The Wildlife Trusts are encouraging people across the country to brighten up wintery days by signing up for their 12 Days Wild challenge by doing one wild thing each day from 25th December to 5th January. You’ll receive daily inspirational emails jam-packed with fun ideas to help you connect with wildlife and lift your mood.
Spending time in nature can help you feel happier and healthier, as the Trusts’ summer challenge, 30 Days Wild, has shown. Whether you take a walk in the park, watch out for starling murmurations or create some natural art, this shorter, winter challenge is for everyone to enjoy.
Signing up is also a chance to give something back to nature by making some small changes. You could go plastic-free for New Year, recycle your Christmas cards, feed the birds or volunteer at a local nature reserve.
12 Days Wild is bursting with creative ideas to give you a natural boost. You could:
- Do some detective work and spot animal tracks in the mud or snow
- Get crafty using natural materials and create some wild art
- Go wild in town or country and visit a nature reserve
- Beat the January blues by listening to the Wild about Wellbeing podcast
- Make a New Year’s resolution for nature to go plastic free/cycle to work/volunteer
Or simply get out there and enjoy a walk on the wild side!
Cel Spellman, ambassador for The Wildlife Trusts says: “The festive season is special for all of us and it’s important to think about the natural world too. There are lots of ways to make positive environmental choices at Christmas, such as using alternatives to single use wrapping paper, buying second-hand gifts or creating decorations with natural materials. Whether you’re visiting nature reserves or appreciating the wildlife on your doorstep, 12 Days Wild is great for connecting us with the natural world during wintery days and nights.”
Mya-Rose Craig, ambassador for The Wildlife Trusts says: “12 Days Wild is a brilliant way to encourage us all to have a wild adventure each day during mid-winter. It can be really tough to get your daily dose of nature when daylight hours are at their shortest, but 12 Days Wild is packed with ideas and ways to connect with wildlife both indoors and out. I always make sure I keep my bird feeders topped up in winter and love seeing which birds visit my garden. I have even been lucky enough to see a starling murmuration at dusk!”
Sign up online at www.wildlifetrusts.org/12dayswild for free guides, activities and inspiration.
Share photos and videos of your nature inspired moments on social media using #12DaysWild
More on 30 Days Wild
The Wildlife Trusts’ 12 Days Wild is similar to their annual 30 Days Wild, which is held each summer and has been shown to make us feel happier and healthier. The University of Derby has been analysing data from 30 Days Wild to measure the impact of the challenge on participants. Building on three peer-reviewed papers, they evaluated survey responses from more than 1,000 people over five years and discovered the enduring effects on wellbeing from participation in 30 Days Wild – the positive effects are still felt two months after the challenge is over. You can read the 30 Days Wild 5 Year summary review here.
Key findings:
- 30 Days Wild boosted the health of participants by an average of 30%
- 30 Days Wild made people, particularly those who started with a relatively weak connection to nature, significantly happier
- 30 Days Wild resulted in very significant increases in nature connectedness for those who began with a weak connection to nature – their nature connectedness rose by 56%
- 30 Days Wild inspired significant increases in pro-nature behaviour
- Increases in people’s health and happiness were still felt two months after the challenge was over
The Wildlife Trusts
The Wildlife Trusts are making the world wilder and helping to ensure that nature is part of everyone’s lives. They are a grassroots movement of 46 charities with more than 910,000 members and 35,000 volunteers. No matter where you are in Britain, there is a Wildlife Trust inspiring people and saving, protecting and standing up for the natural world. With the support of their members, they care for and restore over 2,000 special places for nature on land and run marine conservation projects and collect vital data on the state of our seas. Every Wildlife Trust works within its local community to inspire people to create a wilder future – from advising thousands of landowners on how to manage their land to benefit wildlife, to connecting hundreds of thousands of school children with nature every year.
For more information visit www.wildlifetrusts.org
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