Protect your patch

“No-one will protect what they don’t care about and no-one will care about what they have never experienced.”

David Attenborough

Do you remember a childhood, where you played for hours in the long grass, made daisy chains, and built dens in the woods with your friends?

These days children are more closely supervised, and less likely to have their own green spaces to explore.

Children are spending less time enjoying nature, meaning they are less likely to care about and protect it.

Spending time in nature can play a key role in helping children grow up to become happy, healthy adults. The great outdoors provides an open playground for children to have fun and learn life-long skills – from balance and coordination to empathy and creativity – with their friends, their parents, their carers, or their family members.

Meanwhile there is a real nature crisis in the UK. Plants and wildlife in our own backyards are under serious threat, and those green spaces are so precious, they really need our protection.

Backyard Nature want to help children to make a real difference to the planet. How? By providing them with the tools they need to protect their own patch of nature – even if they live in the heart of a city.

Greenhavens is a member of the backyard campaign. This is very close to our hearts as we have been engaging with children for many years across the Greenhavens. There are nine forest schools that are operating using our open spaces across the greenhavens.

Seaford community garden has just launched an innovative inter-generational project, using the well established children garden used by many of the cubs, brownies and local nursery children.

Burleys work with Forest Schools across Lewes District introducing them to horticulture. They have also set up “adopt a bed schemes” across parks and gardens, where the children take on responsibility for their own garden beds. Across Lewes they are also working with the resident children on the housing estates to create edible corridors.

Peacehaven community orchard regularly works with the scouts and local schools, tree planting and nurturing the orchard.

In Newhaven, Sussex Community Development Association have a families and children project that for example has meant the local youth club are now looking after their own mini allotment and orchard in Lewes Hut.

Newhaven Community Garden often hosts children’s parties where the kids have great fun getting up close to nature.

These are just some of the examples where you can learn together with your children and experience your local area.

Check our our events page, for more children’s events near you.