The Wildlife Trusts’ big nature challenge – 30 Days Wild – is back this June

Let nature inspire you every day during our wildest month!

30 Days Wild, the UK’s biggest nature challenge run by The Wildlife Trusts, invites people of all ages to connect with nature every single day during the month of June. This year there’s a new twist: 30 Days Wild will take you on a week-by-week adventure moving through five different themes:

·         tune into the senses

·         movement and play

·         learning and discovery

·         helping nature

·         emotional connection to nature 

These themes will help guide everyone taking up the challenge to reach that 30 day target, whether tuning into the sound of bird life, moving through your local woods by moonlight, building a den, discovering an unexplored country lane or local park, making time to build a bug hotel or owl box or starting a diary of your day-to-day wildlife sightings.

New 30 Days Wild activity packs include a wild bee poster along with seeds and other materials to inspire you to do something wild every single day.

30 Days Wild is funded thanks to players of People’s Postcode Lottery and has grown a huge and dedicated fan base – over two million people have taken part over the last 9 years.

Last year over 500,000 people took part in the challenge including 114,245 households, 11,740 schools, 898 care homes and 1,384 businesses. Popular activities include wildlife-watching, eating outdoors, planting wildflower seeds and listening to birdsong. Other favourite pastimes included bug-hunting, fruit-picking, growing plants and flowers, exploring a nature reserve, creating a mini pond or going on a beach or river walk.

We all know how much happier and healthier we feel when connecting with nature – and we have research to prove it – so save the date!

David Oakes, actor and ambassador for The Wildlife Trusts, says:

“I truly hope you’ll join in the 30 Days Wild challenge wherever you are in the UK! We need nature more than ever and 30 Days Wild is a chance to really celebrate our connection to the precious green and blue spaces both on our doorstep and further afield. Whether you’ve a legendary forest a short train ride away, or a young sapling in your local park that is primed to be the Tree of the Year 2523; whether you turn down the tunes on your next jog in favour of nature’s wild beats, or head to your nearest coastline to explore the rhythms in the rock pools and the sounds of the sand dunes; whatever you choose to do, there are limitless opportunities to dive into this 30 day adventure. However much time you can spare each day there’s always an opportunity to take part, whatever your age. Please get involved and tell all your family and friends to join in too!”

Zoe Hughes, Devon Wildlife Trust says:

“I go outdoors regularly, but there’s something special about 30 Days Wild. The challenge encourages me to connect with my natural surroundings even more and work towards a goal which feels like a big achievement in a busy month. A free activity that makes you feel happier and healthier, with lots of inspiration along the way – what’s not to love!”

30 Days Wild – Big Wild Pub Quiz:

To help motivate people on this journey, we’ve enlisted the help of our Devon friends David Oakes and Sophie Pavelle for the Big Wild Pub Quiz on the 11^th June taking place at 5pm at Samuel Jones, Commercial Road Exeter EX2 1AW. Entry is £1 per person for teams up to 6 people. All welcome!

David Oakes continues:

“Come and join me and the glorious Sophie Pavelle here in Exeter on the 11^th June for the Big Wild Pub quiz or if you can’t make that date join us online via YouTube on Sunday evening, the 18th June, for fun and games with the Wildlife Trusts Big Wild Quiz. Come along to be top of the pollinators or just tune in to be entertained by the incredible and fascinating world of bison, beavers, bees, beetles and bats! Other wildlife species are available. I can't wait to see you then.”

The Wildlife Trusts provide free resources for everyone who signs up. Just register your interest here wildlifetrusts.org/30dayswild. There is also a 30 Days Wild session planner specially designed for teachers to use in class.

 

 The Wildlife Trusts’ 30 Days Wild kicks off on 1 June

·         Actor David Oakes and Sophie Pavelle to host Big Wild Pub Quiz in Exeter 11^th June 

·         More than 3000 Devon residents took part in 30 Days Wild last year, with 2,169 already signed up for 2023

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30 Days Wild has attracted support from a range of famous faces including TV presenters Monty Don, Liz Bonnin, Steve Backshall, Ellie Harrison, James McVey, Alison Steadman and Dr Amir Khan. This year it is championed by writer, ornithologist, activist and Birdgirl, Mya-Rose Craig.

The University of Derby conducted a 5-year evaluation of 30 Days Wild participants from 2015-2020: it found that people reported they felt happier and healthier from taking part, with positive effects lasting for at least two months afterwards.

•  See a summary, 30 Days Wild – a five-year review, can be downloaded here. 

• 30 Days Wild: Development and Evaluation of a Large-Scale Nature Engagemen Campaign to Improve Well-Being by Miles Richardson, Adam Cormack, Lucy McRobert, Ralph Underhill was published Feb 2016. Online here.

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What's On Burton at Bideford. Coming soon 'Don’t Look At My Jugs… And Other Stories'

Our artefacts become our stories – episodes of human life, recorded and preserved. They travel through time and they speak in the future. Don’t Look At My Jugs… And Other Stories is a reimagined museum collection of historical artefacts, each telling its own story – each an episode of everyday lived experience for women today.

This exhibition features a collection of carefully crafted vessels, vases, bowls and coins that make direct reference to the female experience, and in particular to the physical, social, professional and domestic injustices encountered on a daily basis. At a cursory glance, none of these objects would look out of place in a traditional museum cabinet, and yet a closer look reveals a very different story. The stories they tell cast light on the real and often disconcerting position that women have in contemporary society.

Ready for analysis, ripe for understanding and raring to speak, the artefacts that Jam Westwood presents in this arresting exhibition, ask us to consider whether modern society really is as progressive or as civilised as many would have us believe. Or is it up to historians of the future to hear the voice of 21st century woman?

Don’t Look At My Jugs… And Other Stories is an exhibition that highlights the importance of giving space to the female voice, and perhaps no where is it more important than inside the institutions that have traditionally been dominated by the masculine and the male gaze.

 

Queen Jane of Faceburgh © Jam Westwood

 

 Pretty Plead © Jam Westwood

Don’t Look At My Jugs… And Other Stories: A collection of reimagined historical artefacts made by Jam Westwood
17th June – 19th September
Open daily | Free entry (donations welcome)

What's On Burton at Bideford. Exhibition: The Permanent Collection Curated by Community Groups

A fresh look at the Burton at Bideford’s Permanent Collection of art through the eyes of the town’s local community

A new must-see exhibition at the Burton takes a refreshing look at the gallery’s Permanent Collection of art and has been co-curated by three local community groups in collaboration with gallery staff.

Over the course of the past six months, Women’s First, Devon Recovery Learning Community, and the Burton Young Photographers, have had a unique opportunity to delve into the gallery’s store and take a closer look at their Permanent Collection.

Under the expert guidance of the Learning and Engagement team, participants were invited to explore works from the Collection in relation to their own personal stories and lived experiences. They were then encouraged to create their own art in response.

Participants learned a variety of skills in the process, including printmaking, photography and collage. The exhibition showcases participants’ work alongside rarely exhibited works from the Burton’s Permanent Collection.

In looking at art from the past from a variety of new and contemporary perspectives, we’re reminded just how relevant art is in our modern day world. The exhibition also highlights the importance of art and creativity to good mental health and wellbeing.

Carole Evans, Learning and Engaging Manager says,

This collection was left to the Burton for the people of Bideford to enjoy. What better way to do so than to provide opportunities for members of the community to spend time with the artworks, and then creatively respond? Through the eyes of the community groups, the paintings from the collection become more meaningful and more relevant to today’s society. The new work provides an insight into what concerns people who live here today, in particular the benefit of creativity to wellbeing.

 

In commenting about the project, one of the participant says,

Art is my passion. To be a part of this exhibition means everything to me. I would never have imagined I would be involved with something like this. It’s dreams coming true.

Women’s First is a project run by Encompass and aims to support women who are rough sleeping, sofa surfing or living in temporary accommodation.

Devon Recovery Learning Community is a free, open access service funded by Devon Partnership NHS Trust to support mental health and wellbeing.

The Burton Young Photographers are a group of 14 -18 year olds who have been meeting at the Burton on Tuesdays after school to learn the art of photographic portraiture through a series of free workshops funded by the Fine Arts Society.

  

The Permanent Collection: Curated by Community Groups is open daily from 22 May until 4 July. Admission is free.

 

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Burton at Bideford Permanent Collection: Estuary by Reginald James Lloyd © the artist

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The Permanent Collection Curated by Community Groups
22nd May-4th July

TAP HERE TO VISIT THE BURTON AT BIDEFORD WEBSITE

Burton Art Gallery and Museum, Kingsley Road, Bideford, Devon. EX39 2QQ