At Carbon Creative we are an agency with strong roots in championing environmental engagement and awareness, as we carefully consider how our actions impact the world around us. So, when the opportunity came around to work on the Save Our Wild Isles social care engagement campaign, we jumped at the chance!
Working closely with our long term client, Community Integrated Care, and the RSPB we set out to engage the Social Care sector with the Save Our Wild Isles campaign, and create a real sense of excitement. Nature should be accessible to everybody and we believe those who draw on social care are often the ones to benefit most from being outdoors. From hedgerows and gardens on our streets, to our local parks and even our beautiful countryside and nature reserves.
Our primary objective was to raise awareness of the physical and mental health benefits of being connected with nature and stimulated by the sensory experience offered by the fauna and flora around us. With everyone’s relationship with nature being unique to them and how it affects their senses, memories and feelings. Be it the sight of a cherry tree in blossom, the sound of a woodpecker, the feeling of grass on your toes, the smell of a rose bush or provoking memories of our nearest and dearest. Stimulating all of our senses by admiring the nature we can see, the scents that we smell, the sounds that we hear and the experiences we feel, can really boost health and wellbeing.
To kickstart the campaign, we created an invite for each of the Community Integrated Care services, containing a wild flower seed pack. The seeds were specifically chosen to have big bright colours, to inspire the senses and attract wildlife such as bees. We wanted to remind everyone that the beauty of nature is all around us in these wild isles that we are lucky to call home. To help share how everyone’s wild flowers were getting on, and to start a movement we encouraged photos of progress of the flowers growing.
We then developed a pack of materials designed to help those who draw on social care to find the natural beauty all around them, as well as for social carers themselves to ensure that they can help answer any questions as well as helping to identify different plants and animals. Helping to point out flora and fauna throughout the year, giving our wildlife a helping hand when it needs it most, as well as the sensory plants which will bring joy to those who use social care.
Working with Age Exchange, a leading charity for arts, creativity and social connection in care, we created materials specifically designed for those with dementia. These resources offer a range of innovative and person-centered activities, developed with people supported by social care. These activities were specifically chosen to help connect the user with treasured memories and enjoy happy times with loved ones. In its simplest form, we wanted to put smiles on peoples faces.
The time to act is now
The RSPB, WWF and National Trust worked in collaboration with the BBC to develop the Save Our Wild Isles six part series, which can be found on iPlayer. The objective of the series was to highlight the amazing wildlife and natural beauty found in the UK, the damage that we have caused to the delicate ecosystems as well as how we can help to increase the number of plants, birds and mammals of the UK. With the hope of preserving our save our wild isles for future generations.
Our work on Save Our Wild Isles are part of the wider objective of the RSPB, WWF and National Trust called Save Our Wild Isles. This is the ground breaking ambition held by the RSPB, WWF and the National Trust to help preserve the amazing wildlife found in the UK. Over the last 50 years, 38 million birds have vanished from our skies, 97% of our wildflower meadows have been lost and a quarter of our mammals are now at risk of extinction. We can’t just stand aside and watch this devastation continue. Save Our Wild Isles is the first time the RSPB, WWF and National Trust have worked together, calling on our leaders to halt the destruction of UK nature and take urgent action to help aid its recovery. You can find more information on the project as well as how you can help here.
In conjunction with Save Our Wild Isles People Plan for Nature has been created. The People’s Plan for Nature is a vision for the future of nature, and the actions we must all take to protect and renew it. In a world first, it was created for the people, by the people of the UK through an independent and impartial process. This was split into two parts, a National Conservation and the People’s Assembly for Nature. To find out more information, ensure your voice is heard and keep up to date with progress click here.
A cause worth rallying behind
We absolutely loved working on this project, alongside watching the Save Our Wild Isles BBC series, being motivated and inspired by such a great cause and belief that absolutely everyone has the right to enjoy the natural beauty found in the UK. As an environmentally responsible agency, we wholeheartedly agree that we need to protect our environment for future generations to enjoy, take the time now to bask in the beauty of the UK and understand the impact as a society we’ve had. The campaign was a resounding success.
“Carbon Creative’s dual creative and environmental understanding made them the perfect partner for this project. They created an engaging brand identity that was implemented in fantastic range of resources and a brilliant campaign. This programme has changed lives and brought the joy of nature to hundreds of people in our charity and across the care sector.” John Hughes, Director of Partnerships and Communities, Community Integrated Care
You too can help to spread the joy of nature by downloading and using the materials created as part of this campaign here.
