Wild Bemerton Heath

Written by Charley, July 2025 (updated Jan 2026)

Wildlife and Wellbeing run nature-connection events in Salisbury. Our aim is to connect people with their local wildlife, for the benefit of their health and wellbeing. We are currently running a project called Wild Bemerton Heath. Thank you to Wiltshire & Swindon Community Foundation and Wiltshire Council for supporting the project with grant funding – all events in this project are free to participants. We use local green spaces, including Bemerton Folly, Pinewood Open Space and the Rise 61 Community Garden.

2026

Next up we have Birds and Trees sessions for young people from Spring 2026.

2025 events

• 28 Aug Bat Night in Bemerton Folly – open to all
• 30 Oct Wildlife and Bushcraft session at the Rise 61 Community Garden – open to all
• 2 and 9 Dec Wildlife and Bushcraft sessions at the Rise 61 Community Garden – for 8-16 year olds

All events are free! Please book on to allow us to plan accordingly. 

As well as running open events, we are looking for community groups who work with young people in the area to collaborate with. We can offer free taster sessions for any groups you already work with, and you can also signpost people to events we organise. 

The benefits of time spent in nature for mental and physical wellbeing are well known. Wildlife activities are interesting and fun and can build confidence. Learning various mindfulness practices can equip people with tools to deal better with daily life. Both combined have the power to improve quality of life significantly.

Following a series of taster sessions, we hope to create a regular Wildlife and Wellbeing group for teenagers.

As part of the project, we plan to organise a visit to Hazel Hill Wood, a retreat centre 7 miles east of Salisbury. This will provide an opportunity to explore wildlife beyond Bemerton Heath and do different activities, e.g. pond dipping. It will also be an opportunity to get away from the Heath for a day, and enjoy the peaceful respite that this woodland provides. Hazel Hill Wood is difficult to access without a car, and we would help organise transport, e.g. minibus, taxi or car share.

What do you want to see?? 

We have planned some taster sessions – we want to plan the rest with the people of Bemerton! Please do get in touch if you:

• Live or work in Bemerton
• Are a young person interested in wildlife, wellbeing and/or bushcraft
• Work with groups – particularly 13-19 year olds or up to 25 with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)
• Think the group(s) you work with would benefit from nature-connection events

Why Bemerton Heath?

We started running Wild Salisbury events in summer 2024, and realised we could do something similar, specifically for Bemerton Heath. As you may know, Bemerton Heath is one of the most deprived parts of Wiltshire. It also has some amazing greenspaces! We know that many people are proud of and enjoy using these greenspaces. We want to add two more elements to that enjoyment – appreciating and understanding more about the wildlife present, and using mindfulness practices. The people of Bemerton Heath, particularly those facing significant challenges, have the potential to benefit significantly from opportunities to improve their quality of life. 

What are “mindfulness practices”?

Mindfulness practices aim to reduce stress and appreciate the present moment. During our sessions, these are guided by voice – participants follow spoken instructions. Practices we use include:

• Mindful moments – simply pausing to notice nature in silence.
• Five senses awareness – taking time to notice what you can see, hear, touch, smell and taste.
• 2:4 breathing – exhaling twice as long as inhaling calms the nervous system.
• Bodyscan – ideally lying down, this involves focusing on different parts of the body in turn and the sensations present. Best done on a dry day!

What’s the aim?

We intend for the sessions to provide respite and a moment of peace. Beyond the sessions, people will be able to take what they learn and enjoy and use it in the rest of their lives. E.g. someone might realise they have an interest in wildflowers and continue to learn about them and record them for years to come. Someone else might find a certain mindfulness practice really useful in dealing with stress, so learning it via Wildlife and Wellbeing could have a lasting positive impact on their health and wellbeing. 

If all goes well, we hope this will become a long-term project. The first few months will be a trial, with potential to seek more funding and build an ongoing series of regular events and groups. It all depends on what goes well and what people want.