anywhere urban, not just green places and gardens.) Count the types and the number of butterflies, as well as some day-flying moths that you can see. The results will help to identify where conservation action is needed most. The data is used to identify important trends in species that assists in planning how to protect butterflies from extinction and understand the effect of climate change on wildlife.

More info: < bigbutterflycount.org

New social action platform inspires young changemakers

A new generation of change-makers is being inspired to change the world with the launch of a new social action platform for school children.

SuperKind is a not-for-profit education and social action platform. The aim of the platform is to educate, inspire and empower children and young people to become change-makers and start a lifelong commitment to charitable activities.

The social change platform was set up by husband and wife, Keren Mitchell and Natasha Freeman. They were inspired by how their own children loved taking action to address the big problems that mattered to them but realised not all children were able to access the information and tools to be empowered in this way.

SuperKind has partnered with more than forty charities, including WWF, Shelter and The Trussell Trust. Its education packs are already being used in a number of schools. More at: < superkind.org