We created Hackney Wild Walks - now renamed Family Wild Walks - in 2014 as a set of easy-to-read maps, so children could take their families and friends on a local adventure. Download the maps here: Link
Since then these have evolved to regular guided adventures for children t take families on and an active online community encouraging each other to get outdoors more...
The project started as part of the Get Hackney Healthy campaign, supported by the Council and its partners. The maps themselves were inspired by Rocky Rambler's Wild Walks, courtesy of Colin Shelbourn.
We then did training with many of Hackney's children's centres and services that support parents to promote these adventures, and to challenge some of the barriers that educators in the borough have about local wild spaces.
In the last couple of years as well as handing out the maps at the sho[ and events we've also done some public walks, and are hoping to do lots more!
Why is this important?
Every child in London lives within 15 minutes walk of a park and yet one in seven of London's children NEVER go to a green space. In Woodberry Down in North Hackney 48% of children in Y6 are overwright or obese - and yet local green spaces are rarely enjoyed by the 7-14 year olds of the area.
Take a look at the Hackney Wild Walks Project to download the maps, see photos of the training sessions we did, and read about the public Wild Walks we have done.
With funding from Arc'teryx Picadilly we are now running Family Wild Walks every month, keep an eye on the Events page or Facebook page to see if there are any coming up....