B a r n e y says l e t ’ s

t a l k a b out . . . the environment

Sparky’s

Big Idea!

POLICECO

MMUNITYCLUBS

OFGREAT BR

ITAIN

By The Police Community Clubs of Great Britain

Name: ........................................................

l e t ’ s t a l k

a b out t h e

e n v i r o nm e n t

B a r n e y says . . .

This book

belongs to...

The Police Community Clubs of Great Britain supports initiatives that help

young people to reach their full potential and become responsible citizens.

The Police Community Clubs of Great Britain is responsible for a range of

sport and leisure initiatives as well as citizenship education projects, such as

the Barney and Echo series of resources. The books have been developed to

support teachers and parents in addressing personal, social and health

education (PSHE) issues at key stage 1-2.

With a committee made up entirely of serving or retired police officers, The

Police Community Clubs of Great Britain also runs a network of young

people’s clubs that stretches across the UK.

Published by Community Initiatives Associates

© Copyright of The Police Community Clubs of Great Britain. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any format without

express consent of the copyright holder.

ISBN: 978-0-9558637-5-2

3

Page

Sparky’s Big Idea 6

Learning activities

Activity 1: Let’s help Echo 10Activity 2: Barney’s friend 13Activity 3: Recycling facts 17Activity 4: Help Sparky 20Activity 5: Shady Copse maze 22Activity 6: Feelings 26Activity 7: Stop wasting energy and recycle 32Activity 8: Design an Eco Club poster 35Activity 9: Renewable energy 38

A message from Barney 42

AcknowledgmentsThe PCCGB would like to thank the following

for their contribution to this publication:

LiME for project management

Norman Kirtlan for creative ideas and learning activities

Paul Hogg for illustrations

Mark Crombie for graphic design

Community Initiatives Associates for sales and distribution

Contents

The Barney and Echo series has been developed to support parents

and teachers in addressing Personal, Social, Health, Education (PSHE)

at key stage 1-2. The books follow the adventures of Barney Eagle and

Echo Squirrel who live in Treetop Forest.

Each book has a story relating to a PSHE subject area with activities

to reinforce the learning goals. The books, which are designed to be

fun and educational, can be used in a classroom setting or at home to

support reading and discussion. Sparky's Big Idea is the sixth book in

the series. Over 250,000 books have been distributed to schools

across the UK.

Sparky's Big Idea raises discussion around the environment and

sustainable energy. Living in a forest, there appears to be an endless

supply of wood but as the animals use it up without planting new trees

the forest starts to die. Sparky Fox tries to tell everyone to recycle

and save energy but nobody will listen until the Treetop Forest Council

announce that they need to cut down an area of forest to

supply wood for the winter. This includes cutting down

Echo's home. Its time for change and with Sparky's

help, Echo starts an Eco Club.

4

T h e B a r n ey

a n d Ec ho s e r i es

5

POLICECO

MMUNITYCLUBS

OFGREAT BR

ITAIN

BBaarrnneeyy ssaayyss lleett’’ss ttaallkk aabboouutt......

bbuullllyyiinngg aanndd vvaannddaalliissmm

By the Police Community Clubs of Great Britain

Barney and Echo AFriendship MadeBullying andVandalism

Caught in the WebInternet safety

The Bad ApplesAnti-social behaviour

Echo's New WatchCarrying knives

Barney and theMagic MirrorDrugs, tobaccoand alcohol

For samples and ordering visit:

www.barneyecho.co.uk

The PlaysCross-curricularResource

Barney Eagle had never felt so sad.

Soaring high over the ancient oak trees of Treetop Forest, Barney

could see for miles and what he saw worried him very much indeed.

At the edge of the great forest, a loud rumble could be heard as

huge machines crunched their way through trees and thorny bushes.

It seemed to Barney that the whole world was trembling beneath

the yellow lorries and earth moving machines.

6

Sparky’s Big Idea!

7

Big changes were coming and Barney could see them starting to

happen as he flew over one of his favourite places. The stream that

ran past The Old Water Mill had become no more than a trickle of

dirty water. Barney could remember, not so very long ago that the

stream bubbled and danced over rocks and waterfalls but now the

water seemed sad and so did the trees. It was summer and all of the

animals were wearing their summer clothes but something was wrong,

very wrong.

As the morning sun cast its first rays over the forest, Barney sniffed

back a tear and shook his head. He had much to do. Maybe it wasn’t

too late but Barney knew he couldn’t save the forest on his own. He

needed help and decided to start by talking with his best friend,

Echo Squirrel.

Barney was sad

because Treetop

Forest was slowly

dying.

Trees and living

things can die if the

air around us becomes

dirty.

Barney should just

forget about Treetop

Forest and live

somewhere else.

Looking after our

world is very

important.

What do you know

about the

environment?

What do you want to

know about the

environment?

What do we mean by

a sustainable

environment?

Discussion point:

True False

Down in Shady Copse stood the tallest tree in Treetop Forest.

This was where Echo Squirrel lived.

Echo had just woken from a deep sleep and rolled over to look at

the alarm clock. It was seven o’clock and if he didn’t hurry he would

be late for school, AGAIN!

Even though it was summer Echo had felt a little chilly in the night

and had switched on his bedroom radiator. The room was now very

warm as the radiator had been on all night.

Echo ran to the bathroom where he turned on the tap and let it run

while he went and opened a window. Water gurgled wastefully down

the drain as Echo then splashed his face and brushed his teeth.

It was time for breakfast now as Echo raced downstairs to the

kitchen but such was his hurry, he didn’t quite turn off the tap.

Soon the bathroom was filled with swirling clouds of steam from

the hot water and that wasn’t all, Echo had also forgotten to switch

off the bathroom and bedroom lights.

8

Echo was far too busy to think about

lights, water and energy. After all, he

needed his breakfast and he still had

his homework to do.

With a bowl full of nuts and raisins beside

him, Echo sat down in front of his laptop

to do his homework. He didn’t need to

switch the computer on because he never

bothered to switch it off from the last time he used it!

Then Barney arrived.

“Good morning, Echo,” called a very familiar voice.

“Come in Barney, you’re just in time to help me with my homework,”

replied Echo.

Barney wasn’t here to talk about homework. He was here to talk about

what was going on in the forest but he could see that Echo was far too

concerned with the task on his laptop to listen. Barney Eagle gave a

long sigh, his worries

would have to wait

a little longer and

after all, homework

is very important

thought Barney.

“Alright, let me see

if I can help.”

Echo showed Barney

a list that his

teacher had given to

him. The list had the

first and last letter

and then a clue. It

was just like a

crossword puzzle.

Echo and Barney sat down and completed the missing letters. 9

What did Echo do

wrong during his

morning routine?

Discussion point:

10

Activity 1

Let’s help Echo with his homework. His Teacher has provided the first

and last letters of each word. Echo has to find out what the word is

using the clues. Can you help?

1. This is what we use when we switch on a light or run

around. E_ _ _ _Y.2. This is what we call the place in which we live or the

world around us. E_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _T.3. This is what we do when we leave lights on when we

don’t need them. We W_ _ _E energy.4. When we re-use things like glass and paper we

R_ _ _ _ _E them.5. This can be made from trees or recycled materials.

P_ _ _R.6. This is what we must do with energy in order to

protect our planet. S_ _ E.7. When the air and water become dirty or full of

waste, we call this P_ _ _ _ _ _ _ N.

11

Working together, the two friends soon finished the homework. It

was time for school now but even though Echo was in a hurry he could

see that Barney was not his usual happy self.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. “I’ve never seen you look so sad before.”

“I’m worried,” replied Barney quietly. “One of my best friends is

very sick and no one seems to care.”

“Do I know them?” asked Echo with some concern.

Barney nodded. ”Yes you know them very well. Very well indeed.”

Echo was going to be late for school so Barney decided to leave him

with a clue to think about during the day. The homework puzzle they

had just completed gave Barney an idea.

“My best friend’s initials are T and F,” said Barney mysteriously.

“Wow!” said Echo. “I love puzzles. Now don’t tell me, let me guess.

I’ll think about it today at school.”

Echo looked at his watch. Ten minutes till school time.

“Got to go!” he shouted, throwing his school books into a sports bag

and heading for the door.

12

“Hold on!” called Barney rather sternly. “Haven’t you forgotten

something?”

Echo was surprised as Barney sounded quite annoyed. He looked

into his bag to find his books, pens and pencils were all there.

Echo shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.

“No, I don't think I've forgotten anything,” he replied.

“I’ll give you some more clues,” said Barney impatiently. “Your

computer is still on, the lights are all on, the taps are running

upstairs and this house is so hot you must have left the heating

on too.”

“Oh that,” laughed Echo. “Don’t worry. I always leave them on.

It won’t do any harm.”

Before Barney could say anything more Echo had scampered off

to school.

Barney gave another great big sigh and set about turning off taps,

heating and light switches and the laptop. This was going to be even

harder than he thought.

13

Activity 2

Barney says that his friend’s name has two words. One begins with the

letter T and the other the letter F. Rearrange these letters to find

out his friend’s name.

Protest for tee

T _ _ _ _ _ _ F_ _ _ _ _

Who or what is it that Barney is so worried about? Create a mind-map of who and what would be affected if the forest dies.

(write your answers on the falling leaves and then join them together).

14

At school Echo couldn’t wait to share Barney’s puzzle with his friends.

“Who could it be?” asked Spike Hedgehog. “Who has the initials

T and F?”

“Could it be Tom Frog?” suggested Digsby Mole.

Echo shook his head. “No, I saw Tom yesterday and he wasn’t ill at all.”

“Tania Ferret?” suggested Dizzy Rabbit.

“Terry Fish?” added Spike.

Soon, Echo was surrounded by a huge pile of pages that he had torn

from his notebook. Each page had a different name written on it and

the pile grew bigger and bigger as more and more friends started to

join in. This was fun!

“Timmy Fly?” someone suggested

“What about Tony Falcon?” said another.

Echo spotted Sparky Fox in the crowd that had gathered.

“What’s your suggestion Sparky?” he laughed.

15

Sparky didn’t reply but looked thoughtfully at the pile of paper

beside Echo.

Sparky was always talking about things like recycling, renewable

energy and looking after the environment. Some of the animals

thought that Sparky was a bit boring and never really bothered

to take much notice of what he said.

“Come on Sparky, the letters are T and F. Who do you think it could

be?” asked Echo again.

Sparky still didn’t answer the question but instead asked one of

his own.

“Why have you wasted all that paper?”

Echo told Sparky about the game he and his friends were playing

and explained how he was writing all the names down to show Barney.

Sparky nodded slowly.

“Well that sounds like fun but why didn’t you just use one page

from your book?” asked Sparky before adding in a very quiet voice.

“Why waste all of that paper?”

Echo pretended to yawn.

“I’ve got lots and lots of

paper Sparky. The

cupboards are full of it.”

“Do you know where paper

really comes from?” asked

Sparky.

“Shops!” laughed Echo.

Sparky ignored the

laughter.

“And where do you think

the shops get it from?”

16

Echo shrugged his shoulders. He hadn’t really thought about it before.

“Paper comes from trees,” said Sparky. “We have to cut down trees to

make paper.”

Echo laughed even louder. “Well that’s ok then. Just look at the

forest, there are thousands of trees in there.”

Before Sparky could say anything else Miss Tawny called the class

together. Miss Tawny was usually the happiest teacher in school but

today she looked worried. In fact she had the same sad and worried

look that Barney had earlier that day. “What is going on and who has

the initials T and F?” thought Echo.

The class sat down and listened very carefully while Miss Tawny

explained about a meeting that Treetop Council had called to

discuss energy.

Echo yawned. “Energy, energy, energy,” he whispered. “I’m keeping

mine for playing football at break!”

Sparky has asked Echo to recycle his waste paper.

Here are some facts about recycling that have

been mixed up. Can you rearrange them by drawing

a line to join the right statements together?

To help you, the first line has been drawn in.

17

Activity 3

Now create a leaflet or poster about recycling.

Recycling is

better for the

environment

because

If we do not

recycle paper

Paper

and glass

Recycling

is when we

re-use things

like paper and

bottles.

we will have to

cut down even

more trees.

it saves energy

and reduces the

harm caused by

waste.

can be put into

special recycling

bins.

18

When break time came Echo had a job to do before he could get down

to the serious business of playing football and having fun. Miss Tawny

had seen the huge pile of paper and told Echo to put it in the recycling

bin and that bin was in the next classroom. Echo was too lazy to go to

the next classroom and thought it was much quicker and easier to just

put the paper in an ordinary bin.

Echo looked around to make sure nobody was watching and started

to empty the paper into the waste bin but someone was watching

after all.

“Echo! stop!”

Echo looked up to see Sparky Fox.

“Not you again,” groaned Echo.

19

“Yes, me again. Why didn't you put the paper into the recycling

bin like Miss Tawny asked you to? That way we could recycle it.”

Echo shook his head and continued to empty the paper into the

waste bin.

“I’ve told you, we have thousands of trees, so what’s the problem?”

Echo started to walk away. “Time for football, now leave me alone.”

Sparky was annoyed that Echo would not listen to him but he

stayed calm and called after the young squirrel.

“I know who it is that Barney is so worried about,” said Sparky.

“I know who it is that has the initials T and F. “

Echo stopped and turned around. This was suddenly more

interesting than football.

“Who is it?” asked Echo.

“Not someone,” said Sparky. “Something.”

Echo was puzzled. “Barney is worried about something that is

very ill?” he stuttered.

“Treetop Forest!” said Sparky. “Barney is worried about Treetop

Forest and so are Treetop Council. That is why they have called

a meeting.”

20

Activity 4

Echo won’t listen to Sparky. Can you help Sparky by writing a letter to

Echo? Tell Echo what is happening to Treetop Forest and explain how

he is making things worse.

Dear Echo

21

The meeting of Treetop Council was packed. Everyone was there to

find out what was going on. Barney sat at the front, where there was

a long table. Beside him, the Mayor and some very important animals

were talking about that word again; ENERGY.

The Mayor explained how energy was beginning to run out because so

much was being used.

Olly Owl didn't really understand what energy was and timidly asked

the Mayor to explain.

“We need energy to heat our homes, provide light, cook our food,

power TV's and laptops and also for transport,” said the Mayor kindly.

The room fell silent as everyone thought about energy for a moment.

“So where does energy come from?” asked Olly.

22

Activity 5

Shady Copse Maze: Help Sparky

23

find the wind turbine.

24

This time Barney

answered. “Energy

comes from natural

resources like wind,

water and the sun.

It comes from coal

and gas in the ground

and....” he paused.

“And what?” said Olly.

“Wood,” replied

Barney. “In Treetop

Forest most of our

energy comes from

wood.”

Echo looked up and called from the back of the room. “Well

that’s alright then because we have lots and lots of wood.”

Barney shook his head as the Mayor continued.

“It’s true that we did have lots of wood, but we are using it too

quickly. We don't have enough to build the new homes we need

or to burn on our fires when winter comes. We need more and

we need it now.”

Then the Mayor explained that a big area of the forest would have

to be cut down to provide the wood they needed.

The Mayor stood up and spoke in a shaky voice. “We have decided

to cut down the oldest trees in the forest as they are the biggest

and will supply the most energy.”

“Energy, energy, energy,” muttered Echo under his breath.

“We have decided to cut down…” the Mayor hesitated and cleared

his throat.

25

“Shady Copse. We are going to cut down Shady Copse and we will

start tomorrow.”

Echo was stunned.

“You’re going to cut down Shady Copse?” he said, hardly believing

what he had just heard. “But that’s where I live!”

Suddenly Echo was very interested. He jumped up and waved his

arms in the air.

“You can’t cut down my home!” he shouted. “There must be something

else we can do…we can save energy…we can…”

“It’s too late,” said the Mayor. “You should have thought about that

earlier. We all should.”

26

Activity 6

Do some research and present back your findings on:

Recycling

Sustainability

Littering

Renewable energy

Echo has been told that his tree will be cut down and he

will lose his home. Colour the tree that describes how

Echo felt.

When Echo was told he would no longer be able to live in his

home, he felt:

Happy Sad Not Bothered

When Echo realised that wasting energy had caused the problem

he felt:

Ashamed Happy Not Bothered

When Echo realised that Sparky and Barney had been trying to

warn him to change his behaviour he felt:

Silly for not listening Not bothered Angry

27

As dawn broke Treetop

Forest prepared for

one of its hardest days.

Great yellow lorries and

tree diggers had moved

slowly through the night

and they were

approaching Shady

Copse. The families

stood by watching and

waiting as the sound of

the machines grew

louder. Soon it would be

time to say goodbye to the trees that had been their home for

many years.

Echo however was still in his home! It was empty now but he just

wanted to spend a few minutes on his own thinking about all the

wonderful times he had enjoyed there. He had a new home to go to

but it wouldn't be the same. Everything was going to change and it

was all happening because he had used too much energy. “If only I

could turn the clock back,” thought Echo.

Then THEY arrived! The ground shook as the huge tree cutters

crashed through the Copse ripping up everything that stood in their

way. One by one the great oaks crashed to the ground and were

hauled away by the big yellow machines.

Before he had time to leave, Echo felt his own tree begin to shake.

Loud noises came from far below as the chainsaws ripped into the

huge trunk causing splinters of wood to shoot past his window.

Echo suddenly felt very angry and shouted for them to stop and leave

his home alone but nobody could hear him above the roar of the

machines. He shouted again, louder than he had ever shouted before.

28

“I'll change! I'll recycle and save energy, I will do anything if you

just stop!”

But no one could hear him. The huge saws sliced through the tree

trunk. The ancient oak groaned and started to lean as the saws ate

through the final piece of wood.

“Stop! Stop!” screamed Echo, scampering high up in to the branches.

“Please stop!”

But it was too late. The tree started to fall with Echo hanging on

desperately as branches snapped and leaves showered the ground

below.

“Help!” screamed the terrified squirrel. “Help me!”

Echo closed his eyes as the ground came rushing towards him but

at the very last moment he felt some strong talons lift him upwards

to safety.

“Oh Barney,” sobbed Echo. “Thank you.”

Treetop Forest had changed forever. Where once the tall oaks had

shaded woodland ferns there was now just an open space covered in

sawdust and broken twigs. Barney had been right all along.

“I'm so sorry,” cried Echo. “You were right Barney but I wouldn't

listen.”

Barney reassured him. “Everything will be alright my friend. You

are listening now and it’s never too late to change. There is no

need to apologise to me but there is someone else who you should

say sorry to.”

29

30

Echo couldn't think who that could be.

“Sparky Fox,” said Barney. “You should really say sorry to Sparky and

learn from all the things he has done to save energy.”

“You're right Barney, I should apologise to Sparky and I really want

to learn how to save energy. Can we go and see Sparky now?” said

Echo feeling a little better.

Barney smiled for the first time in a long time. “Yes, of course

we can.”

Sparky didn't give Echo a chance to apologise. Instead he gave him a

big hug. ”Come in Echo, let me show you around my home. Perhaps you

will get some ideas for when you build your own. Until then, you can

stay with me.”

Sparky’s home was very different to Echo's old house. It was built

with things called sustainable materials and nothing that could be

recycled went to waste. Paper went into one bin and tin cans and

bottles into another. Even the light bulbs were different.

“These are low energy bulbs,” explained Sparky, proudly.

31

Echo nodded. He was slowly beginning to realise how important energy

conservation was. “I’ll bet you turn the lights off as soon as you no

longer need them too,” he said, rather embarrassed at his wasteful

ways.

Sparky smiled. “And the heating and the TV and the computer,”

he said.

“Everything we can save helps us to protect our environment. If we

look after Treetop Forest, Treetop Forest will look after us.”

Echo nodded again thinking how silly and wasteful he had been. Barney

was right. Treetop Forest was indeed very poorly and it was everyone’s

responsibility to put things right. It was time to listen and it was time

to act.

Sparky took Echo outside and showed him the large panels on top of

his roof. “These are solar panels. They use sunlight to make energy

that heats our home and provides us with warm water.”

Echo was starting to have a few ideas of his own. Treetop Forest had

changed and so must he.

32

Activity 7

Can you find 5 things in the pictures below that show

Echo not recycling and wasting energy and materials?

Circle your answers.

33

By the time summer turned into autumn Echo had been busy for weeks

learning about ways to protect the environment. As well as learning

from Sparky, Echo had been getting lots of new ideas from the

internet. He was also acting differently and always remembered to

turn off the computer every time that he finished using it.

Echo's new home was very different to the old one. The walls were

made from old bottles that had been thrown away, and light now

flooded into the rooms that made up the living areas. The roof had

solar panels on top to convert sunlight into energy and there were low

energy light bulbs in all the rooms. In fact, everything in Echo’s new

house had been built with conservation in mind.

As he added more and more energy saving ideas Echo’s new home

began to attract a lot of attention. Digsby Mole came to visit with

Spike Hedgehog and Echo showed them what could be done with waste

materials. He showed them simple things like putting paper into a

recycling bin, clever things like solar panels and interesting things like

the recycled plastic bottles. When Digsby and Spike told their

friends, news quickly spread. Soon, everyone wanted to visit Echo's

amazing house.

34

It was now November and the

leaves were falling, crisp and

brown from the trees. As the

wind howled around the bare

branches a strange sound

could be heard in Shady

Copse. The old trees were

gone but other things had

sprouted in recent months and

one in particular stood high

above the rest.

Echo, Barney and their friends had been collecting small young trees,

known as saplings, from other areas of the forest and were planting a

new woodland area. Oak, elm and willow trees were now happily taking

root and thriving. This was part of Echo's latest conservation idea.

He had set up an ECO CLUB.

The Eco Club was very popular. Tom Frog had just joined and every

day more and more animals came along to take part in all sorts of

exciting activities. Some days they would make things out of recycled

materials like the lamp Tom had just made using an old bottle. Other

days they would take part in clean up’s to help the forest stay free

from litter and rubbish. Today they were planting a sustainable wood.

Echo had learned about SUSTAINABILITY from the internet and

thought it was a brilliant idea. It is really very simple. When we use a

natural resource like wood we plant more to replace it. As long as we

don’t use more than we plant we won’t run out. That’s

what had happened in Treetop Forest. In the past

the animals had used far too much wood without

bothering to think about replacing it.

Echo has started an Eco Club.

Help him to design a poster telling the other animals

what will happen at the club.

Include a Barney character made from recycled

materials.

35

Activity 8

36

Shady Copse was looking much better already but in amongst the

new young trees something seemed to have grown. It was made

of metal and had three huge arms hanging from its body. Echo

could hardly contain his excitement as he explained to his

friends what it was.

“It looks like a windmill,” said Dizzy Rabbit.

“It is,” replied Echo. “But this is no ordinary windmill, this is

a wind turbine.”

37

“A what?” asked Dizzy. Dizzy knew what a windmill was. His friend Bill

Badger used a windmill to make flour and he had watched the wind

turning the big sails and learned how this made the machinery work to

grind grain into flour.

“A wind turbine works just like a windmill,” explained Echo. “But

instead of using the wind to turn machinery like Bill Badger’s does,

this one uses the wind to create electricity. This wind turbine will

provide all the electricity I need for my new home and many more

homes as well. It’s completely SUSTAINABLE because we will never

run out of wind.”

“That’s brilliant!” said Dizzy who was very impressed.

“And that’s not all,” added Barney. “Look where it is. It’s been built

right on the spot where Echo’s old house used to be,”

“Every time I see this wind turbine I will think about my old home,”

said Echo proudly.

“And how wasteful you used to be,” said Barney with a smile.

38

Activity 9

Wind turbines use RENEWABLE energy. Unravel the wires to

find out some facts about renewable energy.

is renewable energy

made from sunlight.

is renewable energy

made from the power

of moving water.

is renewable energy

made from plants or

animal materials.

is renewable energy

made from the power

of the wind.

Solar power

Wind PowerBio Power

Hydro Power

3539

Winter passed quickly for Echo. He was warm and cosy in his new

home and happy that it was all powered from the wind turbine. Nearly

all of the young animals from Treetop Forest were now members of

the Eco Club and Echo had spent the long winter days finding more

and more ways for the club to help the environment.

The Eco Club had lots to do as spring started to arrive but today was

a particularly big day. Today the Eco Club were visiting The Old Water

Mill. Echo had a plan to use the mills huge water wheel to create even

more sustainable energy.

As they walked through the melting snow and made their way to the

mill, Echo explained his plan.

40

“The mill is old and broken and the stream has become blocked

but we can fix it,” he said. “We can clear all the rubbish out of

the stream and repair the wheel. Once the stream is clear the

water will flow faster and when we repair the wheel the water

will begin to turn it.”

Everyone agreed that it was a fantastic idea but as they arrived

at the mill the animals got a big shock. It wasn’t just a blocked

stream and a broken wheel they were looking at. The whole area

was covered in rubble and rubbish along with huge piles of litter,

bricks, rotting food and broken slabs of concrete.

Echo could barely speak as he pointed to the fence that

separated Treetop Forest from Dark Wood. The fence had been

pulled down and there were deep tyre tracks where lorries had

driven through the gap.

The animals of Dark Wood had turned The Old Water Mill into a

rubbish dump.

Echo’s friends stared silently, hardly able to believe the terrible

mess that had been made of the lovely old mill.

Barney looked at Echo and then gave a big beaming smile.

“Don’t worry,” Barney said.“We can save The Old WaterMill and Treetop Forest. I have a plan...”

41

A message from Barney

It’s important we all

work together to protect

our environment.

42

POLICECO

MMUNITYCLUBS

OFGREAT BR

ITAIN

With regard to youth and community projects, The Police Community

Clubs of Great Britain concentrates on three themes:

Education

Through the provision of books, all based on personal, social and health education

(PSHE) themes and featuring our exclusive characters Barney and Echo, we intend to

educate children and their carers on numerous subjects relating to the promotion of life

skills, increasing self-esteem and the development of motivation in young people.

The six publications in the series are A Friendship Made: Let’s Talk About Bullying and

Vandalism, The Magic Mirror: Let’s Talk About Drugs, Tobacco and Alcohol, Echo’s New

Watch: Let’s Talk About Knives, Caught in the Web: Let’s Talk About Keeping Safe on

the Internet, The Bad Apples: Let’s Talk About Anti-Social Behaviour and Sparky’s Big

Idea: Let’s Talk About The Environment. The Police Community Clubs of Great Britain

has distributed over 250,000 copies of these publications to primary schools and

feedback from teachers and pupils alike has been excellent.

Citizenship

We will support projects seeking to develop children and young people as active

citizens who can make a positive contribution to their communities. These will include

activities to tackle social exclusion, truancy and bullying, working with excluded pupils

and many other community-based initiatives.

Sport and Leisure

Through our established clubs network, we will support projects that seek to provide

a stable environment for children and young people and promote moral values. The

potential benefit of the work carried out by our organisation is huge. It has a national

network of volunteer professionals to support the development and delivery of projects

and a unique means of tapping into the ideas of children and young people. The

concept is innovative and at the forefront of current thinking on working with young

people, promoting social inclusion and building sustainable communities.43

The End

A part of the Barney and Echo Series

Sparky’s Big Idea: Barney Says Let’s Talk About The Environment

is a part of the Barney & Echo series of exciting and informative books

for school children studying PSHE and Citizenship topics produced by

The Police Community Clubs of Great Britain and published in

partnership with Community Initiatives Associates,

25 Egerton Street, Chester, CH1 3ND.

To see a full range of books or to re-order

more copies of this book please visit

www.barneyecho.co.ukPrinted by Magprint

www.magprint.co.uk

Books are priced at £6

This book is widely

recyclable in the UK