The physical and mental health benefits of the great outdoors are easy to understand – campfires, cooking and canoeing pursuits have perennially inspired adventure for children’s writers from Mark Twain to Enid Blyton.
Today a Chelmsford-based charity aiming to boost the mental wellbeing of disadvantaged young people from urban areas through nature-based activities is among five projects in the East of England region benefiting from an award from Big Lottery Fund (BIG).
The Wilderness Foundation UK plans to use their £120,000 grant to run six week courses for young people living in Essex and East London. According to a Natural England study in 2009, only 10% of today’s generation of youth have regular access to nature, compared to the 40% of adults who did when they were young.
The Wilderness Foundation UK course will include a camping weekend in the wild, focused on developing skills and positive life choices across health, exercise and relationships, with including drugs and alcohol awareness, bushcraft, nature-based art and sailing. Beneficiaries will be referred from agencies including youth offending teams, social services and after care teams.
In partnership with the University of Essex, The Wilderness Foundation UK carried out groundbreaking research to highlight the positive link between connectedness to nature and significant increases in self-esteem. The published study showed that levels of self-esteem, trust and mood factors improved dramatically following wilderness trails and outdoor experiences.
Jo Roberts, Chief Executive of The Wilderness Foundation UK, said: “We are living in an age where young people are becoming increasingly disconnected from nature as well as society. In the Out There Academy we will reach under 16s who are still in a formative stage of development emotionally and socially, and through intensive personal development support and one-to-one mentoring, will offer them a great opportunity to build self esteem, aspiration and life skills and be the best they can be.
“Being in Nature is the perfect classroom in which to do this as it is inspirational, peaceful and makes people feel good.”
 
Today’s funding for the region of over £1.3m is from BIG’s Reaching Communities programme  which aims to help those most in need and build stronger communities.