Wilder Life Wellbeing CIC

Wilder Life Wellbeing CIC recently received an incredibly generous donation of £1630 raised by Rachel Wilson and the friends and family of Sharon Berry. Sharon was one of our autumn Nurture in Nature participants who died last year. She was a keen runner with The Heathfield Harriers and a commemorative run was organised in June. It was a gorgeous hot, summer day and the 5 mile course was set across the fields and woodland of Sharon’s family farm, taking in the trails that S

On Saturday, Wild Vision met up again. We had a warm sunny day and ate delicious baked nectarines with ice-cream. It was the perfect summer food combo. After lighting the fire and having a hot drink, we foraged for plantain leaves, making sure we gave an oat offering as a way of thanking the plants. We washed and seeded the leaves and infused them in coconut oil. Then we strained the mixture and added bees wax and melted it gently over the fire again, before finally pouring i

It was our final farewell to the two summer groups at Nurture in Nature. It’s always difficult to say goodbye but it’s lovely to reflect what we’ve all navigated together over the post ten weeks. We had a poor luck lunch which was totally unplanned and we had such a delicious selection of food to taste, including home grown and foraged. Our craft activity was to make wooden pendants from Larch wood, we piled them with walnuts and they looked amazing. We wish everyone well o

At Nurture in Nature this week we continued our lavender theme for the session. One of our participants had sewn cotton lavender sachets so that we could take the dried lavender buds off the stalks and make lavender bags. We foraged for the plant self heal and silver birch leaves to use in a healing hand balm. We mixed coconut oil and bees wax, as well as lavender to make a soft hand balm. Food this week was guacamole and tomato salsa on crackers with cream cheese- deliciou

This month at Wild Vision we had a lovely warm sunny day. It meant we were able to do sun print pictures using cyanotype paper and different leaves, feathers and grasses to create gorgeous images. We cooked cheeseburgers over the fire and enjoyed an adventurous sensory trail whilst blindfolded! It was great to be together in the shady woods on such a hot day.

On a day when the summer heat was at its peak, we found the perfect refuge under the high canopy of trees in Powdermill Woods. The cool shade offered a welcome escape, allowing us to unwind comfortably. To beat the heat, we had buckets of cold water for everyone to dip their feet in, bringing plenty of giggles and even a daring head dip to the mix! The main focus of the day was working with two enormous baskets of fresh, fragrant English lavender from a local Sussex field. We

On Saturday at Wild Vision we had a lot of fun. As it was close to Easter, we decorated hard boiled eggs and had egg rolling races. We set up an obstacle course and tested our skills, which was an interesting challenge. For food we made nettle and wild garlic pesto and ate it on crackers sitting amongst the bluebells. It was great to see everyone again.

This week at Nurture in Nature we learnt how to tie cobra knots and made key rings with coloured paracord. We also decorated pebbles with drawings and positive affirmations. The woods looked stunning with their carpet of bluebells and we noticed the lively bird song and more trees coming into leaf. We cooked delicious savoury tortillas with foraged nettles.

Today at Nurture in Nature we explored the elder tree through story and crafts, making elder charcoal pencils for sketching and elder beads for bracelets and necklaces. We made some delicious Greek inspired food to share: hummus, tzatziki and Baba ghanoush with flat breads- delicious and sat around the fire chatting and laughing.

This week at Nurture in Nature we we embraced foraging edible spring plants. We collected wild garlic, nettle and cleavers. From the cleavers we made a refreshing spring tonic drink and with the wild garlic and nettles we made a delicious pesto. Using sweet chestnut wood, we saw and drilled to make Viking knitting reels and then used these to braid intricate friendship bracelets. It was very mindful and meditative to sit around the fire, chatting and crafting together.

This month at Wild Vision we made full use of the soft mud to track and then take plaster of Paris cars from the animal prints. We found badger, fox, squirrel, rat, pheasant and Barley prints. The casts worked really well and were a great way for everyone to really explore the different footprints using touch. As we are approaching Easter, we made chocolate cereal nests with chocolate eggs, played games and tapped a silver birch tree and drank the sap.

This Thursday we welcomed two new groups to our spring programmes for Nurture in Nature. We sat under a blue sky with the sun warning us all day. It was such a treat to listen to the birds and see the daffodils and bluebell shoots. Spring has arrived. This week we foraged for kindling and dead wood to saw for fire wood, made butter and jam and toast over the fire. We also created a beautiful mandala from all the treasures we discovered on the woodland floor.

We had a muddy and rainy session this month but nothing stopped our fun. We made bracken hearts and bird feeders. We enjoyed playing games, which included a sensory met the tree game; it was lots of fun. For our food we made and cooked delicious pancakes with maple syrup and blueberries.

Happy New Year from all of us at Wild Vision! We were delighted to return to the woods this week and spend time together. It was a gorgeous winter day and we were grateful for the warm fire, hot chocolate and mulled apple juice to keep us warm. We made and cooked delicious spinach pakoras over the fire. Our craft this time was to make candles by dipping string in melted wax. It was very satisfying to see them being made. We kept warm with some fun games and look forward to

Today at Wild Vision we enjoyed our time together with a festive flavour. We played zombie Santa hide and seek, made orange pomanders, sang Xmas songs around the fire and ate delicious festive pizzas. It was great to have fun in the woods, despite the wild winds. Happy Solstice, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Today at Nurture in Nature we talked about Imbolc and welcomed the return of the light and awakening of nature in the earth. We made coconut and sweet potato soup and traditional St Bridget crosses from rushes to celebrate Imbolc. We listened to an Imbolc story and went for a walk in the woods and found a birch polypore fungi. Making charcoal from peeled willow was fun and we used charcoal to sketch the tree silhouettes.

We had a gorgeous dry and fairly mild session this week. We didn’t even put the tarp up! This meant we could have the hammocks out again and relax appreciating the tree canopy and bird song. Today’s session was all about the bird song and we had a listening meditation, made bird feeders and had a walk and talk to learn more about bird language. As a group we prepped, cooked and ate a delicious quinoa soup.

Today at Nurture in Nature we appreciated a dry session and even managed to get the hammock up. It was enjoyed by lots of people. We went for a walk and noticed lots of interesting lichen and moss today. We made another delicious soup and this week it was a super healthy minestrone. Our craft today was making dream catchers which were decorated with larch cones, lichen and evergreen foliage. It was a lovely relaxed session sharing our week and being together around the fire.

Welcome back to our Nurture in Nature community. This week it was one of those very rainy days but we enjoyed a cosy time around the campfire and under the tarp. We had a meditation, prepped a delicious leek and potato soup and toasted bread. Some of us went for a wander in the woods to look at the silver birch trees and shared a tradition story about the silver birch. We then made birch key rings. These were peeled and then scorched with the ogham symbol for birch using a p

Happy Winter solstice❄️💙 Today was our final session before a break for the festive season. It was a joyful, cosy time around the fire, under the canopy of the winter trees. Drinking hot chocolate and mulled apple juice, eating hot mince pies with custard and sharing stories from the past week. Some of us walked through the woods, appreciating the bird song and holly trees. While others made floating walnut candles to celebrate the return of the light on the 21st for the win