30 Days Wild, the Wildlife Trusts’ annual challenge calling on everyone to go wild every day in June, starts this weekend. This year looks set to be bigger and wilder than ever before. So far, a record number of 60,000 people, families, schools, businesses and care homes throughout the UK have signed up to take part – including hundreds of people on the Isle of Wight.

30 Days Wild encourages everyone to enjoy nature through daily Random Acts of Wildness – for example, listening to bird song, growing flowers for bees and making the most of our parks, gardens and school grounds. All participants receive a free pack of ideas to help them go wild, and evidence shows that taking part can also make us happier and healthier.

Becky O’Melia, Education and Engagement Manager for Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust said: “Our much-loved 30 Days Wild challenge is back again this Saturday and it is set to be an exciting month for everyone taking part. June is the perfect month to get outside and go a little bit wild. Our free 30 Days Wild pack has loads of fun ideas to help you explore the great outdoors - we can’t wait to get started.”

Ellie Harrison, presenter of Countryfile, is just one of the supporters of 30 Days Wild this year. Ellie said: “Being outside in nature makes us all well. The smallest moments connecting ‐ the surprise of a beetle revealing its wings; the fleeting secrets of bats at dusk; or the puff of valuable pollen from flowers we saw as weeds ‐ all bring us wonder and enchantment.”

Feel healthier and happier

The impact of taking part in 30 Days Wild has also been tracked by academics at the University of Derby. Their study found that people who did something ‘wild’ each day for a month felt happier, healthier and more connected to nature, with added benefits for the natural world too.*

Miles Richardson from the University of Derby said: “Our research looked at the impact of 30 Days Wild on 1000 people, two months after completing the challenge. All those taking part benefitted, feeling 30% healthier than when they started on average.”

New challenge for care homes

This year 30 Days Wild is encouraging care homes to share the joy of nature with their residents.

For the first time, there’s a specially tailored activity pack and over 350 care homes have signed up to take part so far. Among them is the Your Health Ltd group, which has ten care homes across England and trialled 30 Days Wild activities last year. The homes saw some remarkable benefits as a result of taking part, with residents experiencing less anxiety and fewer falls.

Sign‐up to 30 Days Wild is still open, download a free pack! Over the next month, thousands of wonderful experiences will be shared on social media. Take a look at #30DaysWild @30DaysWild and see how daily connections with nature are inspiring people to enjoy the wild world around them wherever they live!

*University of Derby’s evaluation of 30 Days Wild
The University of Derby have monitored participants of 30 Days Wild since it began in 2015.

• 30 Days Wild: Development and Evaluation of a Large‐Scale Nature Engagement Campaign to Improve Well‐Being by Miles Richardson, Adam Cormack, Lucy McRobert, Ralph Underhill was published Feb 2016. 
• 30 Days Wild and the Relationships Between Engagement With Nature’s Beauty, Nature Connectedness and Well‐Being by Miles Richardson and Kirsty McEwan was published September 2018. 
• 30 Days Wild: who benefits most? By Miles Richardson, Kirsty McEwan and Gulcan Garip was published June 2018.