Help us buy a minibus to reconnect children & people with the natural world.

We urgently need your help to reconnect children with nature – and inspire them to be custodians of our natural world. We urgently need to raise £30,000 to buy a minibus to bring visitors to Greystones - since the death of our old minibus we've have really missed having one!

A recent survey¹ showed that just one child in five is ‘connected to nature’. Time spent playing outdoors has halved in a generation. Getting out into nature isn’t just good for children’s health and mental wellbeing, it’s good for the future of the planet too, as they learn how to become custodians of the natural world. Yet sadly the outdoors is a closed book to so many children.

But there is something you can do. Here at Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, we are creating a unique centre at Greystones Farm nature reserve, at Bourton-on-the-Water.The centre is designed to inspire children and young people who don’t normally have the chance to experience nature. But there’s just one piece of the jigsaw missing.

We urgently need to raise £30,000 to buy a minibus to bring visitors to Greystones. With your help we could reach out to people young and old across the county, giving them an experience they will remember and treasure forever.

There’s archaeological evidence of human settlement at Greystones Farm since Neolithic times, and the site also has a wildflower meadow designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a river rich in wildlife. A visit to this unique site will reconnect people with a rich array of wildlife and a fascinating history of mankind’s interaction with nature through farming and husbandry.

The site offers so much to so many visitors. People with disabilities, older people, people with special needs, young carers – with your help we can bring hundreds of people to Greystones to help them reconnect with nature and appreciate the beauty and value of the flora and fauna they cannot normally experience.

We’ll be running practical conservation classes, wildlife surveys, wild play sessions and all sorts of other activities to encourage people to get involved and immerse themselves in the natural world. All we need now is to buy a minibus and make sure as many people as possible can come to Greystones.

This next step would move Greystones to the next level, helping us make it one of the most inspiring and vibrant places in our county for everyone to learn about the rich wildlife and history of the Cotswolds.

Your gift today will help us make sure that people young and old can get the chance to come and learn about the rich heritage all around us. For a child living in inner city Gloucester, for a young adult with a disability, for a young person caring for a family member, a visit to Greystones could make a tremendous and life-affirming difference to their lives.So please do support our minibus appeal with a gift today.