Puppet training at WWT Slimbridge with 7 Avas!

Last week, on a gloriously sunny day, 7 magnificent Ava puppets descended on Slimbridge. They were brought by their puppeteer parents - Learning Managers and Officers from WWT sites Slimbridge, London, Martin-Mere, Arundel, Washington and Llanelli. In fact, Castle Espie (in N. Ireland) was the only site not represented, due to the distance.

They joined us for a day of puppet training with our wonderful puppet maker, Jess Jones, assisted by Bella Lyster. The day began with a gentle warm-up in the garden outside Sir Peter Scott’s old house and ended with a run through of both scenes at the nest. 

It was a sight to behold to see the Ava sisters en mass. This was the first (and likely to be the last) time they will all be together, so quite an event in itself! For us, it felt like a fitting (almost) culmination of the past nine months work, but for the Learning staff it was just the beginning… 

They were a joy to work with - full of enthusiasm and commitment. It was a tiring day absorbing lots of information and physically taxing on the arms! But they gave it their all, and made great progress throughout the day. We are excited to see how their performances progress and how their personalities come through their puppeteering of Ava. The day had a great vibe and I am sure they will all support each other in bringing Ava to life for kids over the next three years. Three cheers for Ava!