TEN thousand ‘Hanson Boxes’ put together by Poole explorer Stewart McPherson in a bid to inspire scientific curiosity are set for delivery to primary schools across the country.

Stewart, of Hamworthy-based Redfern Natural History, has been working all year with the Don Hanson Charitable Foundation – which fully funded the project – to get the educational packs into 10,000 schools across the UK and its overseas territories.

The boxes include fact sheets, Stewart’s DVD focusing on the wildlife, culture and heritage of all the UK overseas territories in 16 short films, his Amazing Pets and How to Keep Them and Spectacular Plants and How to Grow Them books, a seed kit, map and access to 28 online films.

It is hoped around four million young students will eventually benefit from the project.

Currently, there are 120 pallets - weighing in at 50 tonnes - ready to be shipped from a Poole warehouse.

Stewart told the Echo: “It feels a bit like the warehouse in Indiana Jones, Raiders of the Lost Ark.

“These ‘Hanson Boxes’ are named in memory of the late philanthropist Don Hanson, and were generously funded by the Don Hanson Charitable Foundation.

“They are being sent to the schools completely free of charge, in the hope that they may inspire children’s interests in studying nature and science, and understanding conservation issues facing the world.”

In 2016 Stewart’s television documentary series, Britain’s Treasure Islands, aired on BBC4 and proved a big hit with viewers.

Following on from the documentary, 5,350 copies of his accompanying book, which shared its name with the TV series, were also shipped to British schools.

On that occasion, the project was made possible after businessman, philanthropist and major Tory donor Lord Michael Ashcroft – who has close ties with the Turks & Caicos Islands - made a donation.

The UK Overseas Territories are Britain’s most remote outposts. Stewart said: “Scattered across all the Seven Seas, they cover an area seven times the size of the British Isles.They range from the Equator to the South Pole, from lush tropical atolls in coral seas to active volcanoes and windswept Antarctic islands.”

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