Homes for hedgehogs - Nature Connections

“As someone who has been living with mental health conditions since childhood, I have found most aspects of life challenging, often struggling to be around anybody and isolating myself from everything. This impacted my social development as well as my schooling, and I had to leave school at aged 12 due to these difficulties.

I was made aware of the Nature Connections project through a mental health group I attended. As I found being in nature often helped me to feel calmer, I hoped the course might provide a safe environment to explore and challenge my fears and difficulties."

"The project afforded a safe space to just be, to feel whatever we were feeling in the moment, without any judgment. Initially it was hard to translate what we learned on the course into everyday life, but over a relatively short period I began noticing nature EVERYWHERE, which in turn helped me tune in to being much more present in the moment.

Activities involved practical tasks such as bird box making, wool dyeing, weaving and nature ID. We also were guided on mindful walks and through other wellbeing activities such as exploring our emotional connection to nature. All of this helped to form a strong sense of community within the group, where everyone is held, not only by the group, but by nature and our surroundings too. The course provided me with many coping strategies for my mental health, all with deep connections to nature.

I was a participant on the project for 18 weeks before going on to become a volunteer. As a volunteer I was offered training and continued to benefit from the course, always learning something new about myself as well as nature.

Another of the project volunteers and I are currently in the process of setting up a similar project in the town where I live – something that I would never have imagined possible 2 years ago when I began my involvement with Somerset Nature Connections. I hope that I will be able to support others to connect to nature as I believe that bringing nature into our everyday lives not only benefits on a personal level, but on a societal and environmental level too.”