In just one generation the UK has gone from a nation of free-range children to cotton-wool kids – and we need you to help us buck the trend.
If you want nature, wildness and free-range living to play an important part in the lives of today’s children, then join the Wild Network. Thousands of people – and more than 350 organisations including the Scottish Wildlife Trust – have already come together to make this dream a reality.
To help kick-start the revolution of reconnecting kids with the outdoors, a thought-provoking and funny documentary film, Project Wild Thing, will be released on 25 October at cinemas across the country. You can see a trailer for the film below, and you can find out where it’s showing by clicking here.
PROJECT WILD THING – official trailer on Vimeo.
The more people that watch the film, the more we can spread the word – so please do go and have a wild time, If you do, let us know what you think by using the hashtags #wildtime or #projectwildthing on Twitter.
What our ‘Wild’ friends have to say…
“Children have a natural fascination to touch and to feel things – it's part of existing in the world. It's not the kids that have said they don’t want to put their hands in the mud or jump in the pond, it's the adults that have said no.”
Chris Packham, naturalist and TV presenter
“Wouldn't it be an irony if this technology that has freed us up from fear and discomfort and pain, ironically is depriving us of all the things that we treasure and turning us into glassy-eyed zombies.”
Baroness Susan Greenfield, professor, writer and broadcaster
“Whether or not children understand or engage with nature really determines what the next generation is going to do about a lot of the big problems that face our environment and the planet.”
Chris Rose, scientist and campaigner
“Across the western world children spend less and less time outdoors. The generational shift to an indoor existence has been strongly linked to a sharp decline in children's wellbeing. Cases of childhood obesity, depression and behavioural difficulties are at a record high.”