As part of this year’s campaign, we will be hosting our first ever Big Wild Weekend, a celebration of all things wild and wonderful which will take place 16th – 17th June, half way through the 30 Days Wild challenge. We have a variety of exciting events planned, including a Big Wild Picnic on the Sunday where we’ll have lots of nature themed games and activities for you and your little ones to enjoy.
Over the weekend we’ll also be hosting a number of other events across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight including a Freshwater Shoresearch, a Family Nature Night and a Big Wild River Dip.
Becky O’Melia, Education and Engagement Manager for Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust said:
“June is such a great time to get outside and enjoy nature. Taking part in 30 Days Wild gives you lots of ideas for ways you can experience the great outdoors, and Hampshire and the Isle of Wight have a huge variety amazing wild places to explore. We’re can’t wait to get started, and hope you will join us for the Big Wild Weekend!”
New research on link between natural beauty and happiness
Academics at the University of Derby who have monitored the challenge since it began in 2015 have discovered that spending time in nature makes us feel good. 30 Days Wild encourages people to notice nature on their doorsteps every single day and gives them a multitude of exciting and fun ways of doing it. 250,000 people took part in 2017 – that’s 7.5 million individual Random Acts of Wildness!
The University of Derby’s evaluation of 30 Days Wild 2017 included new measures and reveals that people’s perception of beauty in the natural world is a key ingredient to unlocking the benefits of wellbeing and happiness experienced by participants in the challenge.
Dr Miles Richardson, Director of Psychology, University of Derby explains:
“Over the past three years we’ve repeatedly found that taking part in 30 Days Wild improves health, happiness, nature connection and conservation behaviours. Now we’ve discovered that engagement with the beauty of nature is part of that story.
“Tuning-in to the everyday beauty of nature becomes part of a journey which connects us more deeply to the natural world. As people’s appreciation of natural beauty increases, so does their happiness. We respond to beauty - it restores us and balances our emotions. This, in turn, encourages people to do more to help wildlife and take action for nature.”
The latest set of results from the study of 30 Days Wild also confirms that the benefits of the challenge last well after the month has ended. There are indications that the beneficial impact of taking part could last an entire year.
30 Days Wild pack
Sign-up to 30 Days Wild and you’ll get a free pack with a booklet of inspirational ideas for Random Acts of Wildness, a recipe for wild strawberry and thyme ice cream, wildflower seeded paper to sow, a wall chart to record your activities and wild stickers. There are special packs for schools with outdoor lesson plans and giant Random Acts of Wildness cards. Business can join in too, with tailored download packs to bring the ‘wild’ to work.
30 Days Wild 2018 neighbourhood theme
This year’s theme is all about helping wildlife in your neighbourhood and our pack has inspiring ideas for sharing the challenge locally. See great ways to green-up your street - from carving hedgehog holes in fences to putting up bird and bat boxes and doing a local litter pick.
Sign-up to take part in 30 Days Wild www.wildlifetrusts.org/30DaysWild!