West Boldon Lodge

West Boldon Lodge is part of the National Grid environmental education centre network. The centre delivers school visits, family activities, allotment facilities and education, community and conservation volunteering.

West Boldon Lodge is the only centre of its kind in South Tyneside which combines a 13-hectare nature site, with a large, bright and inspiring log eco-cabin, on a local nature site. The site boasts diverse habitats including woodlands, ponds, and meadows. These are managed using traditional methods to benefit wildlife and people.

The site also includes an allotment, campfire circles, an outdoor classroom and a Woodland Realm that provides novel stimuli for young children to grow emotionally, physically and intellectually in an outdoor environment. The whole site has been developed over nearly 20 years, balancing natural space with accessibility, to provide safe and secure surroundings for all to learn about and build a positive connection with the natural world.

The Northern Network’s Project Facilitator in South and North Tyneside is supporting the lodge to connect people with nature through play, learning and conservation, in particular those audiences that are more traditionally hard to reach. The site runs fun and informative family activities, immersive learning visits for schools, and programmes that support adults to develop skills and confidence through volunteering.