The Backyard Nature campaign, set up to help children connect with nature wherever they live, is celebrating national success thanks to support from the Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation as its founding partner.
Since launching in summer 2019 with support from HRH The Duchess of Cambridge, the campaign has inspired almost 15,000 children to sign up as Backyard Nature Guardians, pledging to care for nature in their own neighbourhoods.
Children from all over the UK have spent over 750,000 hours protecting nature in their communities, including taking part in Backyard Nature’s seasonal ‘missions’ to ‘Save the Bees’ and ‘Love Bugs’. With help from Iceland’s 30,000 store colleagues, Backyard Nature has seen 15 million wildflower seeds planted by children, 337,000 bug hotels given away to help protect the country’s insects, and a winter ‘Feed the Birds’ mission supported by environmental charities. A focus on activities to support children in lockdown included a ‘Wild Wales’ mission, providing resources in Welsh as well as English.
Backyard Nature was developed in partnership with, and is run by Semble, a social enterprise that connects businesses with grassroots communities to drive positive change, and the campaign has the support of 22 charities.
The campaign was inspired by the Eco Emeralds, a group of young environmentalists from All Saints Catholic Primary School in Anfield, Liverpool, whose story featured prominently in the 2020 ITV documentary Prince William: A Planet For us All, which has since been broadcast on Australian TV and across the US on the Discovery Channel. Backyard Nature is also supported through media partnerships with Global Radio and Nat Geo Kids magazine.
Richard Walker, Managing Director of Iceland and IFCF Trustee, said: “The impact of Backyard Nature has been extraordinary, helping thousands of children to connect with nature on their own doorstep. It has inspired global interest and I am immensely proud that the support of IFCF as founding partner means that this campaign can now go from strength to strength.”
To find out more about Backyard Nature visit www.backyardnature.org
