Aim

Helping children build environmental and climate awareness, providing access to green space, and developing skills for a sustainable future.

Who we are
Burwood Preschool is a small, not-for-profit early years setting in Hersham, Surrey, supporting children aged 2–5.

Our Forest School is an established outdoor learning environment where children engage directly with nature. This project focuses on developing it as a climate-focused education space, helping children understand and respond to the natural world from an early age.

How to donate
We are really excited to be supported by the Aviva Communities Fund for Climate Action, who can match donations pound for pound over 6 weeks until 19 June - meaning we can double the funds raised for our children.

You can either make a simple donation on the top right of the page in the donation box, or you can make a donation with a reward - listed at the bottom of the page. This fundraising page is for the Burwood Sponsored walk, plus a host of other fundraising activity during the fundraising 6 weeks.

Our project
We are raising £4,000 primarily to install a composting toilet and handwashing station at our Forest School - a low-impact, water-free system that will enable children to spend extended time learning outdoors.

Why this matters
Children today are growing up in a world increasingly affected by climate change, yet many have limited access to nature or opportunities to understand it.

Our Forest School helps address this by:

• building early environmental awareness
• fostering respect for natural systems
• supporting wellbeing through time spent outdoors

However, without basic infrastructure, access to the woodland is limited.

A composting toilet is essential to enable longer, consistent outdoor sessions in all weather - reducing reliance on indoor, resource-intensive facilities and supporting low-impact learning.

What we will do
With £4,000, we will install a composting toilet and handwashing station, alongside a small rainwater collection system and staff training.

The composting toilet will:

• reduce water use compared to traditional toilets
• avoid reliance on sewage infrastructure
• support a low-impact, sustainable outdoor setting
• enable children to remain outdoors for longer periods

This is critical to ensuring Forest School can operate consistently and year-round.

Impact
This project will support around 70 children aged 2–5 each year, along with 28 children aged 5–11 from our afterschool club.

Children will benefit from:

• increased understanding of nature and sustainability
• improved wellbeing through regular outdoor learning
• development of confidence, independence and resilience

By enabling longer time outdoors, this project strengthens children’s connection to nature and supports early behaviours that contribute to climate responsibility.

Why we’re well placed
Our Forest School is already established and delivering clear benefits. We have strong relationships with local families and experience delivering inclusive early years education.

This funding will allow us to strengthen and sustain a proven model

How this fits Aviva’s funding
This project supports Climate Action by helping children build a connection to nature, understand environmental change, and develop behaviours that support long-term climate resilience.

The composting toilet reduces water use and environmental impact, while enabling outdoor learning that helps children understand and adapt to a changing climate.

With your support, we can create a more sustainable, resilient outdoor learning environment for children - and help them build a lifelong connection to nature.

This project successfully funded on 19th June 2026