Hi everyone! Today I want to tell you about the amazing time I had last weekend, I had the pleasure to help at a Big Wild Sleepout! It took place at Arne and we invited 72 people to camp on the Friday night, parents and children from local school in Poole. The RSPB organisers were aiming to engage families to have fun in nature and raise awareness of conservation. The children were about 5-6 years old, they were lovely and very curious: as soon as they arrived at the campsite they started running and playing around the woods! It was very refreshing for all the volunteers to see them having fun in contact with nature, considering how technology-absorbed society is nowadays.
We greeted the families with cream teas and helped them to set their tents up. Tom, the staff host, cooked dinner for everyone whilst the children made animals and shelters out of clay and natural elements. Somehow, Tom managed to make an delicious curry from scratch on an open fire. For dessert, we had fruit and an upside down pineapple pudding, yes...upside down! Tom dug out the recipe from YouTube (see it here), after mixing ice cream, flour, sugar and pineapple a surprisingly nice dessert was made. After some nice smores at the fire circle, we all got ready for a night walk. We walked around areas usually inaccessible to the public, showing the families secret Arne with nightjars and bats. We ended up knackered, perfect for a night’s sleep in a sleeping bag.
Being woken up at 6am by singing birds and screaming children wasn’t as bad as it might sound, especially after the delicious full-English breakfast Tom prepared! Following it, we had to clean the cooking pots and organise the mess tent. And, before I could realise it, the sleepout was over and I was on my way back to my own bed. It was exhausting but I had a superb time getting to meet wonderful families and enhancing their interest in nature.
Next week I'll be starting butterfly surveys and learning more about British Wildlife and how to identify different species. More about that in my next blog. Hasta la vista!
Julia