Wild Bemerton Heath

Written by Charley and Tanay, October 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 run a mix of bookable events which are open to all, and targeted projects to reach marginalised and disadvantaged communities.

Our initial Wild Bemerton Heath project was our first targeted project. We plan to expand on this work in 2027 and beyond.

Summary of Wild Bemerton Heath “part 1”:

  • The project ran from July 2025 – July 2026.
  • We engaged over 300 people with the wildlife of Bemerton Heath through 20 events.
  • All events in this project were free to participants thanks to grant funding from Wiltshire & Swindon Community Foundation and Wiltshire Council.
  • We used local green spaces, including Bemerton Folly, Pinewood Open Space and the Rise 61 Community Garden.

Bookable events included:

Wildlife and Bushcraft at Rise 61 Community Garden

Taster events included:

  • Jul 2025 stall at We Love Bemerton fun day, featuring live moths and tree identification challenge – event organised by Salisbury City Council – for families/open to all
  • Oct 2025 tree identification and mindfulness taster at Get Out, Get Active – session organised by Wiltshire Council – for disabled and non-disabled adults
  • Oct 2025 tree identification and bat walk at Doorstep Sports – session organised by Wiltshire Council – for 8-16 year olds
  • Oct 2025 invite to Wildlife and Bushcraft sessions at Creative Club – session organised by Rise 61 – for 13- 19 year olds
  • Feb 2026 mindfulness taster at Live and Breathe organised by Rose Maylin from Grace Church, at the Bemerton Heath Centre – for people with lung conditions
  • Feb 2026 stall at Bemerton Family Fiesta featuring tree identification challenge and spider web craft – event organised by Wiltshire Creative – for families
  • Apr 2026 tree and bird identification taster at Bemerton after school club – for 7-11 year olds
  • Jul 2026 ecology and practical conservation session at Broken Bridges Nature Reserve as part of Sarum Academy Citizenship Day – for 11-12 year olds
  • Jul 2026 wildlife wander with Babies and Toddlers group organised by Rise 61 and Salisbury City Council – for under 5s and parents and carers
  • Building bird boxes
  • Bird watching
  • tree identification
  • Bemerton Family Fiesta

A collaborative approach

Over the course of the project, we collaborated with 6 community organisations in Bemerton Heath:

  • Rise 61
  • Wiltshire Council
  • Salisbury City Council
  • Wiltshire Creative
  • Grace Church
  • Sarum Academy

These collaborations helped us widen our reach in the Bemerton community. Adopting a collaborative approach enabled us to share capacities, networks and learnings with individuals and organisations – from outreach and communication, to identifying local green spaces, to event planning. We are committed to working collaboratively with partner organisations across Bemerton Heath with the intention of identifying ways in which we can work together more effectively. Over the next phase of the project, our aim is to consolidate and deepen these connections.

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 wanted 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. Our sessions provided respite and a moment of peace. 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.

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.

The next phase…

We are working on the next phase of our work in Bemerton Heath. Please contact Charley if you live or work in Bemerton Heath and would like to get involved.