Into the Woods was a programme which ran from 2021 to 2024, working with Stomping Ground CIC and Chadwick High School, a Pupil Referral Unit in Lancaster. Chadwick is the allocated education provider for local secondary children who find themselves unable to attend mainstream education after expulsion or a mental health crisis. Stomping Ground, experienced in creating therapeutic spaces, worked with groups with an emphasis on building confidence in the natural world and using nature as way to improve mental health.
Young people from Chadwick School spend a full day with the Stomping Ground team in Arnside & Silverdale National Landscape. The programme, funded by The Areti Trust, has reached vulnerable young people, aged 11-16, across seven groups – all receiving a minimum of 10 sessions, over up to a full year. Into the Woods has had a lasting impact with a marginalised group – many of whom had never been to Arnside & Silverdale National Landscape before this experience.
The programme aimed to engage marginalised young people in the natural world in meaningful ways giving participants the confidence and motivation to spend time in nature during their lifetime and therefore increasing the value of the natural world to the next generation. Stomping Ground offered a therapeutic setting where participants are encouraged to find their own connections with the natural world in ways which support their mental health.
The programme delivered in-school sessions at the start and end of each 'block' to engage learners. 'Intake' sessions included animal outreach elements like falconry, and the 'Integration and Feedback' sessions helped students reflect on their experiences and direct future programmes.
As part of this programme the participants have had additional enrichment experiences including sessions with Land Artist Richard Shilling, specialist Craft/Bushcraft Practitioners, trips to the beach and a local farm.
Silverhelme Scout Camp was chosen as a base for its privacy, amenities and its woodland environment which reflects the beauty of Arnside & Silverdale National Landscape. The sessions at Silverhelme included preparing, lighting and cooking on a fire, putting up hammocks and tarpaulins, making swings, foraging for and identifying wild foods, hand tool use and mental health strategies/awareness activities.
The students at Chadwick all have experiences of exclusion from mainstream school due to poor mental health or behavioural regulation. This alone has a mental health impact. The vast majority are considered neurodivergent. PRU students also face issues such as: being in the care system - without parents or with parents who are unable to support them; the impacts of bullying or sexual exploitation; significant mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, etc; gender diversity in a cis-gender normative society; access to drugs and alcohol from a young age etc.
The project aims to have a positive impact on mental health by providing a space tailored to the individual needs of the participants. For the mental health unit, this often involves creating a low-pressure space using trauma-informed practice aimed at supporting participants to meet their own needs and feel more confident in their own bodies and in the natural world. For the behavioural unit, sessions are aimed at students who struggle to regulate their behaviour in school and often have a high need for movement. Stomping Ground endeavours to create a space where their need for regulation through movement can be met and also restore trust in adult relationships.
Our foundations which created a successful programme:
- The delivery partner, Stomping Ground, have experience and training in mental health support, neurodiversity strategies and trauma-informed practice and could create the right environment for engagement.
- Not being a pre-planned skills-based programme meant it was possible to engage this marginalised group succesfully – being led by the participants.
- Regular, long-term contact built meaningful connection to nature, trust in the Stomping Ground staff and covered some mental health strategies where appropriate.
- Having Intake and Integration sessions in the school environment was important for engagement.
- The programme had very high adult : participant ratios, allowing for tailored experiences and managed risk taking.
We adapted and strengthened the programme along the way:
- We provided dedicated transport, and ensured the minibus remained at the site in case of incidents.
- The programme was free for participants and open to all, keeping barriers as low as possible. Many students only came because their peers did and then felt significant benefits.
- Stomping Ground engaged with school staff and highlight Stomping Ground’s approach to behavioural management and how, if this differed from in-school settings, to support the therapeutic practice.
- We provided some items of clothing and equipment to enable students to access and enjoy the experience – this included suitable shoes and wellies, waterproofs, and umbrellas.
- Longer sessions had greater impact.