Wild Work Days

Improve productivity and employee wellbeing

Our ‘away day’ team building days are proven to have a positive and lasting impact on those that take part. The camaraderie experienced by participants, along with improved relationships that are forged, naturally leads to higher productivity and cohesion as a company.

Investing in your staff and demonstrating a willingness to support both their wellbeing, and that of the planet, can only be viewed in a positive light.

A major study into workplace wellbeing by the mental health charity Mind, revealed that poor mental health at work is widespread, with half (48 per cent) of all people surveyed saying they have experienced a mental health problem in their current job [1]. Mental health issues in the workplace cost the UK economy £35 billion a year [2] And it’s not just the economy that suffers, clearly this comes at a huge personal cost to the individuals involved too.

Employers have an important role to play in helping improve the wellbeing of their staff and Cumbria Wildlife Trust can offer a helping hand. Research [3] shows that individuals spending time in nature report improved wellbeing, which is why The Wildlife Trusts have designed their Wild Work and Wild Wellbeing Days.

Similar initiatives led by The Wildlife Trusts have shown excellent results, with an independent review [4] finding that 95% of Wildlife Trust volunteers with low wellbeing report an improvement within six weeks of involvement with their Wildlife Trust. Employees from Siemens have also reported a marked change in wellbeing, with 81% stating they felt happier and healthier following just one day with their Wildlife Trust. That’s 4 in 5 people that participated!

As well as improved wellbeing, our Wild Work Days give colleagues a chance to connect with one another outside of the usual working environment – strengthening relationships back in the office.

Did you know?

• Taking a positive, proactive approach to mental health at work can help you fully engage your staff, making them more receptive and productive.
• Developing a reputation for tackling wellbeing and looking after your staff will help you to retain existing, and attract new employees.
• Being outside increases our activity levels and improves our physical health; it also boosts our social and psychological wellbeing by reducing stress and anxiety, increasing positivity and self-esteem.

By providing your employees with the space and time to access nature, you can help them to feel better, think happier thoughts and help them connect with others.

References:

[1] Parsonage, M & Saini, G. Centre for Mental Health (2017) Mental health at work: The business costs ten years
[2] Mind (2018) Workplace Wellbeing Study
[3] Baldwin-Cantello, W., Zamperoni, V., Harvey, B., Goodman, J., Baird, R., Fisher, R., and Kousoulis, A. (2021) Thriving With Nature – A Guide for Everyone - Guide produced by WWF-UK and the Mental Health Foundation in collaboration.
[4] Rogerson, M., Barton, J., Bragg, R., and Pretty, J. University of Essex, (2017) A scientific evaluation of the health and wellbeing impacts of Wildlife Trusts volunteering programmes

The income generated by these days goes a long way towards helping wildlife. The more people we can get outdoors, appreciating the natural world, the better. 
If you choose to book one of our Wild Work Days, the combined efforts of a group of people for a few hours, can make a huge difference to nature: 

If you end up helping with a beach clean-up, you will be directly responsible for helping marine life thrive more, in an area free of human waste. Our seas have a remarkable capacity to recover, but only if we give them the chance. Decades of neglect have left our seas damaged and degraded, but it's not too late to save them – you could end up directly contributing to our work towards protecting nature in the Irish Sea. Find out more about our marine conservation work here.

If you spend a day helping to plant wildflowers, you can feel satisfied that bees, along with thousands of other insects, will benefit enormously from your efforts in months to come – as will humans and Earth as a whole! Helping to restore and create species-rich and diverse habitats benefits our pollinators, and is vital to our future as a planet. Find out more about how and why pollinators need our help here.

If your team spends time working towards repairing and protecting our upland peat-bogs, you will directly be contributing towards the carbon-neutral movement. Not only do healthy peat bogs lock away more carbon than they release – they act like a sponge, soaking up rainfall and slowing the flow off the hills, which in turn prevents flooding further down the line. Keeping our peat bogs healthy is not just important for biodiversity, but also for protecting our homes and planet too. Find out more about our peatland work here.

We receive more requests from businesses for a day for their staff days than we can accommodate. Therefore, we need to make a charge to businesses for the provision of a group conservation day. Our public events and conservation days listed in our What's On section are for individuals rather than groups. Please do not make a block booking for your business on these.

Volunteering is where individuals come to us, as the charity, in their own time and capacity. Our individual volunteering opportunities are not generally open to groups or businesses.  As a charity we are unable to provide free activities for all businesses which get in touch looking for a day for their staff - see more about our Corporate Membership below.

Hosting these teambuilding days takes work from our end - including our staff time to set up, manage bookings and supervise sessions, provision and maintenance of tools and materials, as well as additional insurance to cover the sessions. As a business, HMRC also see this as benefit to the business and their staff and therefore class this as a vatable service. As such, you are (as a business), able to promote your involvement on the day – and we would actively encourage you to do so!

Many businesses pay for the provision out of their training, health and wellbeing or staff investment budgets - our offer is less expensive than businesses would pay other external providers.

Sometimes, we are able to offer funded activities (where we have received a grant to carry out work).  But these are restricted to the location, the activity and the dates we can offer as it needs to meet the funders priorities. These funded activities are advertised on our website if and when they arise, we can add you to a list to be contacted about these as and when we have these opportunities. 

Please contact us if you do not have a budget to fund a Wild Work Day for your staff, but want to be put on a list to be contacted if an opportunity arises in the future where we need additional hands-on support. Email wildwork@cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk

Corporate Members:

If you become a corporate member of Cumbria Wildlife Trust (making an annual donation to our conservation work and Cumbria’s environment), your company will receive a complimentary day as recognition for your contribution as a member.

Find out more about Corporate Membership

You will be provided with further instructions once you’ve signed up for your day, however, you will definitely need to be prepared for being outside for either all or part of your experience. Therefore, we ask people to dress for the weather (remembering how unpredictable the Cumbria climate can be!). It’s always worth having waterproofs and something warm, (and, all be them a slight rarity, don’t forget for hotter days to bring sunscreen and a hat) as well as outdoor footwear (either wellies or waterproof walking boots).

You will be provided with hot drinks and cake during your visit; however, we ask you to bring lunch and any additional snacks and drinks you may need, with you. For an additional charge, you can opt for us to provide the lunch for your group.

Please be aware that cancellation and rescheduling should be by exception only and no later than 15 working days before the arranged date to avoid unnecessary charges i.e. the company may incur up to 100% charge for cancellations with less than 15 working days’ notice. Please apply the same notice with any changes to number of people which are subject to a minimum charge (six people at £60 plus VAT per person).

Your day is only confirmed once you have booked on and an invoice has been issued. We are unable to hold selections of available dates as there is a lot of interest and corporate days book up quickly.

Siemens

Over the past year, nearly 700 Siemens staff have taken part in the Wild Wellbeing programme across the country. Following the programme,

• 81% of employees reported increased mental wellbeing following their first day
• 63% of participants felt that team spirit was better after their Wild Wellbeing Workdays.

The work they carried out helped to create a beautiful, safe and wildlife-rich natural environment for the benefit and use of local communities. For example, in Cumbria 300 kg of rubbish was collected from Foulney Island nature reserve, clearing areas and making it better for nesting birds and people alike. Staff also had the opportunity to learn more about the birds they were helping.

Costain

Over half of construction workers have suffered mental ill health in their lives, with one in four having considered taking their own life.

Recognising the need to support their staff, Costain decided to take part in the Wild Wellbeing days, changing the pace of activity and tasks throughout the days from more strenuous directed activities such as raking meadows to mindfulness walks and meditation, and onto self-directed activities including bushcraft.

Every Costain employee that took part reported feeling happier, healthier and more positive on their return to work. They also learnt a number of valuable ways to help look after their wellbeing from being outside chatting to others, to learning new things and meeting new people.