A wildlife charity is urging local people to go wild during the month of June.
The Wildlife Trusts are asking people to make the most of the natural world around them by taking part in ‘random acts of wildness’ each day during the month.
The campaign, called 30 Days Wild, is now in its third year and already has more than 35,000 people signed up and committed to taking part across the UK. More than 1,500 from Devon are among the nature-lovers ready to go wild.
Devon Wildlife Trust has announced that it is launching this year’s 30 Days Wild with a special half-term holiday event taking place in Exeter’s Mincinglake Valley Park, between 10am and 3pm on Thursday 1 June.
The 30 Days Wild event organiser is Anya Oliver. She said:
“We’re kicking off this year’s 30 Days Wild with a free event in one of Exeter’s best known Valley Parks: Mincinglake. The event is open to all and we’ll be offering pond dipping, wild crafts, games, nature discovery trails, plus ideas to bring wildlife into people’s gardens. We’ll also be challenging those that come along to do 10 wild things with us in just one day!
To each of the first 100 people to arrive at the event and who sign up to 30 Days Wild we’ll be giving them a free pack containing a wallchart on which they can record their wild month, stickers and much more.”
Exeter’s Mincinglake event is taking place at the Stoke Hill entrance to the Valley Park, close to its car park and Sylvania Hall. The event is being supported by Exeter City Council, South West Water and players of the People’s Postcode Lottery.
30 Days Wild will then continue for the whole of June. Each day participants are being asked to take part in a random act of wildness at home, in their schools and at their workplaces. The fun and quirky ideas are designed to get us all to connect with nature. This year’s random acts include star gazing, building a home for bugs in the garden, taking a lunch break out of doors, enjoying mindfulness in a park or wildflower meadow, listening to birdsong and attempting to learn to spot a new butterfly.
People can sign up to take part in 30 Days Wild by clicking on a special link at www.devonwildlifetrust.org
Devon Wildlife Trust’s Steve Hussey said:
“We want people throughout Devon to use 30 Days Wild as an inspiration for getting to know their local wildlife better. They can spend a few minutes, or a few hours each day enjoying nature - how they do it is up to them. The important thing is to use our ideas for random acts of wildness as a starting point.
In my own case, I plan to stop on my regular commute by bike to work to check on the progress of one pair of swans and their cygnets on the River Exe. Rather than keeping my head down and getting to work as soon as I can, each day during June I’ll be taking a few minutes out to pause, look for this swan family and take in the wonderful wildlife that we have here in Devon.”
The Wildlife Trusts believe that there is a real benefit to our health and welfare from pausing to put a little bit of wildness back into our lives. A study of people taking part in last year’s 30 Days Wild campaign undertaken by researchers from University of Derby showed that a daily dose of nature, even in bite size chunks, is good for you. Their study* found that people who did something ‘wild’ each day for a month, felt happier, healthier and more connected to nature. Dr Miles Richardson, Director of Psychology led the study, said:
“The impact of 30 Days Wild adds to the compelling argument for bringing nature into our everyday lives. Two months after taking part in 30 Days Wild, there was a 30 per cent increase in the number of people who reported their health as excellent. Last year’s results also show people’s happiness continued to improve after 30 Days Wild ended, which illustrates its sustained impact. This is important as it is happiness and connecting with nature that influence improvements in health. Our study also shows that those who benefitted most were younger adults and those who weren’t ‘nature lovers’.”
The Wildlife Trusts are asking people to make the most of the natural world around them by taking part in ‘random acts of wildness’ each day during the month.
The campaign, called 30 Days Wild, is now in its third year and already has more than 35,000 people signed up and committed to taking part across the UK. More than 1,500 from Devon are among the nature-lovers ready to go wild.
Devon Wildlife Trust has announced that it is launching this year’s 30 Days Wild with a special half-term holiday event taking place in Exeter’s Mincinglake Valley Park, between 10am and 3pm on Thursday 1 June.
The 30 Days Wild event organiser is Anya Oliver. She said:
“We’re kicking off this year’s 30 Days Wild with a free event in one of Exeter’s best known Valley Parks: Mincinglake. The event is open to all and we’ll be offering pond dipping, wild crafts, games, nature discovery trails, plus ideas to bring wildlife into people’s gardens. We’ll also be challenging those that come along to do 10 wild things with us in just one day!
To each of the first 100 people to arrive at the event and who sign up to 30 Days Wild we’ll be giving them a free pack containing a wallchart on which they can record their wild month, stickers and much more.”
Exeter’s Mincinglake event is taking place at the Stoke Hill entrance to the Valley Park, close to its car park and Sylvania Hall. The event is being supported by Exeter City Council, South West Water and players of the People’s Postcode Lottery.
30 Days Wild will then continue for the whole of June. Each day participants are being asked to take part in a random act of wildness at home, in their schools and at their workplaces. The fun and quirky ideas are designed to get us all to connect with nature. This year’s random acts include star gazing, building a home for bugs in the garden, taking a lunch break out of doors, enjoying mindfulness in a park or wildflower meadow, listening to birdsong and attempting to learn to spot a new butterfly.
People can sign up to take part in 30 Days Wild by clicking on a special link at www.devonwildlifetrust.org
Devon Wildlife Trust’s Steve Hussey said:
“We want people throughout Devon to use 30 Days Wild as an inspiration for getting to know their local wildlife better. They can spend a few minutes, or a few hours each day enjoying nature - how they do it is up to them. The important thing is to use our ideas for random acts of wildness as a starting point.
In my own case, I plan to stop on my regular commute by bike to work to check on the progress of one pair of swans and their cygnets on the River Exe. Rather than keeping my head down and getting to work as soon as I can, each day during June I’ll be taking a few minutes out to pause, look for this swan family and take in the wonderful wildlife that we have here in Devon.”
The Wildlife Trusts believe that there is a real benefit to our health and welfare from pausing to put a little bit of wildness back into our lives. A study of people taking part in last year’s 30 Days Wild campaign undertaken by researchers from University of Derby showed that a daily dose of nature, even in bite size chunks, is good for you. Their study* found that people who did something ‘wild’ each day for a month, felt happier, healthier and more connected to nature. Dr Miles Richardson, Director of Psychology led the study, said:
“The impact of 30 Days Wild adds to the compelling argument for bringing nature into our everyday lives. Two months after taking part in 30 Days Wild, there was a 30 per cent increase in the number of people who reported their health as excellent. Last year’s results also show people’s happiness continued to improve after 30 Days Wild ended, which illustrates its sustained impact. This is important as it is happiness and connecting with nature that influence improvements in health. Our study also shows that those who benefitted most were younger adults and those who weren’t ‘nature lovers’.”
Fun for all the family #30DaysWild
About 30 Days Wild: Development and Evaluation of a Large-Scale Nature Engagement Campaign to Improve Well-Being. February 18 th 2016 PLoS One. Kelly Tyler, Public Relations Officer, University of Derby on 01332 591891 / 07876 476103 or k.tyler@derby.ac.uk
30 Days Wild 2017 is the third year The Wildlife Trusts will run this national campaign to encourage people to love nature and deepen their relationship with wildlife. Who takes part? In 2016 nearly 30,000 people and organisations signed up to take part including over 2,000 schools. Between them, they carried out over 1.8 million Random Acts of Wildness, exploring, learning about, and acting for wildlife near them. You don’t have to be a member of a Wildlife Trust to take part
30 Days Wild 2017 is the third year The Wildlife Trusts will run this national campaign to encourage people to love nature and deepen their relationship with wildlife. Who takes part? In 2016 nearly 30,000 people and organisations signed up to take part including over 2,000 schools. Between them, they carried out over 1.8 million Random Acts of Wildness, exploring, learning about, and acting for wildlife near them. You don’t have to be a member of a Wildlife Trust to take part
