© The Conservation Volunteers 2016 Exploring Nature with People with Disabilities Julia Duncan – Business Development Manager, The Conservation Volunteers. 8.12.16 TCV Board Meeting 22.9.16 Join in, feel good

Background Exploring Nature with People with Disabilities © The Conservation Volunteers 2016 Background TCV disability partner consultation – Jan - July 2014 Pilots with key partners including RNIB, Cornerstone, ENABLE Greenability Conference - Oct 2014 – 130 attendees, joining up disability and environmental organisations Partner event with Sense Scotland, ENABLE, Donaldsons School for the Deaf Led to established TCV network of disability organisations TCV Board Meeting 22.9.16 Join in, feel good

Exploring Nature with People with Disabilities © The Conservation Volunteers 2016 Our approach to developing nature based programmes for people with disabilities: all about partnership and listening to staff and service users. KEY to: understanding needs of people with disabilities and resourcing projects eg staff support understanding barriers and challenges for people with a range of disabilities eg. BSL signer, sighted guiding Understanding Scottish context eg. One million people in Scotland are disabled Understanding need relating to: mental health, transport, physical health, social exclusion, fewer opportunities re education & employment. TCV Board Meeting 22.9.16 Join in, feel good

Who are we working with and what have we been doing? Exploring Nature with People with Disabilities © The Conservation Volunteers 2016 Who are we working with and what have we been doing? Established key partnerships Run pilot projects to test activities for people with different disabilities and needs Pilots consist of short 1-3 hour sensory nature based sessions Run environmental training for partners Run disability training for TCV staff and external orgs Run events to share good practice TCV Board Meeting 22.9.16 Join in, feel good

© The Conservation Volunteers 2016 Sense Scotland – nature walks and sensory activities for people with multiple sensory deprivation eg Deafblind Sense Scotland Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Praesent quis semper nibh. Nunc sapien augue, mollis vel imperdiet ac, tempus rhoncus neque. Duis ac ligula leo. Quisque quis neque diam. Vivamus et velit neque. Mauris mi lorem, vestibulum vitae consequat eget, malesuada non nisl. Proin interdum rutrum felis eget vehicula. Cras interdum sapien a leo. TCV Board Meeting 22.9.16 Join in, feel good

© The Conservation Volunteers 2016 Caledonia Clubhouse– nature walks and forest skills for people with mental health problems Sense Scotland Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Praesent quis semper nibh. Nunc sapien augue, mollis vel imperdiet ac, tempus rhoncus neque. Duis ac ligula leo. Quisque quis neque diam. Vivamus et velit neque. Mauris mi lorem, vestibulum vitae consequat eget, malesuada non nisl. Proin interdum rutrum felis eget vehicula. Cras interdum sapien a leo. TCV Board Meeting 22.9.16 Join in, feel good

© The Conservation Volunteers 2016 Deaf Action – nature play for children/families with hearing impairment TCV Board Meeting 22.9.16 Join in, feel good

Scottish Autism – Citizen Science and forest skills © The Conservation Volunteers 2016 Training Scottish Autism – Citizen Science and forest skills Training Citizen Science Workshops for SA staff Autism training for TCV staff TCV Board Meeting 22.9.16 Join in, feel good

ENABLE – nature play for children with learning difficulties © The Conservation Volunteers 2016 Training ENABLE – nature play for children with learning difficulties TCV Board Meeting 22.9.16 Join in, feel good

© The Conservation Volunteers 2016 RNIB/iWomen – nature walks and sensory activities for sight loss and visual impairment Sense Scotland Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Praesent quis semper nibh. Nunc sapien augue, mollis vel imperdiet ac, tempus rhoncus neque. Duis ac ligula leo. Quisque quis neque diam. Vivamus et velit neque. Mauris mi lorem, vestibulum vitae consequat eget, malesuada non nisl. Proin interdum rutrum felis eget vehicula. Cras interdum sapien a leo. TCV Board Meeting 22.9.16 Join in, feel good

Key Activities Exploring Nature with People with Disabilities © The Conservation Volunteers 2016 Key Activities Nature play Citizen Science/Bio recording Forest Skills / outdoor cooking Nature walks Enviromental art and craft Conservation TCV Board Meeting 22.9.16 Join in, feel good

What have we learnt? Exploring Nature with People with Disabilities © The Conservation Volunteers 2016 What have we learnt? The benefits of nature based exploration and discovery for children and adults with disabilities are huge. Key impacts include: improved sleep, reduced stress, reduced isolation and improved mental health. To be flexible and adapt to need To listen and tailor activities to need To train our staff and encourage disability sector orgs to train theirs The importance of tea and bisuits! TCV Board Meeting 22.9.16 Join in, feel good

Exploring Nature with People with Disabilities © The Conservation Volunteers 2016 2015 Awards – TCV won Innovation Award at RSPB’s Nature of Scotland Awards Nov 2015 and finalist for Collaboration Award at Guide Dogs Association Annual Awards Dec 2015. TCV Board Meeting 22.9.16 Join in, feel good

Income for pilots projects Exploring Nature with People with Disabilities © The Conservation Volunteers 2016 Income for pilots projects SNH – 2015/16 Exploring Nature programme (&FCS) SNH - 2016-17 Accessibility theme focusing on work with autism and visual impairment/merge with midweek activity FCS – 2014 Winter Woodlands £9K, FCS – 2015 – Exploring Nature - £4580 RSMcDonald Trust(£18K/2 years), SG – (£14K/2 years) TCV Board Meeting 22.9.16 Join in, feel good

2016 Key achievements & next stages Exploring Nature with People with Disabilities © The Conservation Volunteers 2016 2016 Key achievements & next stages Established Jupiter as hub for people with disabilities through Falkirk Environmental Trust (£38k) – food growing and woodland. Started Sept. Building on key partnerships eg Sense Scotland, Deaf Action Partner with Heritage Lottery for event to showcase “natural heritage” work to date (7 Nov) Successful HLF applications – Young Roots (£50K) for partnerships with Glasgow Disabled Scouts and Stories Stones and Bones (£9.5k) for work with Deaf Action HLF Our Heritage (£10-100k) – to develop Jupiter hub TCV staff disability training investment Promoting our USB and leadership in this field TCV Board Meeting 22.9.16 Join in, feel good