Where the Wildings Are! (WTWA) transforms schools across Lancaster District into hubs that reverse biodiversity loss, climate change and food insecurity. Using permaculture principles, we work with staff and pupils to redesign school grounds, swapping tarmac and mown grass for tree planting, sensory wildlife gardens and organic food growing.
In the 2 years we’ve been running, WTWA has already given us a taste of the magic that can happen in this space, delivering over 80 outdoor learning sessions, planting 1,400 trees and developing nature-based redesigns for 12 school playgrounds. But we still have a long way to go!
This Crowdfunder will help us set up a network of food growing and nature-based after school and holiday clubs so the whole community can get involved with the beautiful landscapes we are creating. It will also enable us to open our doors to more schools and support them with the capital costs of their landscape redesigns.
Our Story
The seeds of WTWA! were sown in late 2020: times were exceptionally tough, with Covid continuing to cause havoc and food insecurity a growing concern for many local families. As part of our 2030 Strategy process, North Lancashire FoodFutures reached out to local schools to find out what support needs they had. A clear message came back: schools were desperate to grow more food and get pupils learning outdoors to promote wellbeing and reduce the risks of infection but they just didn’t have the capacity to be able to do this on their own.
A passionate conversation then ensued between two local headteachers (Linda Pye of Ryelands Primary and Nursery School and Jo Easthope of Overton St Helens Church of England Primary School), an internationally renowned permaculture designer (Jennifer Lauruol of Carpe Diem Gardens) and the idea of using permaculture principles to redesign school grounds for food growing, wildlife and outdoor learning was born!
We recruited Alex Hall as project coordinator in July 2021 and started working with our first six schools in September. To date, we’ve been able to work with 14 schools thanks to a combination of funding from the schools themselves and generous local funders such as the Areti Trust, Harmony with Nature and Pots of Possibility. However, as word about the project spreads and enthusiasm for hands-on sustainability education develops through local initiatives like the Morecambe Bay Curriculum, we want to offer this work to more schools, including those who could otherwise not afford to participate in the project. We also need to start running activities after school and in the holidays to ensure that each school community gets the all-round support it needs for its new landscapes to succeed. This Crowdfunder will enable us to take on a second staff member to make this happen!