Dawn has been working with organicARTS as part the Vodafone funded project. Here she writes about what she has been doing …
“On behalf of organicARTS I am developing a pilot scheme that encourages marginalized young females to connect to nature with the hope of both physical and mental health benefits from the outdoor sessions. There is a noticeable gap in opportunities for young females that have become disadvantaged by either social exclusion or mental health issues that affect women’s self- esteem to engage in outdoor activities which could help them to regain confidence and identity. The aim for the pilot scheme is to find ways for these young women to engage not only with the natural world but also to empower their own lives.
The idea is to look at some of the components of identity that can lead to unhealthy relationship with body image and food. Activities will gently explore nutrition, cosmetics, clothes and body image in an open and non competitive environment and will be designed to have fun in the outdoors making and creating everyday products from natural sources. The project aims to build self esteem and confidence through these and other outdoor activities.
I am a Forest School practitioner and outside of this particular project I work with mixed groups of various ages exploring nature and landbased creativity.”