• New Nature Activities for Local Families Ready for Testing by Community Organisations

    Families consultation activity at Edgbaston Reservoir, Birmingham. Credit: ActionFunder

    After the successful delivery of the Families into Nature Connecting and Helping (FINCH) project in Birmingham, a resource pack is ready for community groups to use to offer enriching nature-based activities for families in local green spaces.  The RSPB would like further feedback to help with research and development. 

    The FINCH project was piloted to empower community groups to connect families in their local community to nature and take action to help it. It was funded by the Green Recovery Challenge Fund which supported nature projects across England.

    The content in the resource pack was influenced by diverse, urban families andincludes a range of self-led group training/planning activities and thorough guidance.  

    The FINCH pilot project engaged with 65 families through 16 events, including community consultation events as well as events where the RSPB worked alongside community groups to test activities. Valuable feedback was gathered from both families and community group members. This helped to create and improve the FINCH resource. The RSPB is now looking for more community groups to test the resource for further development and improvement.  

    Research shows that spending time in nature offers a wide range of physical, mental and emotional benefits. This includes reduced stress and better health. Urban families can be disconnected from nature for many reasons. This can include the belief that there is no nature access in inner city areas. FINCH was created to help families use and take ownership of their local green spaces for their own benefit as well as nature’s.

    Each activity in the pack comes with a detailed step-by-step guide, making it easy for community leaders to organise and facilitate sessions, even with limited prior experience. Some activities are as simple as providing families with a self- led activity sheet, whilst others like wildlife walks and wildflower planting can be tailored to suit the locality and group. 
     
    Through incorporating nature-based family activities in your community programmes, you will enhance the well-being of participants but also foster a deep connection between people and the environment.   
     
    You can download the resource pack from the Birmingham Open Space’s Forum’s FINCH Resource webpage: https://bosf.org.uk/projects/finch/resource/
    Please provide your feedback to help the RSPB understand how effective the FINCH resource is and develop it further via the online forms linked from the webpage and throughout the pdf.   
     
    If you are part of a group planning some activities for families to enjoy or help nature together in urban green spaces, an RSPB photographer may be able to attend to take photos that both your group and the RSPB can use in the future.  If this is something you would like to be part of, please use this form to express interest.

    The photographer is Midlands based but could travel further afield. 

    For further information please contact: [email protected]

    Posted on 22nd August 2023