A Hampshire charity could be in line for a major cash boost after being singled out by the county’s biggest summer spectacular.

The New Forest Show and Hampshire County Show has revealed that its charity of the year is Hampshire Country Learning (HCL), which stages school visits to farms and estates across the south.

This year’s show president, Tim Jackson, is principal of Spar-sholt Agricul-tural College, where HCL is based.

The organisation aims to provide each schoolchild in Hampshire with a chance to visit a working farm and gain a better understanding of the countryside, including food production.

A HCL spokesman said: “The working farm is a valuable learning environment and helps bring many aspects of the curriculum to life.

“The Hampshire Country Learning team is very experienced in providing farm-based education and ensuring that pupils have a high quality, safe and positive experience of the working countryside.”

HCL will be given a free stand at this year’s New Forest Show and visitors will be encouraged to make donations to the charity.

The three-day extravaganza at New Park, Brockenhurst, on July 29-31, is expected to attract more than 95,000 spectators.

HCL regional manager Jo Hatton said: “We are delighted to have been chosen as the show’s charity of the year.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity to let more schools and farmers know about the work we do. Helping children learn about how their food is grown is so important and any additional publicity can only benefit our activities.”

Each Countryside Day for Schools enables 180 youngsters to visit a farm or estate and take part in a variety of activities, including making cheese, grinding wheat and milking cows.

HCL also stages the annual Countryside Education Competi-tion, which is launched at the end of January.

A show spokesman said: “The competition enables schools throughout the New Forest area to experience the local working countryside and learn how the Forest is managed.

“Work produced by the pupils in conjunction with their visit is displayed within the Discovery Zone at the show.”