WIREDGOV

Birmingham’s Botanical Gardens hosted an event (Tuesday 19th November) to celebrate the success of the national Access to Nature scheme, which has already helped over 800,000 people access and experience the natural environment in England.

Access to Nature consists of 115 projects which have actively engaged with their local communities in a positive way, with well over three million people indirectly benefitting from the wide-ranging work of the scheme’s projects.  TV presenter John Craven presented awards to volunteers involved in Access to Nature to thank them for all their hard work, and to recognise their tremendous achievements.

The Access to Nature scheme is run by Natural England on behalf of a consortium of 11 other major environmental organisations, and it is funded by the Big Lottery Fund as part of the Changing Spaces programme. Natural England has run the £30 million Access to Nature grant programme since April 2008.

People are firmly at the core of this initiative, which has created opportunities for people from all backgrounds to have greater access to the natural environment – helping change their awareness and understanding of the natural world and making it easier for them to experience it at first hand.

The scheme aims to encourage more people to enjoy the outdoors, particularly those who face social exclusion or who currently have little or no contact with the natural environment – because they may lack the confidence to get out and enjoy natural places, or have few opportunities to do so. Groups who have directly benefitted include people with learning difficulties, black and ethnic minorities and the elderly.

As a direct result of the work carried out by Access to Nature and its volunteers many local green spaces have been created and developed, river channels and woodlands have been cleared and improved, family activity days have been run and community activities have been organised.  As well as providing great learning opportunities, the outdoor environment can improve the health and mental wellbeing of many individuals.

Peter Ainsworth, Big Lottery Fund Chair, said: “Access to Nature has made a positive impact on the lives of many people across the UK by giving them the opportunity to enjoy the great outdoors and to work together to breathe life into local green spaces. It’s wonderful to be able to celebrate the hard work of the volunteers involved and the lasting legacy they have helped create through a range of sustainable projects.”

Liz Newton, Natural England’s Director of Access & Engagement, said: “The range and diversity of the Access to Nature projects is spellbinding. The teams involved have come up with so many different ways of helping people of all ages and abilities to experience the delights of nature and wildlife. These projects have created lasting bonds within communities, and helped hundreds of thousands of people form their own special links with the natural environment.”

John Craven, TV presenter, said: "It is a privilege to be involved in this event which recognises and celebrates the achievements of so many people who are making a real difference in their own communities. From the work I have done over many years, I see time and time again the positive impact of the natural environment on people's lives, and the scope and range of Access to Nature has allowed so many more people to get involved.”

Access to Nature will end in April 2014, although some administrative support will continue until September 2014. As well as celebrating its successes, this week's event will consider the legacy of Access to Nature and how to build upon it in the future.

Examples of projects:

Let Nature Feed Your Senses (LNFYS)

Let Nature Feed Your Senses is a joint initiative between the Sensory Trust and LEAF (Linking Education And Farming), and is one of the flagship projects funded by Access to Nature. Farms, city farms and nature reserves across England have come together to offer sensory-rich visits that help make the connections between food, farming and nature. They allow visitors to touch, smell, hear and taste food production as it happens, in a safe, accessible environment, guided by friendly farmers and nature experts. Groups included those from inner city schools, groups with learning disabilities and sensory impairments, and older people with dementia can experience the plants and animals that help to feed us.

Most of us these days have little experience of farming, and this is especially true for people who have difficulty getting out to the countryside. Let Nature Feed Your Senses gives people with disabilities of all ages, older people and people who live in some of the most disadvantaged areas of England, the chance to experience food production first-hand, up close and personal. (Watch John Craven’s video for LNFYS).

Mosaic

Mosaic was another flagship project to support long-term sustainable engagement between black and minority ethnic (BME) communities and England’s National Parks. The project is working with deprived communities in 20 cities to create sustainable leadership capacity in the BME voluntary sector and to deliver changes in the organisational structures and culture of the National Parks Authorities, Youth Hostels Association (YHA) and Campaign for National Parks.

Since 2009, Mosaic has inspired an estimated 28,000 new people from black and minority ethnic communities to get involved in the activities and adventures on offer in National Parks – our most glorious landscapes. The project targets urban areas with high levels of deprivation with the intention of building links between people from ethnic minority communities in these areas, and their nearest National Park.

Natural Wight (Spectrum Housing Group)

Natural Wight offers a range of activities designed to encourage young people and Island residents to explore and enjoy their local environment. It blends conservation activities and educational events for young adults, younger children and families. It also has creative community activities for people of all ages and abilities designed to raise awareness and understanding of the beauty, accessibility and biodiversity of the Isle of Wight's unique landscape.

A key focus for the project is 16-25 year olds who live in supported accommodation; live in deprived areas; are low income (unemployed); live with mental or physical disability or come from single parent or young parents. It offers them a ‘pick ‘n’ mix’ of outdoor activities & learning opportunities, including practical conservation work along with local community engagement. Natural Wight's young conservation volunteers are now known as the ‘Green Army’.

These video clips created by delivery partner MC Enhancement from a series of photos show two residential events and Green Army work.

Learning and evaluation

The work of Access to Nature is evaluated thoroughly and papers are produced periodically to inform the work of our projects and of other organisations interested in similar fields. The following four reports were published recently:

Learning Together: Schools and the natural environment sector
This paper is based on Access to Nature projects where co-working between natural environment organisations and schools enables high quality outdoor learning experiences for children and young people and those who work with them. 
Greening the Inner City: Green spaces and local people.
This paper looks at six inner city London Projects and demonstrates the learning from Access to Nature projects engaging people in the improvement of green spaces in challenging inner city locations. 
A Learning Programme: How embedding evaluation has added value to Access to Nature.
This paper focuses on the evaluation process which is at the heart of Access to Nature and how this has added value to both individual projects and the programme as a whole. 
A Sense of Ownership: Fostering a change in the relationship between people and the natural environment.
This paper draws on the experiences of 16 projects based in diverse urban and rural communities. Changing the way people living in these areas relate to the natural environment has been challenging; but this papers shows that it is possible, and has been a hugely enriching experience for everyone involved.

Access to Nature
Access to Nature is a £28.75m grant programme funded by The Big Lottery Fund (The Fund) and delivered by Natural England on behalf of a consortium of 11 other leading environmental organisations – BTCV, British Waterways, Environment Agency, Forestry Commission, Greenspace, Groundwork UK, Land Restoration Trust, The National Trust, Natural England, RSPB, the Wildlife Trusts and the Woodland Trust.

The scheme began in April 2008 and the support to projects will cease in March 2014, with all administration concluded by September 2014. In November 2011 BIG announced a further tranche of funding totalling £1.37m. This came from BIG’s Supporting Change and Impact initiative, an extension of the Changing Spaces Programme. Funding was offered via open competition for eligible projects and intended to support them in reviewing the way they work and explore how they could become sustainable beyond the life of the initial Access to Nature funding.

The Access to Nature newsletter:
Issue # 1 – Summer 2012
Issue # 2 – Winter 2012
Issue # 3 – Spring 2013
Issue # 4 – Summer 2013
Issue # 5 – Autumn 2013
Issue # 6 will be published in December 2013.