The Great British School trip programme, launched by Hyundai earlier in 2023, and which offers schools bursaries for educational visits, has announced its second year with a focus on the environment.
Designed to inspire school children aged seven to 14 and help them to shape their future goals, the initiative set out to send 25,000 pupils on school trips across the UK.
The automotive company has been offering bursaries to help the schools most in need to fund their trips, including booking fees and travel costs.
As it announces a second year, charity Healthy Seas has joined the initiative to help educate children on the impact of plastic, the circular economy and to highlight the real-time pressing issues for the environment.
“I’m extremely proud to officially announce that Hyundai’s Great British School Trip programme will be taking place for a second year this September, as we help even more children across the country attend school trips.”
Ashley Andrew, president of Hyundai Motor UK
It follows a survey, commissioned by Hyundai, which found that more than two thirds (67%) of school children admit to being worried about the future of the planet, from an environmental point of view, but that just two fifths of them fully understand what global warming is.
An inspiring school workshop at Tate St Ives
In order to combat this gap in knowledge about issues affecting the natural environment, and as Hyundai marks the start of the highly anticipated second year of its Great British School Trip initiative, school children took part in an art workshop in Tate St Ives, transforming plastic bottles they had used at home that week into a seascape of marine life.
As part of the trip, children took part in an art workshop in Tate St Ives, transforming plastic bottles they had used at home that week into a seascape of marine life.
The visit has helped pupils understand the basics of littering, protecting the marine ecosystem, and the circular economy – using plastic for good, by recycling for second use.
Ashley Andrew, president of Hyundai Motor UK, said: “I’m extremely proud to officially announce that Hyundai’s Great British School Trip programme will be taking place for a second year this September, as we help even more children across the country attend school trips.
“We’re proud of our partnership with Healthy Seas to bolster our commitment to developing emission-free mobility solutions. With Healthy Seas’ expertise in protecting marine ecosystems, we share a vision for making the world a better place for future generations.
“It’s imperative that we teach this information to the next generation, and what better way to learn than to get out and see the good work that charities are doing first hand.”
Working with a network of partners, Healthy Seas is a non-profit organisation focusing on marine conservation and the promotion of a circular economy. Some parts of the fishing nets (made of Nylon 6 and not too ruined), that are collected by Healthy Seas are used to make new products such as floor mats used in some of Hyundai’s cars.
Veronika Mikos, director of Healthy Seas, said: “A further aspect of the work that we do to protect the oceans is educational outreach. By working with local schools, especially those at primary school age, we can teach children the importance of keeping the world’s oceans clean and the devastating impact of marine pollution.
“We also know how important it is to bring fun and games into education to engage children and support their individual learning style. Therefore, all our activities and learning on the trips is carried out with a fun twist.”
About the Great British School Trip programme
Hyundai’s Great British School Trip programme helps to educate children and promotes learning outside of the classroom environment.
The initiative has been shaped around Hyundai’s vision for the future, Progress for Humanity, which looks at how connections and collaborations can accelerate progress and innovation, and will support the curriculum by covering important subjects such as art, maths and STEM.
To find out more about Hyundai’s Great British School Trip initiative and how you can get involved, click here.
