Project Rejuvenate: Connecting with nature and our ancestors

By Sarah Tribe, Youth Education and Wellbeing Team Leader

On a sunny spring morning in April, a small group of excited and slightly apprehensive teenagers gathered at Langford Lakes. They were participants in Project Rejuvenate, an exciting new project funded by Heritage England and led by our Youth Education and Wellbeing Team in partnership with Wessex Archaeology, a local artist and St Joseph’s Catholic Secondary School in Salisbury.

Over the course of the next 12 weeks, the 12 young people and pastoral care staff from the school spent time at both our Langford Lakes and Coombe Bissett Down nature reserves, taking part in activities ranging from fire lighting and campfire cooking, to building fencing with willow and hazel; excavating archaeological test pits; and creating artwork using methods from pre-history, such as dyeing fabric with nettle leaves.

The project objectives were to investigate the impact of using traditional bushcraft skills, nature and our heritage to improve young people’s health and wellbeing. It was deemed a great success with participants recording a positive change in 9 out of 10 wellbeing statements.

As our settlement grew, we developed a stronger bond with each other; the young people began to refer to the site as ‘Our Place’. It became clear that this had become a safe and welcoming space where the young people felt confident to learn, communicate and take risks.

School staff member