The Speedwell Trust

The Speedwell Trust is an educational charity. We bring children, young people and their families together. Our programmes focus on good relations, the environment and helping young people reach their full potential at school. The Speedwell Trust was formed 30 years ago as a leading charity working with children to deliver Shared-Education activities in Northern Ireland. We use nature, as a means to engage and inspire children by bringing them together in the neutral and natural environment of our forest and secret garden in Parkanaur Forest. During the past 30 years shared education has continued to be a major focus of our work but we have expanded our remit to focus on improving outcomes for children by supporting children and their families to improve their wellbeing; to become more resilient and develop the capacity to deal with life’s challenges and respond as caretakers of themselves, each other and the world in which we live. Whilst our work and our focus today is much broader than it was 30 years ago, it continues to build on the strong history of our experiences and our heritage in NI and with a much greater focus on shared education, health, wellbeing, resilience and “coming together” having fun in nature.