NHS officially backs 30 Days Wild - Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust
Can you do one wild thing every day for a month to boost your health and wellbeing?
A campaign by Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) challenging people to connect with nature every day in June has been officially backed by the NHS.
The health service said that being in or around nature is 'so important for health and happiness' and urged people to get involved.
The Wildlife Trusts across the UK have run the 30 Days Wild challenge every June for nearly a decade, encouraging people to take one wild act each day. This can be anything from watching wildlife from a window to listening to birdsong or taking a meal or drink outside.
The Trusts have long promoted the mental and physical health benefits of spending time in nature, but now for the first time the initiative has won the backing of the UK's National Health Service.
Liz Shearer, BBOWT's Community Engagement Director, said: "We are over the moon that the NHS has endorsed our challenge: we have always known that spending time in green spaces can have huge health benefits for many people, helping to lower heart rate and blood pressure and reduce anxiety, but now we have the official support of our fantastic health service. But we don't expect people to take our word for it: we are saying to people across Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire - give it a go! Try taking one tiny act to connect with nature and see what it does for you – you could change your life."
Last year more than 500,000 people took part in 30 Days Wild, including more than 5,000 in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. Across the UK, 114,245 households, 11,740 schools, 898 care homes and 1,384 businesses joined in.
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Posted On: 01/06/2023