Busy bees and green shoots: Newsletter 30/03/25

In case you hadn't noticed... Spring is here!!!

Nothing beats feeling the warmth of the Sun on your skin after a long Winter. The first bee, the first butterfly, the first daffodil - our bingo card of Spring delights is long and lucious and fills us with such joy!...

It's been a while since we've given you an update on all things Ways of the Wild ~ apologies for our lack of communication! In this newsletter we've got information about what we've been up to, our upcoming events, some important updates AND a call out to our lovely community. As always thanks for your support and we look forward to seeing you in the woods!

What have we been up to at Ways of the Wild in 2025?

Our Stay & Play group has been slowly growing into a crew of little and large wild folk (which we are absolutely loving!). This is a place to meet up, try out some crafts and activities and become a part of your journey with outdoor play. Recently our main focus has been the pond; caring for it and learning about all the wildlife that may live there. The frogspawn that was laid by a chorus of frogs (technical terminology) some weeks ago are now wriggly, squiggly tadpoles. We'll keep watching them as they grow and keep you all updated!

We've had three Mud Kitchens since the New Year, one was a Bird/Pasta-Making Cafe, one a Coffee Shop and the most recent a Slimey, Froggy Pond/Restaurant (that kind of turned into a mini Forest School session with bug hunts and tree swings!). This is our way of giving back to the community, offering a free event once a month where the aim is to get messy and use our imaginations to create from the materials around us. If you're interested in sending your child to one of our sessions, this is also a great way for you to become familiar with us, and us with you and your family, to build trust and make connections before you've even booked!

Another of our community events made their comeback in February. After spending some time evolving our model and intention, our first Community Picnic of the year brought with it the lessons of Imbolc; a folk festival celebrating and tapping into the liminal space between Winter and Spring. Esme started us off with a grounding meditation, connecting to the sounds of nature around us... Then the fabulous Hazel got us all on our feet with her fiddle playing, and a far-too-complicated song with far-too-many-pitch-changes was led by Katie (big up those that bobbed up and down with us)... Those interested in making candles in the earth were guided by Jay, and those interested in having a go at reed and rush weaving joined Katie under the Great Tree. Of course, the point of us being there was to have a picnic - & eat we did!

Thank you to everyone that came to this first picnic of 2025. It was lovely to welcome you all back to the lovely Conservation Area and lovelier still to meet new families and faces!

International Women's Day 2025 gave us the perfect opportunity to curate our very first Wild Womxn's Circle. We were SO blessed with the weather and spent many hours in the Conservation Area soaking up the sun, dancing, learning and listening, guided by the Ways of the Wild team and the talents of two wonderful women: Tamara of Movements Medicine, and Lena, our Clay Specialist. Through journalling, movement, song and craft we explored the art of letting go and feeling into the space left behind. We enjoyed a mini foraging/wild cooking workshop with Katie who cooked up some nettle soup and wild garlic butter paired with what we thought were copious amounts of bread, but actually... Girls gotta eat and we really could've devoured another two loaves!

Huge thank you to everyone that came. We feel so blessed to have met you all and appreciate all that you shared. Double, triple thank you to Tamara and Lena for planting seeds, conjuring up some fantastic workshops, and sharing their time and talents with everyone <3

Yesterday Jay represented Ways of the Wild at the Bulgarian Spring Market in Fitzroy Square sharing some super cute crochet creations. We met so many lovely folk and made some really exciting connections! Thanks to everyone that came by and shared their thoughts and time.

And last but not least, our first February Wild Week! This was our first holiday program in the February half term and we've learned so much from it already.

Every day the children helped Katie make some spiced or cinnamon oat milk (an addition to our usual snack routine necessary for the colder conditions!). We made spears, swords, tree spirits, hapazome, mirrors and bubble wands. We played tug of war, troll hide and seek, and noughts and crosses. We tracked animal prints in the mud, built dens, identified animals from the pond, litter-picked, made mud slides, jumped in an enormous amount of puddles and absolutely ran our socks off every day!

Huge thank you to everyone that joined Jay & Katie in the woods, including our very special assistants, Hazel and Angie <3

What's coming up?

Last weekend we were due to have our first Foraging Walk and second Community Picnic of the year, but unfortunately our Katie (who would have been leading these events) managed to catch the flu :( so we had to cancel them both :(

We are now looking to reschedule these events so if you would be interested in coming to either please get in touch!

Future Foraging Walks will be added to our booking page as and when Katie becomes available. If you are solely interested in these walks and other adult events, please write us an email and we can potentially set up a separate mailing list!

This Friday we have the second of two taster sessions for WOTW's new offering... Little Wild Ones: The Drop-Off ! This is Ways of the Wild's weekly Forest School-inspired sessions which will officially be kicking off on Friday 25th April, following the Easter holidays. Two hours of outdoor learning a week for 3-7 year olds, held on our home site, the Conservation Area - ideal for preschoolers and home schoolers alike.

Please do come along to our taster sessions if this is something you might be interested in your little one(s) joining. The 4th of April taster session is almost full so make sure you book if you are intending on coming!

Our April Wild Week returns again to your Easter Holiday lineup. The reason the kids love our Wild Weeks is because we prioritise their interests. We prepare and bring activities but it’s all about learn-led exploration and play here; less “you can’t do this, you can’t do that” and more “can we make this/you/everyone safe if we do this?” and “what could we do tomorrow?”. At Ways of the Wild, the children are a key part of risk management and the decision-making process.

Monday-Wednesday on both weeks is almost sold out. So, if you know your child would prefer a less busy day, I’d definitely suggest booking a Friday!

Following the feedback of the femme folk that attended our first Wild Womxn’s Circle, we are in the process of organising our next one! We’ve timed it so that Tamara of Movements Medicine can gift us one more session before she departs on her travels, so the next circle will be Sunday 13th April. We’re working on booking a new saucy venue, hence why we are yet to announce location and time of the event. But all is well: if this falls through, we will be hosting the event in the Conservation Area again <3

Our 2025 birthday party calendar is well on it's merry way. If you would like to do something different and gift your child a party spent under the trees, instead of stuffy halls, get in touch!

Busy bees and green shoots: what's new?

After 2 years of dedication to the company, Ways of the Wild's co-founder, the beautiful Esme, has transitioned out of her role as Director. This decision has been made over many talks, meetings, hugs, tears and laughs within the core team. For any of you that know the team closely, you'll know that whilst we pour our hearts and energy into Ways of the Wild, we are also working one if not more other jobs to support ourselves and our vision. It's a lot to juggle - and for Esme this is an opportunity to focus on other creative pursuits and reinvent her relationship with Ways of the Wild. It is the year of the snake after all: transformation is part of life's flow and we welcome and celebrate the journeys we will weave away, toward and around each other.

So, whilst Esme will always be an integral part of our community and you'll continue to see her at various events and workshops, she will no longer be a part of the core management team. Instead, she will continue to support Ways of the Wild in an advisory capacity, and we will continue to support and champion her in whatever direction her path takes her.

So, here's to Esme, our beloved sister and pixie of the woods,

Ways of the Wild would not be where it is without your magic.

We are so excited to see where you'll go and what you'll learn.

Thank you for nurturing this wild seed,

So much love and gratitude to you, always x

As it is in nature, from Winter to Spring, we say goodbye to Esme and say hello to you!

We are looking for volunteers, parent helpers, part-time and bank staff to work with us at our various upcoming events and sessions.

This is a fantastic opportunity for those of you who want to learn more about the Forest School pedagogy, wildlife, practical skills or love being outdoors and want to help children (and adults) develop confidence, creativity, and resilience through nature-based activities.

Forest School and Childcare qualifications are not essential (but great if you have them!) - we want to build a diverse team that can offer our learners insight into the world around them in different ways, with different experiences. However, an Enhanced DBS check will be required to work at any of our events and any First Aid, Safeguarding and/or Food Handling qualifications will be much appreciated!

We're looking for assistance with our holiday programs, after school clubs, school and home education sessions, and our birthday parties. The whole lot!

So, whether you've got a few hours a week or looking for project-based work - get in touch for further information or to apply, simply send your CV and tell us about your interest in working with us to hello@waysofthewilduk.com. We are looking for people to start working with us immediately, as well as in the future, so please apply regardless of your current situation.

On this same vein, we are super excited to announce that we will be opening up a Ways of the Wild sister charity. This will allow us to access funding for some of our sessions, and we can get closer to achieving our goal of providing access to nature connection to as many people as possible.

Furthermore, we are also accepting applications for people who would like to be on our board of trustees. If you believe in our vision of connecting city folk to nature and think that you could support and guide the charity with your skills, expertise, passion and experience: send us an email at hello@waysofthewilduk.com for further information and to get the conversation going.

Aspiring Trustee Applications will close at midnight on the 26th April. Spread the word!

One last news update is that we will soon be applying for Ofsted! A successful application will allow us to offer our sessions to more children, for longer hours. So yay - pray for us haha!

And that's all for now. We hope you get outside, sha0re the news to the bees, shake a cherry branch or two - and hopefully, see you very soon.

Ways of the Wild x