#TeamWilder builds long-term relationships with residents, community leaders, grassroots groups and local institutions, listening to their needs, supporting their ambitions, and creating pathways for them to come together to reimagine their local green spaces. We know that creating communities where people and nature can thrive together are key to restoring Yorkshire’s biodiversity and protecting our green spaces, particularly because we cannot achieve the scale of changes needed for Yorkshire’s wildlife alone. Read on to discover some of our wilder plans for 2026…
People-powered change for nature
Image credit: Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales
Since the launch of #TeamWilder in 2022, we have supported over 100 groups and local organisations to take action for nature in their neighbourhoods, with more than 600 people signed up to this movement for change. Read on to discover our plans for the next few years...
Healthy people, healthy nature
Local access to nature is vital for people’s health and wellbeing, and coming together to create space for nature builds community cohesion. Thanks to a significant grant from the Sigrid Rausing Trust, and a successful bid to deliver a city-wide public health tender in Bradford, we will be supporting 33 communities across Bradford, Doncaster, Huddersfield and Hull to transform urban spaces into thriving havens for people and wildlife, working with people who are new to nature in four cities with some of the lowest levels of access to green space in the UK.
Laura Dowley from Sigrid Rausing Trust said, “We are excited to support the expansion of Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s important work in cities around Yorkshire to make urban spaces greener, safer and cleaner for all. We are impressed by their work to empower local communities to design and implement their own initiatives, which has clear social and environmental benefits.”
In Bradford we have also teamed up with Street Space, Better Place Bradford, and Get Out More CIC to deliver an innovative two-to-three year project to improve mental health and wellbeing in inner-city communities. Our goal is to increase people’s connection with nature by supporting them to transform snickets and verges, parks, playing fields and grey spaces into thriving green oasis within their neighbourhoods.
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Do you know a group in one of these areas who dream
of creating a wildlife garden? Is there a sports centre or
place of worship who want to transform their land,
or neighbours with the ambition to develop a wildlife
corridor through their city? If so, we’d love to hear from
you. Email team.wilder@ywt.org.uk
It's a Wild World
Our first Action for Nature Day in 2026 will be held at Lotherton Wildlife World in Leeds on Saturday 25th April, where thanks to our new partnership with Lotherton Estate we will create a wildlife garden on site. Our free Action for Nature Days provide a platform for communities to come together, share their inspirational stories, and learn new skills through family activities, interactive workshops and guided walks.
Nasar Khan
Green skills for the future
Providing opportunities for young people to take action for nature and climate is a key part of our #TeamWilder work, from offering workshops and volunteering space to supporting youth groups to carry out their own projects in their local communities. We are delighted to have received funding from Maximus Local Impact Fund to work in partnership with green organisations in Huddersfield to deliver an exciting programme of ‘Green Skills in the Hills’ sessions for young people aged 16-25 years living in Kirklees. The sessions will run from June to September at Stirley and include workshops on habitat management, gardening, food growing, CV writing, interview techniques for the green sector and much more.
Simon Tull
Wild Youth Awards
To celebrate our 80th birthday, this Spring we are launching our Wild Youth Awards to recognise and reward young people’s connection with and action for the natural world. These awards are free to enter, and give young people the opportunity to work through Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards to achieve the final accolade of a Green Award – recognising 100 hours of activity.
Not based in one of our focus cities? Never fear – you can still go wild in your local area! Find out more about what community groups have been doing across the county and how you can get involved below...
