Hi everyone,

In April, we see many celebration days, with the Easter break from school, Bank holidays, Easter itself and more.

I want to focus on Earth Day. Earth Day is an annual event on 22 April to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970 – it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally in more than 193 countries.

Girlguiding have this really beautiful badge, to get us all talking and thinking about what we can do to protect our planet. This topic is something I know a lot of our members feel very passionate about.

At our Region office and at our Hautbois activity centre, we have been thinking about how we can be become more sustainable, reduce our environmental impact, and reduce our carbon footprint. Have you ordered from our online shop recently? Did you notice we are using less new packaging, and paper tape! At our recent trustee weekend Fiona, our Hautbois and Estate Manager, presented to us a thought-provoking presentation regarding how we can achieve some of our goals and I know she too, feels very passionate about us achieving these. Do you have any expertise in this area? If you do, please get in touch as we are setting up a task and finish group to scope ideas and put plans in action.

As always take care, keep smiling,

Tracy

This month’s wellbeing theme is ‘life in nature’. We all understand that getting outdoors is good for all of us, children and adults alike, and we know our favourite green places to visit, either with our unit or with our family and friends. Caring about our world, our environment, and the realisation that our actions matter can be an eye-opener. With unprecedented challenges being faced by the whole world, caring about our immediate environment may be a way to manage our feelings and will certainly benefit our physical health as well as our mental health.

The Queen’s Green Canopy project to commemorate her Jubilee is a magnificent idea and we will be able to see in years to come the impact it will have for us all. See the website for more information:

https://queensgreencanopy.org/

You may be doing UMAs with your unit with the outdoors in mind. Or you may be planning residentials, now that we are able to access all those activity centres that were closed during the last two years. Are you doing something for yourself too to help make the most of being in nature? In Norfolk, there’s an urban project called Nature Connect offering connection with nature through allotment work, garden libraries, and bread kitchens among other things. Maybe your area has something similar? Even if you live in an urban area there are all sorts of outdoor workshops and classes that could inspire you across your life as a volunteer.

Check out this website where they list 7 good reasons to have an allotment courtesy of Gransnet:

https://www.thepeoplesfriend.co.uk/2018/04/20/all-about-allotments/

And as well as the benefit for those working and hanging out in the allotments, there’s the double benefit of how much nature gets from those areas set aside for allotments, especially when we avoid the use of pesticides and harmful chemicals.  Could you take your unit to a friendly local allotment plot for a meeting of discovery in nature? There’s so much to see and take in when we leave the house and get outdoors.

And a daily note from the March Mindfulness calendar as you head to work or your unit meeting: ‘Choose a different route today and see what you notice’ https://actionforhappiness.org/calendar