One Ocean Roadshow Highlights

From seagrass themed sessions to ocean themed arts for adults, half term family activities and a new ESOL offer, the start of 2026 has been a busy and creative one! Our new ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) offer, 'Where I Live – The Beach’ invites learners to build confidence in English through new vocabulary, writing practice, comprehension and conversation, through the topic of our blue planet. Having access to the language to learn about our ocean is key to exploring our connection to it and just one small step towards making our marine environment more accessible for all.

From presenting to a local High School ahead of their fundraising efforts for Marine Conservation Society, to delivering Marine Litter sessions in classrooms, it’s been wonderful to connect with new schools. Bookings for One Ocean Roadshow in Blackpool, Preston and Blackburn are filling fast for next term and we look forward to travelling to the North West again.

One Ocean Roadshow sessions aim to increase peoples’ ocean literacy through four of the ocean literacy dimensions; Knowledge, Awareness, Attitudes, Behaviour. In January, two community groups were surveyed at random to better understand the impact of our sessions on peoples' connection with the ocean. Of the 17 people who completed their survey, from children to adults, 100% learnt something new about the marine environment and 94% stated they plan to take positive pro-ocean behaviour as a result of the session. Below they share their thoughts:

“The workshop was really engaging and informative, we learnt loads of new things about the ocean and the variety of amazing life that lives in it! I particularly enjoyed learning about seagrass and how effective it is in capturing carbon. Lorna also encouraged discussions about climate change and how we can make individual impact - which is something we regularly discuss as a group, so it was fab that the session explored how this links to the ocean too.” -Group Lead, Space2

”Fantastic session, really informative and engaging. Really well planned, also really good for our ESOL learners who don’t have the strongest grasp of English at this early stage. Great session!" - Group Lead, Barca Leeds.

"I actually hated the seaside before I came to today’s session! And now I can’t wait to get there to see what there is. I just can’t believe it! I used to love it with the kids , but these days I never walk on the sand, I avoid it . But not anymore! Not after today. It’s changed my mind on conserving everything in our environment. I’m so interested and exited to get started..." Group member, Crossgate Good Neighbours, Leeds.

In December, the One Ocean Roadshow Project team hosted a free screening of ‘OCEAN with David Attenborough' followed by Q&A panel discussion and was opened by the short documentary Hiraeth Yn Y Môr. The documentary raised poignant questions from pupils invited from a nearby high school, who asked about the future of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), the role of invasive species in UK waters and about the aspirations and plans for projects One Ocean Roadshow, Restoration Forth, Schools and Youth offers and Citizen Science. Thank you to all who attended, visited our stalls and connected with us on the day.

The One Ocean Roadshow welcomed 32 primary students and their teachers to Scarborough to walk in the footsteps of explorers, artists and citizen scientists for the day. Pupils carefully studied and sketched bio-facts, learnt about degradation times of our most common litter items. They created marine animals from recyclable everyday items. Pupils touched sand for the first time, used binoculars for the first time. We even spotted the famous Scarborough dolphins while doing a Beach Clean! Thanks to Heritage Lottery Fund for being part of this special day with us.

"Want to say a massive thank you for yesterday. What a day! The kids absolutely loved it and learnt so much. They loved every aspect of it. So did we staff. The activities were excellent and all inspiring, the children were engaged throughout. All of the your support staff were incredibly kind and helpful to the children and this added to the enjoyment of the day. Seeing the dolphins was the cherry on top." -Teacher

We engaged with 173 young people over 3 weeks throughout November, from whole school assemblies, outdoor lessons on Citizen Science – Source to Sea Litter Quest, a motivational talk on ‘Aspirations’ and turning a passion for the ocean into a career, and a session with Marine Conservation Society's Youth Ocean Network, sharing ideas for the projects’ development and learning about ways to meaningfully engage inland communities in Ocean Literacy. Thanks to the Youth Ocean Network for your fantastic ideas!

We organised a special day trip for a community group from Leeds to Filey. It was an opportunity to leave the city for the beach, to find rest, learn, and enjoy miles of warm sand with friends and support workers. For many, this was their very first time at a beach. In the afternoon, we enjoyed a picnic, played beach games, and the group contributed valuable time and effort by leading their own Beach Clean on Filey South Beach, before heading back to Leeds.

“To be grounded, to feel connected, to be present, and to share that moment on the beach with other people was huge for the group. It really meant a lot to people to simply share that space together.” – Group Leader

Partnering with Liverpool John Moores University, and in collaboration with an Ocean Friendly Schools colleague, we supported 53 final year Primary Education students with a CPD session to develop skills, confidence and knowledge to embed Ocean Literacy into their new teaching careers.

We also collaborated with LJMU Student Union to host a Beach Clean for over 40 fantastic Fresher students during Great British Beach Clean Week. Students were full of enthusiasm, discovering local wildlife, seaweed, the tides and the wider impacts of the litter they were surveying. We also reflected on the calming effect of being at the coast as a way for students to escape the busy city and take care of wellbeing in a new place.

We delivered 13 education sessions across 7 schools for 870 pupils accross Merseyside and the Wirral over two weeks. Some of the truly amazing, curious questions from Y5 & Y6 at Black Horse Hill Junior School during an assembly in West Kirby, September 2025, included:

🦭 “How can seals get harmed by plastic?”

🧭 “Why did NASA stop exploring the ocean floor?”

🦑 “If less than 5% of the ocean has been explored, can the Kraken really exist?”

🐋 “Is it true that if a human gets swallowed by a whale, they will spit you back out again?”

The One Ocean Roadshow Focus Group was steered by a fantastic group of 7 individuals from Liverpool to Leeds, representing diverse sectors – primary and secondary education, higher education, community development, and local council. They volunteered their time to share expertise, learning, evaluation, and ideas to support the ongoing development of the One Ocean Roadshow. This was transformative in ways we had never expected.

“… It’s quite easy to be weighed down by what's going on in the world at the moment, but to listen to everyone talk about their ideas and contributions, giving up their Thursday evening – it’s really nice, and it’s filled me with a lot of hope.” – Focus Group stakeholder

We explored inland Ocean Literacy with the fantastic ‘Nature Group’ at Falinge Park High School. Surrounded by hills, mills, and valleys, 37 miles from the coast, they explored product design for circular economy products and virtual rock pooling from their classroom, 450 feet above sea level.

We supported Litter Free Leeds for their Hawksworth Estate Community Litter Pick with BEAT, before visiting Hawksworth Wood Primary School to empower students to lead their own Source to Sea citizen science activity in the playground, helping the school plan their own efforts to protect their local environment.

We delivered 11 education sessions across 4 Manchester schools, exploring the wonder of our ocean, the threats it faces and pro-ocean actions we can make to protect our marine environment, witnessing the transformative impact of Ocean Literacy not only on pupils but also on the wider school team and staff, creating shifts in thought and pro-ocean behaviour across generations.

“I used to have a better relationship with the sea when I was younger, but now I don’t get the chance. The overfishing section with the Year 3s really made me think personally about the fish we choose to eat, and I plan to have a look at using the Good Fish Guide now.” – Year 3 Teacher

In collaboration with Stitch Up After School Club, the Young Makers creatively explored their connection to the ocean through a recycled craft-activity and a mini Source to Sea litter pick in the community centre grounds.

"It was great to embed some learning about the sea into our sessions, we often work with children in the city who don’t get to visit the seaside or in some cases have never seen the sea." - Stitch Up Group Leader

We collaborated with Leeds Young Film Festival at Leeds City Museum to support their ‘Drop in the Ocean’ VR Exhibition. The One Ocean Roadshow hosted stall with free family-friendly activities over two days, engaging members of the public in the wonder of our oceans and how to help protect them.

"Your ocean-themed stall and family activity complimented our VR Exhibition perfectly [at Leeds Museum]. It’s been a great success – Thank you." - Leeds Young Film Festival Coordinator

Seventy miles from the sea, the One Ocean Roadshow project also piloted and developed inland Ocean Literacy workshops with community members in West Leeds aged 70–90. These sessions explored reminiscence, story-sharing, and learning about marine wildlife and the threats to our oceans.

“When I was younger, we used to go to the shops and carry things home wrapped in a tea towel. We didn’t have plastic bags then.” – Group Member