The outdoor celebration – with butterflies and bagels, worms and waffles, toads and toast – will kickstart the UK’s most popular nature extravaganza, 30 Days Wild. This annual challenge saw more than 650,000 people taking part across the UK in 2020, including over 5000 people in Worcestershire from individuals and schoolchildren to care home staff and residents.
Start #30DaysWild with a Big Wild Breakfast
The team at Worcestershire Wildlife Trust are encouraging Worcestershire’s residents to start June the wild way by taking their first meal of the day outside for a Big Wild Breakfast.
Planting flowers for pollinators by Katrina Martin/2020VISION
Each year, participants sign up to do a ‘random act of wildness’ every day for the 30 days of June. Popular activities include listening to birdsong, taking photographs of wildlife and helping wildlife in gardens or local areas.
This year, the team at Worcestershire’s largest nature conservation charity are asking people to take note of what wildlife they find on their doorstep during their Big Wild Breakfast as well as throughout the rest of June.
Nick Packham, Senior Engagement Officer for the Trust, said “30 Days Wild is the perfect opportunity to connect or reconnect to the wonders of our amazing natural world.
“We’ve already noticed more people doing this during the pandemic, when nature has provided solace for many, and we know that people who have previously taken part in 30 Days Wild have reported feeling healthier, happier and have a better connection to nature.
It’s important to take time out of our busy lives to listen to the birds singing or to find somewhere outdoors to read a book or magazine, surrounded by the sound of bees buzzing from flower to flower.
Photographing wildlife by Paul Harris/2020VISION
“This year, as well as encouraging people to help wildlife where they live, we’re also asking people to take more notice of the wildlife that we share our spaces with.
“We’ve teamed up with colleagues at Worcestershire Biological Records Centre and the Worcestershire Recorders to find out more about where twelve of our popular wildlife species – like house sparrows and 7-spot ladybirds – can be found. Whether people do this during their Big Wild Breakfast or throughout the month, we’re asking people to take a picture and submit the information to us via a short wildlife sightings form on our website.”
It's free to sign up to 30 Days Wild and anyone who does so will receive a pack of wild ideas including a wall calendar to chart your wildness and a Big Wild Breakfast placemat to download. Regular e-newsletters will provide ideas on how to stay wild. There are special packs available with bespoke ideas to help schools, care homes and businesses to go wild.
30 Days Wild begins with the Big Wild Breakfast on 1st June and participants are encouraged to share their wildness with the Trust on Facebook and Twitter.