Promoting positive mental health through traditional crafts, ecological work and horticulture.

With a wealth of knowledge in ecology, horticulture and traditional crafts, CLaN will encourage  people to find an activity to suit their lifestyle whilst embodying the ‘5 Ways to Wellbeing’. Our vision is to enhance people’s knowledge of the natural world by being immersed in it, grow vegetables and plants beneficial to wildlife in communal gardens, work in habitats  to encourage native species and re-skill in traditional crafts. Emphasis is on shared learning that gives us all the opportunity to give as well as receive.

Cultivating Learning and Nature CIC in partnership with the Herefordshire Biological Records Centre (HMRC) has received £98,900 supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund it was announced today.

Thanks to National Lottery players, Hidden Herefordshire: discovering its wildlife and wild places, aims to connect people, young and old to recording wildlife wherever they are.

During the Covid-19 pandemic there has been a massive increase in people’s appreciation of nature and the resulting mental health benefits. The project aims to further encourage this interest with the wider community; those of all ages and from all backgrounds. Over the next couple of years there will be loads of fun and engaging opportunities for the people of Herefordshire to get involved in identification training courses, talks, family sessions and a county-wide garden wildlife survey. Training will be led by local experts both online and face to face if the situation allows and participants will also learn how to record findings to benefit the county.

We now have a dedicated website for the project – www.hbrc.org.uk

CLaN are members of New Leaf Sustainable Development and have been supported by the National Lottery and The Herefordshire Community Foundation.