More than 5,500 bird boxes made by primary teacher delivered to Scottish schools

A primary school teacher who began making bird boxes during lockdown has gone on to deliver more than 5,500 of his creations to schools across Scotland.

Having spread through the Borders, East Lothian, Perth and Kinross and the Highlands, Tom Rawson’s boxes have now landed in the Kingdom of Fife.

Tom, who is based at a school in the Borders, has been gifting the sustainably made boxes to children as part of a project to help them learn more about Scotland’s bird life.

Tom told STV News: “I first started this around the time of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We’re really lucky to live in such a beautiful part of the world. Allowing children to have the knowledge to be able to access the world around them is really important.”

The boxes help children become citizen scientists. All the information they gather in their playground can be sent to the Fife Nature Records Centre.

Tom says he is committed to bring his boxes to every school in the nation and is eyeing areas in the central belt next.

“A bird box can be used for about 15 to 20 years. The main thing is just for sheer biodiversity, they’re fantastic,” he said.

“They are not only used by tree and house sparrows to nest in. They’ll also be used by invertebrates propping up the food chain, like butterflies, woodlice or spiders, that we don’t really think about as an important part of the natural world. They can use them to shelter in winter and breed in the summer.”

Fife Coast and Countryside Trust education manager Aidan Duncan has welcomed the initiative.

He said: “We think its a fantastic project to be involved in. Anything which is able to bring nature to urban spaces and into school grounds is certainly a winning combination for us.

“To be able to have a resource on your doorstep for schools to do more education and outdoor learning makes this a really valuable project for Fife communities.”