RHET Lothian Chair James Wyllie and RHET Lothian Project Coordinator Karen Valentine present the Charles Brown Trophy to Christie McLeod and her class.

The Royal Highland Education Trust has selected Canal View Primary in Wester Hailes, Edinburgh, as the recipient of the Charles Brown Trophy for 2019.

The Charles Brown Trophy is awarded to the class or school (primary or secondary) who has worked best in partnership with RHET, engaged in a variety of the charity’s services and resources, and made the best of what RHET can offer. The trophy was launched in 2010 and is given to one of RHET’s 12 Countryside Initiatives each year to choose a winner.

This year the trophy was presented to teacher Christie McLeod at a morning school assembly. Christie has worked with RHET Lothian over the past four years. She has promoted RHET within the school and Canal View classes have enthusiastically embraced all parts of the charity’s services which include farm visits, classroom talks, growing potatoes as part of the Super Sonic Spuds project, the Easter Egg-stravaganza competition and the recent Food and Farming event at the Ingliston showgrounds.

As well as receiving the Charles Brown Trophy, the second part of the prize is a complimentary trip to the Royal Highland Show for up to one coach-full of pupils and teachers.

The late Charles Brown, who came from Aberlour, had a great passion for the outdoors. Charles was keen that all children had the opportunity to experience and learn from the countryside. He worked for many years with his local RHET group, the Royal Northern Countryside Initiative and gave 18 years’ service to the Royal Highland Agricultural Society of Scotland.

In celebration of his life, Charles’ sister, Mrs Pat Godman, donated the peripatetic trophy that was awarded for the first time in 2010 to Milltimber Primary School in his own RHET area. Since then, the trophy has been awarded to a different class or school every year – from the Highlands to the Scottish Borders.