Grow Wild 24 October 2012

Hello!

Grow Wild’s aims

• To engage people with UK wild flowers• To raise awareness of biodiversity and the

fact we are losing it• To give them something they can do

about it• £10.5 million grant from the BIG Lottery

Fund.

The ambition

• To reach 30 million people, including 4 million young people

• To get 3 million people to take ‘direct action’• To achieve 2 million plantings – 200,000 by

young people

The audience

• Young people (12-25 years old)• Members of community and

voluntary organisations• Adults interested in the

environment

Why is Grow Wild important?

Only 3% of UK’s species-rich meadows remain since the1930s1

Of the1,756 UK native vascular plant species, 1 in 5 are ‘critically endangered’, ‘endangered’ or ‘vulnerable to extinction’ 2

1.

http://www.gresham.ac.uk/sites/default/files/10jul12robinprobert_millenniumseedbank.pdf 2. http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/pdf/pub05 speciesstatusvpredlist3_web.pdf

Engaging Young People

• Engaging young people with biodiversity issues

• Understanding that biodiversity is important to their future

• Giving them something positive to do to help

How Grow Wild works

1. Four flagship projects

2. Community engagement programme

160 sites across the UK

3. Supported activities

Partnership network

4. Working with retail partner

Digital

Making Grow Wild Fun

• We want Grow Wild to be eye-catching, fun and engaging

Spring 2013 Pilot activities

Spring/early summer 2013 Nominations for flagship sites Late summer/early autumn 2013 Voting for flagship sites Spring 2014 Flagship sites unveiled Kits distributed to organisations Community engagement programme begins Digital community ramps up

Key dates

We are looking for partners:•Supported activities •User panels

We offer:•Free planting kits•Access to a suite of assets•The opportunity to be part of a project with national profile

User Panels

•We are looking for young people to help us design the Grow Wild experience

Thank you and…

Here we go...

Get in Touch:

Vinny GanleyGrow Wild Lead Partnership

ManagerRoyal Botanical Gardens Kew

02083323844V.Ganley@kew .org.uk