Category: Inspiration
Connecting with Nature – Nature Art
In times of stress Nature Art can bring us closer to nature with all the associated benefits of feeling more connected and relaxed. Collecting materials from nature such as petals, stones, leaves and seed cones can be a mindfulness practice of its own and we can use these materials to make and create. Here Ecotherapy […]
Green spaces, gardening & wellbeing: Stress relief
This blog is part of a series. Catch up on part one if you missed it. Being in nature has many benefits to our mental health and in this month’s blog, inspired by Decorative Aggregates and their infographic about how gardening can benefit our mental wellbeing, we are going to be focusing on the stress […]
Ecotherapy – Connecting to Nature
This is the first in a series of blogs about Ecotherapy – a method of promoting good mental health and physical wellbeing through outdoor activity in the natural environment. With the current situation in the world, many people have been seeing and feeling the benefits of being in nature and rediscovering or fully appreciating their […]
Does Zero Waste help during lockdown?
With the recent panic buying and reports of food waste increasing I asked what impact the members of Zero Waste York (ZWY) thought the current situation we all find ourselves living in would have on the zero waste movement. We appreciate that this is a tough time, but in the spirit of pulling together I’d […]
Making space for nature
We had planned a Ta(l)king Action workshop on wildlife gardening for 21st March 2020 but, sadly, had to cancel it due to the coronavirus pandemic. As a substitute, here are some tips shared by several of the would-be participants. We hope you find them useful and look forward to hearing about your efforts to make […]
Keeping connected to nature: even during lockdown
Hard times for us all. So many pressing concerns. Not least of these, for many of us, is the way in which our access to the natural world has suddenly become so constricted. Absence, it is said, makes the heart grow fonder. How true this seems now, regarding not just family and friends, but also […]
Developing York’s Green Corridors – and a big welcome to new volunteer Beki
By Jonathan Dent, St Nicks Natural Habitats Manager. We know that so-called “green corridors” are important. By connecting fragments of green space in the urban landscape, these corridors link access to habitats and reduce the isolation of wildlife populations, enabling plants and animals to flourish and improving biodiversity. They also provide benefits for humans by […]
Champions of York’s Grasslands
What happened when St Nicks worked with volunteers to give our local green spaces some love and attention: a report on the Meadow Keepers project compiled by Natural Habitats Manager Jonathan Dent and Projects Assistant Esther Smith. Grasslands are all around us in York, but we can often walk past them without a second thought. […]
Strange times, normal times: climate change at St Nicks
Written by Wildwatch volunteer Sean Garvey in the summer 2019, as an update to our page on climate change at St Nicks This heatwave seems as good a time as any to consider climate change. Extreme weather events of all kinds are set to become more frequent as global warming affects us all. Here in […]
Trustees – what, why and how?
You probably know that charities have “trustees” or a “board” but do you know why and what that actually entails? Could YOU or someone you know become St Nicks’ trustee? In this post we explain what the responsibilities and benefits are. If you’d like to know more, just get in touch. Trustees are a group […]
