Community Integrated Care, one of the UK’s leading social care charities, has partnered with the RSPB, WWF, the National Trust, and leading charity for creativity and arts in care, Age Exchange, to support the social care sector to enjoy and care for nature.

The initiative, which has been inspired by the acclaimed new BBC documentary series, Wild Isles, includes free toolkits and workforce training.

John Hughes, director of partnerships and communities at Community Integrated Care, said: “Nature is for everyone. RSPB, WWF and National Trust have powerfully recognised this by engaging Community Integrated Care to help bring the Save Our Wild Isles programme to the social care sector. We can think of no better starting point to this than by enabling people to enjoy the sensory and health benefits of getting out in nature, and supporting more people to enjoy beautiful sensory flowers in their own gardens.

“These resources will change lives and enable the people we support to enjoy protecting wildlife and nature, as active citizens in their own communities. It has been fantastic to draw upon the deep insights of our partners, as well as the many talents within our charity, to create these new programmes. The influence of these efforts being inspired by Wild Isles, an astounding series by the great Sir David Attenborough, has created real excitement. We are looking forward to furthering this work over the years ahead.”

The innovative resources explore enriching and exciting topics such as creating low-cost sensory gardens, enjoying accessible nature walks and supporting creative sensory experiences, all of which promote health, happiness and wellbeing. 

The programmes aim to both promote the sensory and physical benefits that nature can deliver, while also empowering people who access support to enjoy the nature that is around them. They are available to download for free at www.CommunityIntegratedCare.co.uk/Nature.

Alongside the resources, Community Integrated Care will also be running online workshops, hosted by the RSPB, with further, tips, insights, and guidance on how to create a simple and cost-effective sensory garden from scratch. Workshops are free to join for anyone working in or accessing social care and will commence from Tuesday 20 June 2023. Places can be booked here.