NORTHUMBERLAND National Park is working together with CLIF Bar to launch an initiative that aims to inspire a new generation of stargazers after the launch of the first virtual Northumberland Dark Skies Festival. The park was one of five in the UK to receive a grant from the organisation as part of their National Parks Protectors Fund, receiving a £10,000 grant to support its dark skies conservation projects, which help to raise public awareness of the issues of light pollution and the need to help conserve the pristine dark skies. Some of the grant is now being used to educate the next generation on dark skies and the importance of conservation; the park has created a Dark Sky Discovery Loans Box, available to any schools within the county to borrow and use in the classroom for up to four weeks. The box includes a light meter, a piece of meteorite, binoculars, red and white light torches, constellation guides, nocturnal wildlife information and a replica bronze age sky disk