Local people of all ages who enjoy visiting the St Ives estate near Bingley are invited to an event this Sunday afternoon (23 October) to celebrate the woodland and its trees.  Keighley-based social enterprise is running the free event which will include woodland crafts and activities, a campfire and storytelling with professional storyteller Jenna Drury from Mud Pie Arts.

Walkers, dog walkers, families and anyone who enjoys visiting the 500 acre country park are invited to stop by and input a memory of a favourite tree or parts of the woodland on a postcard.  The event is part of a campaign by the Woodland Trust to create a Charter for Trees, Woods and People, that will redefine the relationship between trees and people in the UK for the future.   50 conservation and environmental organisations including the National Trust and RSPB have backed the call that will bring trees and woods back into the centre of public consciousness and political decision-making in the UK.  The Charter will be rooted in people’s stories and memories of trees, so events like this are happening around the country to collect stories that show how trees have shaped our landscape and our lives.

Get Out More Managing Director Annie Berrington said, “We run a series of holiday forest schools at the estate and know how much the children love the place.  We’re looking forward to hearing people’s stories about St Ives and meeting people who love the woodland as much as we do.  It’s wonderful to be in the woods at this time of year when the woodlands are changing into their autumn hues.  We will have some fun activities for people of all ages, from roasting chestnuts on the campfire to storytelling for all ages.”

The Woodland Stories event is free and takes place 1-3pm on Sunday 23 October opposite the playground at St Ives.

Research and personal experience tells us that spending time outdoors connecting with nature helps us deal with stress, so at Get Out More we have designed an outdoor offer to help employees step away from workplace pressures and see work in a different light.  We were pleased when Yorkshire Water asked us to pilot our programme to promote wellbeing and resilience amongst their hard working staff.

The sessions take place at nearby Judy Woods, a short walk from the utility company’s Bradford HQ, but none of the participants had realised how close they were to a beautiful and accessible woodland.  Each week the group meets to walk to the site and take part in woodland activities that respond to the site and the season.

The sessions are based on the New Economic Foundation’s Five Ways to Wellbeing, a set of evidence-based actions that improve mental capital.  Give; Be Active; Keep Learning; Connect and Take Notice are all simple actions which we can practice everyday and which have been proven to help us feel good and function well in a demanding world.

The actions are woven into the sessions, which have included lighting campfires, picking autumn fruits to make pancake sauces and cordials, getting creative with colours and dyes from natural materials, carving sticks and discovering woodland trees and fungi.  The group spend time getting to know each other and the woodland itself and reflect on how implementing the Five Ways to Wellbeing impacts on their own sense of wellbeing through the week.

In their own words, the group are discovering how a little dose of nature can make a big impact on work and life:

“I’ve learnt how nature can lift your mood and instil positive planning, how to appreciate and value the things are around us”

“I will try to think of this session to keep calm in the week ahead”

“These sessions have helped me to consider work in a different light.  I will continue to CONNECT, LEARN, GIVE, BE ACTIVE and TAKE NOTICE – it really helps focus”

For more details about Get Out More’s nature-based Workplace Wellbeing programmes, click here