Member Article

One million acts of wildness!

The UK Wildlife Trusts’ 30 Days Wild challenge has inspired people up and down the country to take an estimated one million acts for nature so far this June.

The 30 Days Wild challenge is all about doing something wild every single day from 1- 30 June, with the campaign encouraging people to carry out ‘Random Acts of Wildness’ to reconnect with the natural world or help wildlife wherever they live, work and play – and the number of actions has just (today) reached the 1,000,000 mark!

People up and down the country, with a strong take-up in towns and cities, have risen to the challenge in all sorts of inventive and inspiring ways and in Northumberland, Newcastle and North Tyneside, the areas protected by Northumberland Wildlife Trust:

Nick Mason from Newcastle’s west end played the fungus drums with his 7 year old son

Taking inspiration from Chris Packham on BBC Springwatch, 9 year old Fred Williams from Alnwick, has been busy shaking bugs into his mother Katherine’s old wedding umbrella

Fred has also been writing a blog our30dayswild.tumblr.com which is pretty impressive for a 9 year old

Steve Lowe from West Monkseaton has been keeping the beaches of Cullercoats and Tynemouth tidy each night and has installed an ALDI trailcam in his back garden to see who’s visiting in the dead of night

Prudhoe resident Cathleen Thomas has been on a ladybird hunt with her young cousins and they weren’t disappointed

Fifteen year old Georgina Moroney and her friends from Gosforth Academy in Newcastle have been revising for their GCSE mock exams in the wildlife garden of Northumberland Wildlife Trust’s St Nicholas Park reserve

Mike Pratt, Northumberland Wildlife Trust Chief Executive said: “It’s so uplifting to see how people are embracing the challenge in our area and making nature part of their everyday lives.

“From children writing poems about spiders, to my particular favourite, 9 year old Fred Williams using his mother’s old wedding umbrella to collect bugs from a tree, the enthusiasm and energy people have for enjoying nature is clear. It can inspire us, give us space to relax and have fun too!

Mike concluded: “We know that ‘30 Days Wild’ makes people happier, healthier and more connected to nature in the long-term, and by looking out for nature on a regular basis, people are more likely to protect it, which is what The Wildlife Trusts are all about. So here’s to the next million Random Acts of Wildness!”

Nationally, around 25,000 people have been signed up to 30 Days Wild since 1 June

2,000 schools are taking part throughout the UK with around 60,000 school children are taking the challenge

There’s still time to part in 30 days Wild - and it’s free! Sign up at www.wildlifetrusts.org/30DaysWild and better still, share your 30 Days Wild with us on twitter, Instagram and Facebook using #30DaysWild

See Twitter/Instagram @30DaysWild #30DaysWild – over 70,000 uses of the hashtag to date!

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sue Bishop .