FLOCK TOGETHER ACADEMY

London Wildlife Trust

| UNITED KINGDOM

In 2019, London Wildlife Trust partnered with Flock Together, a birdwatching and nature support club for People of Color (POC), to help create the Flock Together Academy. The Academy delivers a range of youthfocused outdoor engagement sessions at London Wildlife Trust nature reserves that support the next generation in new ways, reaching undersupported young people who have traditionally been underrepresented in nature and the outdoors. Flock Together founders, Ollie Olanipekun and Nadeem Perera, created the Academy, with support from London Wildlife Trust, to share with their wider community the proven benefits they have been afforded through bird watching and spending time in nature. Through creative and progressive sessions designed by POC creatives from the Flock Together community and London Wildlife Trust teams, young Londoners are inspired to pay attention to the natural world around them, gain a comfortable familiarity with the outdoors, adopt a lifelong practice that supports their ongoing mental health and feel nature is theirs to take pride in and defend against crisis. The VF Foundation grant helped fund a part-time General Manager for six months who focused on developing the Academy, gathering impact data and overseeing the program, as well as additional fundraising. The grant also enabled them to deliver four full-day Academy pilot sessions for more than 60 young people this year. Timberland® also helped fuel public awareness of Flock Together through their “Nature Needs Heroes” campaign.