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The winter blues: Getting through the season with SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder)

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What is SAD?

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that often occurs at the same time each year, typically in the autumn and winter.

What does SAD feel like?

SAD, also known as seasonal depression, can have an impact on your mood, sleep, appetite, and energy levels, affecting all aspects of your life, from your relationships and social life to work, school, and your sense of self-worth.

Key symptoms of SAD can include:

  • Depression.
  • Feelings of hopelessness, sadness, guilt, anxiety and apathy.
  • Overeating and weight gain.
  • Sleep problems (having trouble sleeping or sleeping too much).
  • Having difficulties carrying out daily tasks.
  • Change of appetite, notably craving sugary and starchy foods.
  • Tension and stress.
  • Unexplained aches and pains.
  • Feeling low and unsociable.

You may feel completely different than you did in the summer months. You are not alone…

“It’s thought the winter blues, or seasonal affective disorder (SAD), affects around 2 million people in the UK and more than 12 million people across northern Europe. It can affect people of any age, including children.”

NHS Inform

What causes Seasonal Affective Disorder?

According to the Seasonal Affective Disorder Association (SADA), and without getting overly technical, it is believed to be caused by a biochemical imbalance in the hypothalamus (a region of the brain) as a result of shorter daylight hours and lack of sunlight during the winter.

Can SAD affect people differently?

Not everyone suffers from SAD. Some people are thought to be more sensitive to light levels than others, resulting in these symptoms of winter blues.

SAD can be a severely disabling illness for some people, preventing them from functioning normally in the absence of ongoing medical treatment. Others experience a mild but debilitating condition that causes discomfort but not severe suffering. This is referred to as subsyndromal SAD or the ‘winter blues.’

What can I do to alleviate the symptoms of SAD?

1. Seek help

Firstly, it’s important to say that if your symptoms are so bad that you can’t live a normal life, you should always see your GP for support and advice.

2. Keep active

There is a wealth of evidence that Green Gyms and other nature-based programmes provide proven benefits in improving peoples’ health and wellbeing. Find out more about Green Spaces for Mental Health.

3. Get outside

Spend as much time as possible outside in natural daylight, especially at midday and on brighter days. Take regular walks during work or lunch breaks even if it’s just around the block. Also, consider joining a practical conservation team in your local area.

4. Balance your diet

A healthy diet will improve your mood, give you more energy, and stave off weight gain during the winter. Consume plenty of fresh fruit and especially vegetables to counteract your craving for carbohydrates such as pasta and potatoes. Follow these tips from the NHS to live well, eat well.

5. Let your light shine

When working, sit near windows whenever possible or even take your work outside if you can.

Some people find that light therapy can alleviate the symptoms of SAD. Special light boxes (10 x stronger than ordinary home lighting) are available online. The cost for these is £70 or more, they are not currently available on the NHS but they are showing signs of coming down in price.

For people experiencing milder symptoms, SAD alarm clocks can also be useful in overcoming seasonal depression.

6. See friends, family and fellow volunteers

Socialising is good for your mental health and helps ward off the winter blues. Make extra efforts to:

  • Keep in touch with people you care about and who care about you.
  • Accept invitations you get to social events.
  • Join in with group activities such as volunteering.

    Make your best efforts to join in, even if you only manage to for a little while.

7. Talk it through

Talking treatments such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), counselling and psychotherapy can help you cope with symptoms. Talk to your GP for information on what’s available locally on the NHS.

8. Consider the 5 ways to wellbeing

TCV supports the 5 ways to wellbeing (developed by the New Economics Foundation). Consider this in your approach to dealing with SAD or the winter blues.

Join in, feel good

Many of the recommendations above can be achieved by joining in with The Conservation Volunteers activities across the UK.

For further information regarding SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) and the help you can get to alleviate the symptoms, please visit the NHS website.

Keep up to date with the latest news and activities from The Conservation Volunteers by following on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram. You can also sign up to receive our Greenzine newsletter for more ways to get involved.

Celebratory CSR challenge brings hundreds together for nature

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The Conservation Volunteers (TCV) are delighted to partner with PwC to help deliver their One Firm One Day (OFOD) annual, firm-wide, fundraising and volunteering event.

To celebrate the fantastic achievements of the PwC teams, we asked Peter Hutchings, TCV Fundraising and Partnerships Manager, to share the story of this habitat-creating, biodiversity-increasing and team-strengthening CSR volunteering challenge…

The scene

Every year TCV welcomes nearly a thousand PwC staff and graduates to spend a day volunteering at one of our sites. Over the years the teams have made bird boxes, sown wildflower meadows, created pathways and new steps in green spaces across the UK.

PwC have genuinely been a massive help to TCV in our collective goal to improve outdoor spaces for the benefit of the environment and local communities.

Connecting people and green spaces is what we do.

PwC helping TCV at Waterlow Park (pre-pandemic).

The challenge

PwC’s firm-wide One Firm One Day volunteering event presented us with a challenge given the situation with the pandemic: How do we provide a flavour of TCV activity to hundreds of staff without them travelling and coming together to contribute and see our work first hand?

“This One Firm One Day has clearly been an exceptional year this year, due to the pandemic, and I’m glad that, together, we were able to find creative new ways of connecting PwC staff with our work.

PwC have been such a great help with managing and transforming green spaces over the years.  We’re looking forward to being able to welcome them back out into the great outdoors again sometime soon.”

Darren York – Chief Executive, The Conservation Volunteers

The plan

Together with the team at PwC we came up with a bespoke plan to bring a little bit of TCV to the homes of PwC staff, with our Grow At Home and Homes for Nature challenges.

We wanted to provide an engaging and accessible opportunity for staff to learn about food growing and creating habitats for wildlife. Whether that be some herbs on a windowsill, a veg patch in an allotment or a brand-new insect hotel. We wanted to create an opportunity for everyone, no matter where they are geographically or where they are at with their green-fingered knowledge.

Putting everything into action

TCV sent out over 500 packets of herbs and vegetable seeds direct to staff across the UK with growing guides and short webinars on how to sow, grow and care for their seeds – all prepared for them to tune-in on One Firm One Day.

Huge thank you to Freya and Alex at TCV Hollybush Conservation Centre in Leeds for leading the webinars, their infectious enthusiasm provided much-needed light relief during this challenging period. Over the pandemic, they have become quite the expert presenters, taking TCV engagement online during lockdown to keep our volunteers connected – If they don’t already have one they both need Blue Peter badges!

The Homes for Nature challenge also saw PwC staff take on the challenge of creating new habitats for nature with the chance to win a prize from TCV.

Participants tuned into a lunchtime webinar with Alex and Freya, who demonstrated the different ways to make insect hotels, which are fantastic ways of creating homes for all-important pollinators that are integral to a healthy biodiverse ecosystem.

The results and an all-important thank you

We had some fantastic results! Freya and Alex donned their best sparkly attire to announce the winners who each received bespoke handmade wood crafts from TCV Hollybush Wood Squad Project.

I just want to thank the hundreds of people who took part, feedback has been great and I hope people are enjoying the fruits of their labour. It is always a pleasure to work with PwC and I hope to see these wonderful people in person soon.

Keep up to date with the latest news and activities from The Conservation Volunteers by signing up for our newsletter. You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, or head on over to our website for more.

I Dig Trees guest blog: Did you know, trout grow on trees?

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Together we continue to smash our tree planting targets for climate, wildlife and communities! But we have only just begun. This year we are going further than ever before with I Dig Trees: 2 million trees in the ground by the end of this tree planting season.

As the tree planting phenomenon continues, Prof Jonathan Grey of Wild Trout Trust tells us how the trees ordered through our #IDigTrees programme with OVO Energy are helping to bring habitats, food and shelter for local freshwater wildlife…

I like edges. Edges are where ecology happens…

They are dynamic, unpredictable…edgy even. As someone who has always been fascinated by the ecology of freshwaters, I have spent an inordinate amount of time with my back to the water.

I look out at the landscape, trying to understand how that influences what I find beneath the surface behind me. My view should be obscured by trees because, arguably, the ‘pristine state’ of most of our rivers and streams should be wooded right to the channel edge.

“…arguably, the ‘pristine state’ of most of our rivers and streams should be wooded right to the channel edge.”

Did you know, trout grow on trees?

Not literally of course, but directly and indirectly, trout grow from feeding on invertebrates that fed upon trees.

It could be via tiny aphids that have been sucking on a sycamore and haplessly fallen into the stream below in a sappy stupor. Or it might be more circuitously, via shrimps that have shredded and chomped upon the leaf litter tossed into the water on autumnal winds.

Energy arising from trees on land can be transferred via a plethora of ecological pathways to end up fuelling food webs underwater.

“trout grow from feeding on invertebrates that fed upon trees…”

But trees should give so much more to trout…

Our native species, the brown trout needs a mosaic of habitats to get through its life cycle: clean gravel in which to lay eggs, refuges from predators and flow for the weak swimming fry, shallow riffles of fast water as growing juvenile ‘parr’, and deeper pools as larger adults.

So, trout don’t live in trees, but trees should be contributing to that mosaic. Natural treefall into rivers diverts water flow over, under and around, thereby making faster, slower, shallower and deeper patches on the quilt of the riverbed.

Tree roots bind the bank soils together and twist into the water providing hidey-holes. Trailing branches trap flotsam creating cover and shade.

“Our native species, the brown trout needs a mosaic of habitats to get through its life cycle”

Source: Wild Trout Trust

The trout is a cold-adapted species…

Its eggs bake low-and-slow in river gravel over the winter months to hatch with the first flushes of spring and capitalise on unwary invertebrates.

Trees in the catchment should ‘slow-the-flow’, taking the sting out of winter floods that otherwise ravage our rivers and disturb the slumbering eggs.

Trees along the banks should keep our rivers cool in summer. The water temperature of shallow, narrow streams when exposed to direct sunlight can be almost 10oC warmer compared to beneath a leafy canopy, and that’s not good for trout nor anything else that needs oxygen from the surrounding water.

I’ve focussed on trout but trout are just a sentinel, a canary in a coalmine as it were. A healthy population of wild trout indicates a healthy, functional river, that should be home to their prey and their predators. And ‘should’ has crept up far too often in this post.

“…trout are just a sentinel, a canary in a coalmine as it were. A healthy population of wild trout indicates a healthy, functional river…”

That’s because far too many of our rivers are effectively bald!

If there are trees, they are generally standing tall but tired, a linear straggle of aging canopy, a fragile fringe only one-tree-deep. Succession has been nipped in the bud, quite literally, by browsing livestock.

Working part-time for the Wild Trout Trust, I meet with landowners, local communities, rivers trusts, government agencies and angling clubs to offer practical advice and guide hands-on habitat improvement projects.

In many instances, all rivers need is a good dose of trees, and I am delighted that The Conservation Volunteers recognise angling clubs as community groups and grants them access to the I Dig Trees programme.

“That’s because far too many of our rivers are effectively bald!”

The stereotypical view of a fly angler taking a fish for supper is thankfully fading…

Generally, such anglers don’t take at all but give instead; time, energy and money invested into improving habitat, restoring rivers, reporting pollution…generally working with and looking after rivers as a natural resource.

OK, I’m biased by my fetish for freshwater, but if you are going to plant trees anywhere, along rivers must bring about the biggest-bang-for-buck in terms of environmental benefits.

You can follow the development of some of my tree-planting partnership projects on Twitter.

Prof Jonathan Grey

We’d like to say a huge thanks to Prof Jonathan Grey and the Wild Trout Trust for contributing this guest blog.

The Conservation Volunteers has the ambition to plant 2 million trees with the help of community groups, corporate sponsors, and people like you. Are you in?

Keep up to date with the latest news and activities from The Conservation Volunteers by following us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, or head on over to our website for more.

WildSkills: kickstarting rewarding outdoor careers

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Meet the next generation of practical conservationists making an impact for wildlife, climate and communities.

The Conservation Volunteers (TCV) WildSkills programme is a traineeship, providing young people with barriers to employment a real opportunity to kick-start exciting and rewarding outdoor careers. This year, the programme is being supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery.

Trainees are immersed in environmental conservation sector roles, developing highly sought-after skills in three of TCV’s main workstreams; practical conservation, community engagement and increasing biodiversity.

TCV's next generation of practical conservationists
TCV’s practical conservationists beginning their journey towards successful outdoor careers.

The need for environmental conservation

We all depend on nature for food, water, and shelter. A healthy environment helps to control disease, sustain nutrient cycles and maintain oxygen production. It also provides us with opportunities for leisure, employment and recuperation, all of which can improve our overall health and well-being.

“Our economies, livelihoods and well-being all depend on our most precious asset: Nature.”

Source: The Dasgupta Review

And yet we are facing some *ahem* obstacles, to overcome together:

Biodiversity: “The health of the ecosystems on which we and other species depend is deteriorating more rapidly than ever. We are eroding the very foundations of economies, livelihoods, food security, health and quality of life worldwide.”

Robert Watson, Chair of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IBPES)

Climate: “The climate crisis represents a clear and present danger to people and our planet. Its real-world consequences are now all too visible.”

Alok Sharma, UK COP26 President

Whilst not forgetting…

Employment: “Young People Face Unemployment “Crisis” As 88% Of Job Losses Affect Under 35s”

Eleanor Langford, Political Reporter

So, the timing of these traineeships couldn’t be more crucial for the health of our ecosystems and the health of ourselves.

The WildSkills traineeships involve practical action taken at a local level.

Tree planting with TCV York
Tree planting with TCV York

Conservation career paths

It’s thanks to players of People’s Postcode Lottery that TCV is able to provide these groundbreaking (excuse the pun) opportunities for 16-29 year olds, who face some form of barrier to employment.

“My barriers to work have been health issues but this gives me a chance to gain some confidence and become used to working with people.”

Kate, Wildskills Trainee, Greater London

The WildSkills trainees will be immersed in a wide range of TCV activities, shadowing and supporting Senior Project Officers, whilst rolling their sleeves up and getting stuck in to develop valuable transferable skills to kickstart their outdoor careers:

  • Practical Conservation – habitat creation, path construction, invasive species removal and wildflower meadow creation.
  • Biodiversity – developing knowledge of local flora and fauna whilst improving habitats for these species, wildlife recording and citizen science projects.
  • Community Engagement – working with local communities, supporting events and marketing and gaining real experience of delivering sessions.

“I’m looking forward to leading volunteer groups. I like working with teams, and being able to share with others how they can do their bit to protect and enhance their local nature reserve is really exciting.”

Elliott, TCV WildSkills Trainee, South East London

Trainees develop valuable transferable skills to kickstart their outdoor careers

Participants will each have individual training plans and, where there’s a need, TCV will support trainees to develop skills in literacy, numeracy, ICT, communications, interpersonal, and public relations.

Once their traineeships are completed, they will have the expertise, experience, and confidence to move on to interviews and jobs either within TCV or with other committed environmental conservation organisations, such as CPRE, The Wildlife Trusts, The Woodland Trust, RSPB, The National Trust and others.

The WildSkills traineeships involve practical action taken at a local level.
“The WildSkills traineeships involve practical action taken at a local level.”

So, who are TCV’s WildSkills 2021 trainees?

TCV WildSkills trainees from Yorkshire & London

Our next generation of environmental heroes and conservationists are based in Yorkshire and London, undertaking a variety of exciting projects.

Already the trainees have got stuck into planting trees, which is a big focus of TCV, to combat climate change and facilitate local communities to make their difference.

As well as the practical tasks, our trainees are looking forward to learning specific skills to land them their dream job in the environmental sector…

“I’ve always been fascinated by nature, and I want to play a part in protecting and enhancing it.

“TCV’s traineeship gives me an opportunity to get structured, practical experience in urban conservation. The programme over the year is jam packed with practical habitat management, workshops with wildlife experts, and sessions with the public.”

Elliott, TCV WildSkills Trainee, South East London

TCV WildSkills trainees at TCV Stave Hill and TCV Dulwich Upper Wood
TCV WildSkills trainees at TCV Stave Hill and TCV Dulwich Upper Wood

Elliot is interested in UK biodiversity and hopes to develop knowledge of UK fauna; doing deep dives on native invertebrates, amphibians and birds, how they interact with local ecosystems and what we can do to help them thrive in London.

Elliot sums up his drive for applying to WildSkills and his future goals: “The public mood on the climate and biodiversity crises is changing, and I think conservationists – and others in the environmental movement – need to capitalise on community support and advocate for more ambitious responses to these challenges. I’d love to combine my practical urban conservation experience at TCV with my policy experience as a civil servant to push for more ambitious and connected ecosystem recovery across the UK. I’m so grateful to be getting a solid foundation in practical conservation from the WildSkills traineeship to help lay the foundations for that goal.”

“I have already learnt a lot in the short time I have been here. I hope to gain more knowledge of native wildlife and plants on the job as well as gain inspiration from my practical work to bring to my personal artwork.”

Kate, TCV WildSkills Trainee, Greater London

Applying to WildSkills for an introduction to the world of ecological management, Kate has an ambition to gain an ecology-based job and would love to work at the Natural History Museum. Kate had easy access to parks and green spaces growing up, which encouraged a love of nature and being outdoors. This led to studying geography, focusing on the physical and environmental aspects. Kate wants to further understand what kind of habitats encourage certain species to live there and how a range of habitats are managed during their time with TCV, then go on to employment in ecology.

Kate will enjoy working with volunteers, “Giving local people a sense of accomplishment when they come and do jobs at TCV sites.”

Learning at Lesnes Abbey Wood and during a Lichen workshop at TCV Greenwich Peninsula Ecology Park
Trainees learning at Lesnes Abbey Wood and during a Lichen workshop at
TCV Greenwich Peninsula Ecology Park

Kayley has already been a regular volunteer with TCV since 2017, as well as with other organisations, to get practical experience and develop her understanding of different habitats with the aim to get into the Conservation sector. With a BSc in Zoology too, Kayley is looking to develop niche skills, such as dry-stone walling, and an increased range of practical skills she has not yet come across, for example, big-scale residential projects and reed planting. Using opportunities in Citizen Science, she’d like to improve her ID skills on birds, insects and trees.

Kayley is also keen to take advantage of networking opportunities in the industry and speak to like-minded people. A big part of the traineeship is developing local community engagement and Kayley hopes to improve these ‘people’ skills, which we know are important for employment.

Kayley has also started to add to the 50 million trees ambition across Northern England as part of the collaborative Northern Forest Project.

Eva and Rebecca are part of the team planting 19,000 trees to create woodland areas on a former colliery spoil heap in Rossington.

Developing personal skills is also a goal for Rebecca, who is looking forward to attending the leadership courses to enable her to competently lead and manage groups by the end of her traineeship. She is also keen to understand how to plan and deliver education events.

As well as improving skills in wildlife identification, especially in botany, Eva would like to gain licenses to use tools often required in practical conservation and get an insight into project planning. Her traineeship will complement the knowledge she is gaining through completing a Masters degree in Biodiversity and Conservation.

TCV supports trainees to develop skills in literacy, numeracy, ICT, communications, interpersonal, and public relations
TCV supports trainees to develop skills in literacy, numeracy, ICT, communications, interpersonal, and public relations to boost outdoor career prospects.

“It’s been a real confidence booster to be accepted onto this traineeship and I’m really pushing myself to be my best I can be.

“I get to do what I love every day”

Jozef, TCV WildSkills Trainee, London

After volunteering, putting on his own workshops, teaching in schools, setting up teaching blogs to inspire others, Jozef is full of ideas and energy to work full time in nature.

He also wants to teach people things that he finds interesting throughout his traineeship and has been documenting his time with his brilliant drawings. Jozef finds reading and taking in information in a traditional way difficult and wants his drawings to make the information he is sharing accessible to others who prefer learning visually. He also hopes that our readers will be entertained while they learn!

“Me and my co-trainees are getting on really well … I feel like we’re already really good mates. We all have different strengths and help each other out when we can. I feel really lucky and supported … I’ve got so many ideas and lots of energy to take full advantage of this year”

Jozef's illustrations as a TCV WildSkill trainee
Some of Jozef’s fantastic illustrations. Click here to see more.

What our young conservationists do in their spare time

From Jozef’s drawings above to Rebecca’s love of houseplants (as a proud owner of 30! Her favourites being her Maranta leuconeura and bonsai trees), TCV’s WildSkills trainees have a varied range of hobbies and interests outside of the (outdoor) classroom.

Kate is a fan of art and loves prog and metal music. Music has always been a big part of Rebecca’s life with a grade 8 in singing and flute and is currently teaching herself how to play piano.

Kate's art as a TCV WildSkill trainee
Kate’s art, including a common frog and newt for Frog Day at
Greenwich Ecology Peninsula Park

As well as learning about wildlife, Jozef enjoys woodworking, old punk music and skateboarding.

Eva demonstrates her creative spirit:

“I taught myself how to embroider in the first lockdown and have been upcycling clothes and creating (often nature-inspired) designs ever since. I have a definite arty side, and this is currently my chosen creative outlet.

“I absolutely love to cook but hate following recipes. Almost everything I make is completely freestyled, but it seems to work out best for me that way. I love taking a standard meal and reinventing it, whether that is making it vegetarian or giving it a new spin from another type of cuisine.”

Kayley likes to get stuck into anything she can! Her hobbies include tennis, horse riding, biking and she used to competitively swim for North Lincolnshire. Read Kayley’s blog here: Let loose on your WILD side

The conservation chronicles…

Watch this space for further WildSkills updates!

We’ll be featuring blog entries to show what the trainees have been achieving – for themselves, their community and for the environment.

Keep up to date with the latest news and activities from The Conservation Volunteers by following us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, or head on over to our website for more.

Pole to Pole and back again, then around the world (twice)!

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The Conservation Volunteers (TCV) are delighted to be selected as Wates 2018-22 Charity of the Year partner.

To celebrate the fantastic achievements of the Wates Group #PoletoPole challenge teams, we asked Peter Hutchings, TCV Fundraising and Partnerships Manager, to share the story of this world-encompassing expedition.

The challenge

When Wates came to us with the idea in January to launch a fundraising challenge to walk from Pole to Pole (12,440 miles), virtually, over the month of February. At first, I was pleasantly surprised, we had no expectation, given the challenging Covid pandemic, that any fundraising would be going on at all.

Secondly, I thought “how are we going to pull this off with only a few weeks to prepare?!”

I should have known with Wates, I had nothing to worry about.

The original Pole to Pole challenge video.

What next ensued was a huge, heroic effort from Wates.

In particular, a shout to Mark Tant MD (for the idea) and Emma Gruenbaum (for running with it and pulling it together), a small army of Wates Charity Champions and the marketing team, who really turned it around in a short space of time.

Before we knew it, we were hosting a launch webinar

We had hundreds of people tuning in to kick-off the challenge.

A massive thank you to United Heroes, who we partnered with to facilitate the functionality of the challenge and track the miles; their app is super easy to get on board with and very user-friendly.

To have 100 people involved would have been a success, but to have 332 people sign up just blew us away.

It meant that, in just over a week, they had collectively already completed the challenge that was meant to make take the whole month!

Around the equator

So, we wanted to see how far they could make it by the end of the month. In no time they had made it back to the North Pole, and so, we set them off to go round the equator.

Along the way, we shared facts about climate change issues affecting the countries passed on their virtual journey.

Every milestone they passed we shared information about how Wates, TCV and the individual participant can make small changes at home to help combat climate change…

A whopping 43,139 miles were covered, just a few thousand off going round the earth TWICE (that’s around 91,109,568 steps in case you were wondering)!

What’s was so fantastic about this challenge is how it really embodies what TCV is all about; people collectively coming together (albeit virtually), getting out into nature in their local area and improving their own health and wellbeing.

That’s why we we’re so chuffed to hear from one of the participants Angie…

“Taking part in the Pole to Pole has really helped me with my road to recovery.

Back in September I had a fall and tore ligaments in my right leg, this meant that my much-needed daily walks/runs came to an abrupt halt. Although I could continue to work from home, I did very little exercise for months which had a knock-on effect on my physical and mental health (although I didn’t realise it at the time!).

Fast forward to the end of January when I received the information from Mark Tant – I think it was just what I needed, I was really inspired to take part in the team challenge. It was great to feel part of the team and having the leader dashboard was fantastic.

Although I had a very slow start, seeing everyone’s progress really spurred me on to do a little further each day – I noticed all the lovely wildlife and enjoyed the birdsong too.

It’s helped me immensely; I’m now exercising regularly and enjoying the great outdoors again. I’m taking part in an exercise challenge throughout March with my family which is great fun and keeping us connected in lockdown.”

Angie, Pole to Pole Challenger

The prizes

Of course, it was a collective challenge, but they do like a bit of a competitive element at Wates.

The challenge was not only about the super-fit-fitness-folk, who’d clock up the miles with no difficulty.

We designed 5 winning categories that were inclusive, with every participant in with a chance of winning a prize…

The five Pole to Pole prize categories and the winners.

The total figures

Needless to say we were completely amazed by the final numbers and in awe of the collective effort the team had made…

The Pole to Pole challenge final figures – 43,149 miles!

Thank you from The Conservation Volunteers

I’d like to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone for getting on board with the Pole to Pole challenge, raising money for The Conservation Volunteers and our charitable aims of connecting people and green spaces for the benefit of communities and the environment.

I feel with this challenge we did just that!

Peter Hutchings

And finally a word from our CEO:

“I am absolutely amazed by the enthusiasm and dedication of the remarkable team at Wates, who have refused to let COVID stand in the way of their fundraising efforts for The Conservation Volunteers this year. 

A pole-to-pole walk, of more than 12,000 miles felt incredibly ambitious when they set off on this challenge, and yet they have absolutely smashed that target, clocking up more than 43,000 miles. 

Every pound of the £25,048 raised supports our vital work at a time when so many of us are dependent upon local green spaces for free access to nature, exercise and connecting safely with others.  What a team!”

Darren York, CEO of The Conservation Volunteers

Keep up to date with the latest news and activities from The Conservation Volunteers by following us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, or head on over to our website for more.

CHILDHOOD AND NATURE: our children’s changing relationship with the natural world and how to kickstart a life-long appreciation

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The Conservation Volunteers Vice President, Sir David Attenborough once said, “No one will protect what they don’t care about; and no one will care about what they have never experienced”. He was referring to the natural world and the fundamental importance of people engaging with nature to first make a connection, to then understand it, to then want to protect it.

This rings true at all levels, from a toddler searching for a woodlouse on a log in his/her local patch of green space, to an adventurous zoologist researching Lemon Ants cultivating their so-called “devil’s gardens” in the Amazon Basin. Once we experience something and make a connection, we develop a fascination, we begin to care.

This has been an objective of The Conservation Volunteers for many years. Since 1959, our mission has centred around connecting people of all ages with their local green spaces, for the long-term benefit of wildlife, community health and, increasingly, our unsettled climate.

“This rings true at all levels, from a toddler searching for a woodlouse on a log in his/her local patch of green space…”

But children in the UK are spending less and less time in nature, opting for more time playing indoors and using computer screens and televisions to learn, perhaps about the natural world, or perhaps more likely, what’s en vogue on TikTok.

Whilst we recognise the challenges that the UK lockdown and homeschooling presents – with many TCVers in the same situation – we can’t ignore the startling statistics that we can help to change:

  • Children spend less time playing in natural places, such as woodlands, countryside and heaths than they did in previous generations. Less than 10% play in such places compared to 40% of adults when they were young. Source: Natural England

  • On average, Britain’s children watch more than 17 hours of television a week: that’s almost two-and-a-half hours per day, every single day of the year.

    British children are also spending more than 20 hours a week online, mostly on social networking sites. Source: National Trust
  •  As children grow older, their ‘electronic addictions’ increase. Britain’s 11–15-year-olds spend about half their waking lives in front of a screen: 7.5 hours a day, an increase of 40% over a decade. Source: National Trust

And on the flip side…

  • Children who spend more time outside (and more time noticing nature / wildlife) are more likely to report that ‘being in nature makes me very happy’ (91% and 94% respectively, compared to 79% of those who had spent less time). Source: Natural England

Its stats like these that motivate us in our work to connect people with nature, whilst improving our local green spaces for all the community to enjoy.

“…cherished hours spent investigating local wildlife, collecting conkers, making dens and, most importantly having fun.”

It’s also why we have created these resources (including bug hunting, den building, scavenger hunts, gardening activities and more), to help parents encourage their children to kickstart and nurture a relationship with nature, one which can then hopefully flourish into a little more unguided fashion of cherished hours spent investigating local wildlife, collecting conkers, making dens and, most importantly having fun.

… and this all leaves parents with a little more time. Time to perhaps log on to work for those who are homeschooling or perhaps to simply have a moment’s peace and a cup of tea.

Take a look here for our activity resources and crank up your children’s passion for the natural world.

And for those who have (re)discovered your local green spaces during the UK lockdown, think about ways to add these activities to your weekend routine and instil this passion in your children for years to come.

https://www.tcv.org.uk/getinvolved/activity-resources/

Keep up to date with the latest news and activities from The Conservation Volunteers by following us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, or head on over to our website for more.

I Dig Trees guest blog: 1,000 new trees form species-rich hedgerow set to boost biodiversity

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Last year our fantastic network of I Dig Trees community groups smashed the target to plant over 1 million trees. This year we are going even bigger with 1,444,400 trees now distributed since the programme began.

As the tree planting season continues, Jessica Rowbury of CoFarm in Cambridge tells us how the trees ordered are helping to bring habitats, food and shelter for the local wildlife…

The CoFarm market garden in Cambridge

More than one thousand saplings have been planted at the CoFarm Cambridge site on Barnwell Road with help from volunteers and sponsors. The saplings will grow to form a hedgerow around the perimeter of the fenced market garden within the seven-acre Cambridge city plot.

The species-rich hedgerow will act to boost biodiversity within the farm, as well as provide a natural windbreak and prevent soil erosion. 

Different varieties of trees, including blackthorn, hawthorn, hornbeam, beech and crab apple, were planted around the 360-metre fence perimeter by CoFarm volunteers.

The Conservation Volunteers (TCV) donated 950 trees, as part of its ‘I Dig Trees’ programme in partnership with OVO Energy, in addition to supporting canes and spiral guards that protect the saplings from rabbits and deer.

A further 450 trees have been donated to CoFarm Cambridge by The Woodland Trust, through its PlanTree initiative.

Some of these have been planted within the hedgerow, and more are set be planted around the farm in the coming weeks.

Hedges: havens for nature

Hedges are vital habitats that provide food and shelter for wildlife and create corridors to help wildlife move around. 

The more diverse in composition a hedgerow is the more insects and species it is likely to support thanks to an increased variety of flowering and fruiting times. CoFarm’s new hedge will be classified as ‘species-rich’, according to the UK’s Habit Action Plan, defined as containing an average of five or more native woody species per 30m length. 

The recently planted saplings, which are currently around half a metre in height, will take around three years to reach the desired height of the hedge (around 1.5 metres).

‘Hedges are massively important for wildlife, giving shelter, nest sites and food. They also serve as beneficial predator and pollinator banks which are so important within small organic farm systems.’

Dominic Walsh, horticultural co-lead at CoFarm Cambridge

Beyond the benefits they bring to wildlife, hedges act as windbreaks, to protect the hundreds of varieties of flowers and vegetable plants inside the market garden and help prevent soil erosion. 

Nature-friendly farming

During the planting of the saplings in December, volunteers dipped the young tree roots in a solution containing mycorrhiza, a beneficial type of fungus that grows in association with plant roots. Mycorrhizas take sugars and carbon from the saplings in exchange for water and nutrients they gather from the soil. In this way, the fungi act as extensions to the root system, increasing the saplings’ absorptive area.

The nutrient exchange includes organic compounds such as phosphorous, nitrogen and potassium, but also micronutrients previously locked up in the soil.

Volunteers dipping the tree roots in a mycorrhizal solution.

This is just one of the many nature-friendly techniques employed by CoFarm Cambridge since the site does not use chemical fertilisers, pesticides or herbicides.

The method negates the need for chemical fertilisers, thanks to the increased absorption power of the roots resulting from the symbiotic relationship formed with the fungi. Mycorrhiza fungus also protects the trees against root diseases.  

Found out more about CoFarm Cambridge

Many more trees are set to be planted at CoFarm Cambridge this year. To hear more about this project, including the upcoming planting of a community orchard, follow CoFarm on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.

We’d like to say a huge thank to Jessica and the team at CoFarm for sharing this guest blog post for I Dig Trees, originally appearing here.

Keep up to date with the latest news and activities from The Conservation Volunteers by following us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, or head on over to our website for more.

5 ways to get outside and active this winter…

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It’s National Obesity Awareness Week, a campaign encouraging the UK to join in a resolution to help improve the nation’s health.

Generally, we achieve weight loss because of a decrease in our calorific intake. However, evidence shows the best way to maintain your health is to be engaged in regular physical activity. And perhaps more importantly, being physically active reduces the risks of diabetes and cardiovascular disease beyond that achieved by reducing your weight alone.

Whilst the majority of our activities are temporarily suspended due to the Covid-19 Lockdown, you can still get out in the great outdoors to get your daily dose of movement!

An obvious one, that can often be overlooked as a valuable form of exercise. It’s free, gets you from a to b (the local grocers perhaps) and is a great way to build core strength, lose weight and become generally healthier.

You don’t have to go on a full-on hike, but the key here is to make it brisk! An up-tempo, 10-minute walk a day has loads of health benefits, including increased cardiovascular and pulmonary (heart and lung) fitness, improved management of conditions such as hypertension (high blood pressure), high cholesterol (reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke), and diabetes. It can be a great way to free up joint and muscular pain or stiffness, build stronger bones and improve your balance.

It also counts towards your 150 minutes of weekly exercise, as recommended by the NHS.

This one’s certainly a win-win situation – gardening can be a great form of exercise, and of course, you can couple it with growing fruits, vegetables and herbs to supplement a healthy (and very tasty) balanced diet.

Gardening is considered moderate-intensity exercise. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), you can burn approx. 330 calories doing an hour of light gardening, which compares similarly with dancing (foxtrot, rumba, tap or Zumba™ – whichever is your thing). They also argue physical activity reduces risks of cardiovascular disease and diabetes beyond that produced by weight reduction alone.

Gardening can, of course, be a solo activity, but it also provides a fantastic opportunity for connecting with family members, whilst perhaps discussing the importance of healthy eating, the beauty of that earthworm or whatever the latest family topic of conversation may be! It’s also said that early exposure to dirt has been linked to lasting health benefits, helping strengthen the immune system, protecting children from developing autoimmune diseases and asthma.

The wind in your face, the beautiful birdsong, the exploration of your local area and parkland – the benefits of cycling are seemingly as endless as the possible different routes you could be taking on your next adventure.

And we haven’t yet mentioned what it does for your physical fitness and weight loss.

“The simple equation, when it comes to weight loss, is ‘calories out must exceed calories in’. So, you need to burn more calories than you consume to lose weight. Cycling burns calories: between 400 and 1000 an hour, depending on intensity and rider weight…” argues Michelle Arthurs-Brennan of Cycling Weekly.

Check out their handy chart to estimate your potential calories burned cycling.

This can provide you with a real workout!

It can be done throughout the year and, in the winter months, will likely throw up a few welcome earthworms for your friendly neighbourhood robin (you’ll lose weight as the robin happily gains). Keep an eye out – the little red-breasted bird will flutter down to investigate the scene for much-needed morsels as you walk away. Always the first in the queue!

The RHS say that home composting is the most environmentally-friendly way of dealing with kitchen and garden waste, plus it can produce beautiful compost that can be used as an excellent soil improver. Take a look at their composting masterclass here.

As well as NHS guidance stating we should aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity (or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity) a week, we are also advised to do strengthening activities that work all the major muscles on at least 2 days a week.

Yoga can achieve this aim. Using your bodyweight to perform the movements strengthens your legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms. As well as the potential to work up a sweat, yoga has many health benefits such as lowering blood pressure, assisting weight loss and reducing anxiety and depression. Those who regularly practice say it also improves their mental focus. Something which can help in all aspects of life.

Get your layers on and take your mat outside for a refreshing stretch!

There are your five activities to improve health, without the gym!

The great outdoors is “great” for many reasons and using it to improve your health is just one. The key is to get started and find something that you enjoy.

Whether you have access to a garden with a compost heap or a balcony with enough space for a yoga mat, there are multitude benefits from breathing in fresh air and seeing the beauty of nature – all while doing an activity to keep fit.

If you’d like to get involved with The Conservation Volunteers or find out more about our work connecting people and green spaces, take a look here: https://www.tcv.org.uk/

The Conservation Volunteers and partners are pioneering the Miyawaki approach in Europe with the biggest plant of this kind…

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This blog is part two of a series. Click here for part one.

The Conservation Volunteers (TCV) are pioneering the Miyawaki approach to forest planting with Barking & Dagenham Council and thanks to 32,000 trees being donated to the project by Natwest Group. The Parsloes Park collaborative project (also involving Kings College London, Thames Chase Community Forest, SUGI and Wild Urban Spaces) will be the largest Miyawaki project to date in all of Europe.

“The Conservation Volunteers is a UK charity that connects people and green spaces, through activities such as tree planting, to tackle the climate and ecological emergency and provide lasting outcomes for people, communities and nature.  We’re proud to be a part of this fantastic partnership which will employ both traditional and innovative new tree planting methods at Parsloes Park, a valuable local green space.“

Darren York – Chief Executive, The Conservation Volunteers

The Parsloes Park – Forest of Thanks and Remembrance aims to combine remembrance with an appreciation for all the hard work frontline workers have delivered and are continuing to do for the borough and its residents during the Covid-19 pandemic. As well as being an area for relaxation and socialising, the park also supports a wildlife area, playground and multiple sport and leisure facilities which are all well used by the local community.

The Parsloes Park – Forest of Thanks and Remembrance will include 32,000 trees being donated to the project by Natwest Group.

This new Miyawaki forest aims to bring further wildlife to the area for the benefit of the community and the project also supports the borough’s wider commitment to their Tree City of the World status, their Inclusive Growth Strategy and to the Parks and Open Spaces Strategy.

But what’s most impressive is the variety of trees going into the planting…

The current site is mown grassland. With all these new native trees the project hopes to increase the species diversity of the area, for the community, for biodiversity and to help combat the global issue of climate change.

Just four years after planting, the ‘Forest of Thanks’ could deliver benefits including:

  • Absorbing 24,000 kg of carbon: up to 30 times better absorption compared to other tree-planting schemes
  • A huge increase in biodiversity
  • Processing 1,500,000 litres of rain
  • Improving air quality by reducing polluting floating particulates by up to 10%
  • Up to 30 times better noise reduction compared to other tree-planting schemes

When completed, the ‘Forest of Thanks’ will be the largest Miyawaki Forest in the UK and Europe.

We’d like to say a huge thanks to our partners for their help and support getting this pioneering project up and running. We hope to bring further updates as the project takes shape, so watch this space for updates!

Next up in this blog series…

The Forest of Thanks and Opportunity

If you’d like to find out more about how you can get involved to support the work of The Conservation Volunteers, visit: https://www.tcv.org.uk