‘We aim to help people make a connection with nature not just practically, but emotionally – with their hearts as well as with their heads and hands.’ So says Jo Roberts, CEO of The Wilderness Foundation UK [WFUK], the Chatham Green-based charity that offers environmental education and nature-based therapy to some 8,000 people a year. ‘We work the land with a light touch, though,’ adds Jo. ‘A holistic, sustainable approach is key to our ethos and we encourage connections to nature through a range of activities, such as our work on the Spains Hall estate near Finchingfield, where the first beavers in Essex for over 400 years are now at home.’
At its primary site, Terri Dawson is Environmental Education Programme Manager in charge of school visits, helping students from primary level to Year 8 reconnect with the world around them via a host of experiences, from pond-dipping and camp-building to bush craft. ‘We have 40 acres at Chatham Green, which we see as an outdoor classroom,’ explains Terri. ‘It’s a real privilege to help young people fall in love with nature in all its amazing variety, hopefully ensuring that a bond is created that’ll mean they want to preserve and protect the natural world around them. We’re so lucky to have this extraordinary resource, so close to, but seemingly a world away from, busy roads and surrounds towns and cities like Chelmsford.
Another vital aspect of the charity’s work is supporting vulnerable young people with mental health issues, those with Special Educational Needs and Disability [SEND] and adult women victims of domestic abuse. ‘We’ve certainly seen the need for all this sort of provision explode post-covid,’ says Terri. ‘Our team of freelance therapists lead groups or offer bespoke one-to-one support for those with very specific needs – and we say we work in a 50-50 partnership, with nature as our co-therapist. Just being outside, with the chance to slow down, hear birdsong and the wind in the trees and to see nature in action brings mental-health benefits.’
These benefits have been – and continue to be – well-documented by the likes of Essex and Anglia Ruskin universities. Says Jo Roberts,‘We’ve worked with Essex University for over 17 years, so as well as educating and supporting people and supporting nature by encouraging biodiversity, we facilitate research on the health benefits of time spent in nature, too.’
The WFUK began its life in South Africa, under the leadership of conservationist Dr Ian Player, renowned among other things for successfully leading the campaign to bring back the white rhino from the threat of extinction. He was a pioneer, too, in recognising and wanting to harness the therapeutic power of nature. Jo, who is originally from South Africa herself and knew Dr Player, moved to Essex in 1998 with her husband’s work. By 2003, she’d realised, she says, that the Wilderness ethos could work anywhere, ‘whether you’re dealing with the African bush or just a nettle patch in your own back garden.' The charity has been going strong here ever since, with projects not only in Essex, but with young people taken on nature-based therapy expeditions up to the wilder terrain of Scotland.
Recently there’s been an especially exciting development for the charity – the purchase of 92 acres of semi-ancient woodland: Manns Wood, at Fuller Street near Great Leigh.. Explains Jo, ‘Having leased the wood and worked there for five years, we were then offered the wonderful opportunity to purchase the site by owner David Boyle, who’s been incredibly supportive. He’s passionate about the wood, having loved it over the last 30 years as he pieced it all together, and felt WFUK could help ensure that as many people as possible could enjoy the benefits of spending time in it. A generous grant from BIFFA Award, a fund run by the waste-management company BIFFA, made it possible, and we purchased Mann Wood at the end of March.’
WFUK’s ‘light touch’ is again evident at Mann Wood - with rewilding encouraged and ‘minimal coppicing’, says Jo – so the site can continue to support a rich diversity of plants and animals. ‘Trees in woodland like ours are essential in moderating temperature and humidity and providing shelter and other vital components for managing climate change and biodiversity loss. Trees also store high levels of carbon, can help alleviate flooding, water, and air pollution, and stabilise water tables in time of drought.'
‘Having this large wild space, with minimal intrusion, will further our therapy work too,’ says Jo. ‘Being in natural surroundings can help people understand themselves better and find more self-compassion, improved tools for relationships, and help them deal with trauma. Many of us are missing a sense of both connectedness and belonging in our busy worlds, and here we can be part of something, care for it and, in turn, learn how to care for ourselves.’
Enthuses Terri Dawson ‘Not only is the wood actually ours, it’s that little bit ‘wilder’ and more rugged and it’s a huge site. That means more species and more chances for young people to learn about the natural world around us. It’s wonderful to be able to call it our own.’
Again, the charity will be working with The University of Essex and Anglia Ruskin University to record the positive impact of woodland in particular on people’s mental health, and there will be various events – open days, ecology sessions and wildlife activities - for the wider public, to help create a communal space. The charity will be looking for more volunteers to help them with their work too.‘Whoever we’re working with, though, we’ll be keeping things simple, which is another of our aims,' says Jo. 'Life these days is complicated enough as it is. We’re all so busy and with so many distractions; just taking time away from all the distractions to be in nature can be healing on so many levels.'
To volunteer, donate or engage with the Foundation, see Wildernessfoundation.org.uk
