This Saturday, September 14th, CCI reached a significant milestone as we celebrated our founding director, Ruth Sapsed, and over twenty years of dedicated service to our mission.
Beneath a beautiful late summer sky, writing, stories, anecdotes, and gifts were shared, as friends recollected the richness, fun, and memories of shared endeavours and companionship over the years.
“It was very special to talk together, craft together, eat and drink together, share stories and memories together, to sing together, and to dance together. I think Ruth will have felt appreciated, celebrated and loved.” Richard McLean.
A milestone for CCI
The celebration is a well-deserved recognition of Ruth’s remarkable legacy since CCI became a charity in 2007. What started as local conversations rooted in shared desires for a more creative, more nature connected approach to education has grown into an evidence-based practice across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, offering creative adventuring outdoors for people of all ages and backgrounds across our region.
Under Ruth’s leadership, CCI has offered expertise and foundational research into nature connectedness and Artscaping that is helping children and young people to flourish, rooted in collaboration and care with and for one another and our worlds.
“Together with artists, teachers, researchers, scientists, therapists, and especially young people, Ruth has blazed a path for us all, creating with CCI a unified vision for collective flourishing that sees strengths in our differences, value in our vulnerabilities, and reason to hope despite the daily tragedies.” Emily Dowdeswell.
Reflections from Ruth
Sharing powerful words from her final Annual Review, Ruth emphasised the journey from finding space in an educational system that seemed determined to tidy this work away, towards a better understanding of all the wider systems we fit into too.
“We have learnt how the work sits uniquely at the intersection of community, education, mental health and well-being, environment and conservation, research and creativity, and can now show the powerful potential for it to positively influence systems as demonstrated by the quality and depth of our partnerships and impact evidence gathered across the past twenty plus years of practice.” Ruth Sapsed.
Moving forwards together
The event represented all that we have come to associate with CCI: creativity, community, the woods, the sky over our heads, joyfulness and a strong shared belief in the power of another way of doing things.
“A wonderful celebratory event for Ruth and also for all of us who journeyed together and alongside to see where we started from - old faces and new- and where we are poised to go.” Susanne Jasilek.
Ruth has handed over to us a charity that is stronger than ever before and we are all so looking forward to working together over the coming months on the fantastical projects on the horizon.