Feed Your Senses

"Connecting people to the natural environment...encouraging a lifelong love of nature through farming and food..."

Let Nature Feed Your Senses

LEAF has launched an exciting new project and we would like to warmly invite you to get involved!

Let Nature Feed Your Senses is a Big Lottery Funded Project (through Natural England's Access to Nature Programme), which aims to encourage disabled and disengaged groups to develop a life long love of nature.  The project is run in conjunction with the Sensory Trust.

LEAF's role is to set up eight regional networks of participating farmers who are able and willing to offer suitable venues for group visits.  LEAF will use a mixture of venue types but a high proportion will be LEAF farms and there is remuneration available for farmers who get involved.

The Sensory Trust, meanwhile, will organise suitable community groups for visits to farms and nature reserves.

The project will address the access barriers that prevent the target group (people with physical, sensory and intellectual disabilities and socially excluded groups), from fully engaging with the natural environment.  The project will use creative ways to facilitate engagement with the environment, through innovative activities and learning techniques.  The objectives of the project are to:

  • Create opportunities for disengaged people to become involved, passionate and enthusiastic about the natural environment
  • Create opportunities for disengaged people to form lasting, life long connections with the natural environment
  • Facilitate the building and strengthening of networks within and between communities, land managers and environmentalists
  • Build the capacity of land managers to promote and encourage the sustainable management of the natural environment

This project will be run in the eight regions of England.  We are looking to set up 10 sites per region which will each host two or three visits per year.  We are particularly looking for sites with a strong environmental focus and with good physical access. 

We are developing new materials with the Sensory Trust and participating farmers will be supported with training and resources.  This is a ground breaking project and we are delighted to have funding from Natural England's Access to Nature Fund.

If you feel your farm could be a suitable site, or have any questions, please contact james.taylor@leafuk.org   

On a separate note, LEAF are also developing a Farmer to Farmer Network, building on the foundations of the current LEAF Demonstration Farm Network.  More details to follow later in the year.