MANY children living a stone’s throw from award-winning Devon beaches and lush woodlands have never visited them – because their parents don’t have the confidence or the time to take them.

Caroline Voaden, the Liberal Democrat MP for South Devon, told fellow MPs in the House of Commons that learning in the great outdoors was vital for children’s mental health and wellbeing.

She has brought forward a bill which – if passed – would mean all schoolchildren spending at least half an hour of every school day outdoors and having at least one lesson taught outdoors each week.

Every child would also be offered outdoor education experiences at both primary and secondary school.

She told the House: “Modern medicine is always looking for the next big discovery to change lives, yet we are missing out on the cheapest, easiest and quickest way to turn around the vicious mental health crisis we see in our children and young people.

“The answer is outdoor learning.”

She said that while a third of children across the country never have school lessons outdoors, many schools in South Devon make outdoor learning a regular part of the curriculum, in playgrounds, school vegetable gardens, parks and woodland.

“Research shows that being out in nature makes children happy, that children who spend time outside care more about nature and that unstructured, risky, nature-based play outdoors improves confidence and cognitive development,” she added.

Ms Voaden said she often heard of children in South Devon who lived close to “stunning” beaches but had never been to them. Poor public transport and high parking charges were among the factors.

The bill will get its second reading in the House in October. That will be the second of five stages the bill must go through before it becomes law. It must also be approved by the House of Lords.