We’ve had two posts about WHY? we’re offering this urban ‘Wild Afternoon’ on Sunday (details in Events Calendar opposite).
The first post was about making the commitment to get outside more – and enjoying the benefits of chance discovery here in Tooting. 
The second post looked at some of the ways young people can take part in the outdoors – including examples of structured programmes.This post looks at connecting the outdoors to health & wellbeing.

We’ll see the Project Wild Thing film on Sunday at 4pm. Another of their projects is developing information for maternity units, to help staff and mothers explore the value of being outdoors from week one: 

Looking at all age groups, there’s a well-researched family of actions to promote wellbeing.  The ‘Five Ways to Wellbeing’ is a practical shortlist: Connect, Be Active, Take Notice, Keep Learning and Give. 
These activities are simple things we can do in our everyday lives.
The ‘5 Ways..’ were developed from evidence gathered in the UK government’s Foresight Project on Mental Capital and Wellbeing and published in 2008 by the New Economics Foundation.

For example: In the second WHY? blog post we saw the young people from The Challenge group connecting with nature in a way that was new to them as they dug for potatoes; they were certainly being active, taking notice, and inquisitive about flowers and seed sowing. Yes they were learning and giving. Actions to benefit our wellbeing are simple and accessible, and outdoor opportunities are all around us.

Here’s a great example from the National Wildflower Centre which summarises the ‘5 Ways’ as outdoor actions, and on a ‘loyalty card’:

 
Brilliant, I wish I’d thought of this!
It’s very neat method for reinforcing these positive actions. It makes me want to borrow this idea for the outdoor learning activities we do with Gatton School…there’s a lot to explore on just one small card.

Come along on Sunday 22nd for a top-up of your natural 5-a-day.

Finally: the Project Wild Thing film talks about how to ‘present’ nature to people who have lost the habit or fluency of getting into the outdoors. 
Does nature need a local marketing campaign?
TTT, fanSHEN Theatre, the Tooting Community Garden, the Friends of Streatham Cemetery and other partners will all help with that locally. Please join us. – Charles