Field Notes: Nature as a blueprint for recovery

John Muir Award Officer, Emily Hanton, reflects on the experiences of participants completing their John Muir Award as part of a programme delivered by The Bay: A Blueprint for Recovery. 

The Bay is a nature and wellbeing programme offering people experiencing loneliness, isolation, or anxiety the opportunity to get outdoors and connect with nature.

They have recently started using the John Muir Award to help structure their sessions and give participants a sense of achievement. They believe it encourages participants to share their experiences with others, and supports their wellbeing, as well as raising awareness of the importance of protecting wild places.

I feel very relaxed and happy in the group. Everyone listens well and we have great conversations.

The John Muir Award aligns well with the Five Ways to Wellbeing which are evidence-based actions to improve mental health and wellbeing, developed by the New Economics Foundation. The five actions are to connect, be active, take notice, learn and give; these can be achieved through the Award framework, which requires participants to discover a wild place, explore it, do something to conserve it and share their experiences.

The variety of activities make each session fun and fresh and they are good for my wellbeing.

Four participants who attended The Bay project sessions have just completed their Awards. They have spent time discovering and exploring a variety of wild places including a local urban park and the surrounding area of coastland, as well as trips to sites including saltmarsh, meadows, river and beach. They have collectively contributed 103 hours to conserving and advocating for their chosen wild places. Their commitment involved:

• making and distributing 70 bird feeders
• completing eight citizen science surveys
• maintaining one bug hotel
• writing four letters of support for nature to MPs
• collecting one bag of litter.

The Bay project's Award activities support the John Muir Trust's three freedoms which aim to provide freedom for nature to repair itself, freedom for people to enjoy the benefit, and freedom for communities to thrive.

I enjoy coming to the Bay it gets me outside in the fresh air. I enjoy learning about plants and nature.

• Find out how to incorporate the Five Ways to Wellbeing into your John Muir Award. You can also find a suite of health and wellbeing resources on our website here. 
• Find out more about The Bay project or visit Facebook @thebayblueprint and on Instagram and Twitter @thebaywellbeing.