TV historian Sir Tony Robinson this week bestowed a unique honour on a Kinloss resident for his tireless work in keeping the UK’s heritage alive during the pandemic.
In the form of a night-time installation, Stonehenge was lit up with the faces of eight individuals who, with the help of National Lottery funding, are supporting heritage projects across the UK. This includes Luke Strachan and his work for the Wild Things’ Silver Saplings project.
Silver Saplings is a superb project that uses the natural environment to tackle isolation, loneliness and mobility in vulnerable older people, including care home residents.
The historic takeover of Stonehenge is the first time the 5,000-year-old sarsen stones of the world-renowned site have been dedicated to individual members of the public.
A video projection of Sir Tony acted to first illuminate the historic stones and introduce the momentous display.
Luke, 34, is the chief executive officer at Wild Things based in Findhorn and is responsible for Wild and Well, an intergenerational project aiming to improve the health and wellbeing of communities across the North East of Scotland.
“It’s a much loved programme, already,” said Luke. “We knew that from our pilot activities last year, where we had great feedback.
“The community loves it. People are knocking on the door for us to start the activities again, so we know there’s a real need for these programmes.
“We get feedback from so many different stakeholders, and so many nice messages from family members of residents in care homes and how grateful they are for what we’ve done.
“We’ve given them something to look forward to, as well as giving them a really positive experience and a chance to connect with the wider community and the natural world on their doorstep.
“The feedback has been amazing, so it’s onwards and upwards from here. I very much hope that this work will inspire others to integrate nature-based activities into their own contexts, whether that be a school, social services or the care sector"
“As for almost every organisation, particularly in the charity sector, COVID provided a big challenge, particularly through the uncertainty.
“Things have been busier than ever. In the intervening period, we did a lot of work on our programmes to adapt and sustain them, making sure we prioritised what we were able to deliver now and pushing back the things that could go further down the line.”
During the pandemic, the project wasn’t able to take these people out of the care homes so they have made huge efforts to bring nature in.
They been sending in nature-themed activity packs each week, providing the residents with nature-themed crafts, including making wood cookie coasters, flower pressing, seed planting, building bird feeders, creating bug hotels, producing nature dairies, and fashioning lavender bags.
All the materials for each activity are included, along with an instructional videos and themed nature guides for care homes to share.
With lockdowns and travel restrictions becoming the new normal, green spaces and historic sites have played an increasingly pivotal role in people’s lives.
Insights released by The National Lottery reveal that 74% of Scottish people say outdoor spaces have had a positive effect on their mental wellbeing this year with over a third (34%) saying that heritage sites make them feel more relaxed and less anxious in difficult times, and almost half (46%) saying heritage sites make them proud of their local area.
“National Lottery Heritage Fund funding has been huge. From the outset, they were the ones that encouraged us to bring this programme to where it is,” added Luke.
“Without them, we wouldn’t have been able to develop the programme, or refine it to a point where it’s really polished and ready to deliver.
“It wouldn’t have happened without them, not nearly to this scale. The project would have been very different, it would have been very local.
“We’re in a huge debt of gratitude to Heritage Lottery. To be recognised in that, is a huge privilege. To be able to work with Wild Things is a privilege, and for them and myself to have been singled out is a great honour.”
Heritage sites across the UK are being supported by the National Lottery through the COVID-19 pandemic with some of the £30m raised each week for good causes by National Lottery players.
Sir Tony Robinson said: “I love the fact that Stonehenge is being lit up as a tribute to some of the country’s key project workers and volunteers, letting the public know about the hard work they’ve been doing to keep our heritage accessible to everyone using National Lottery funding.
“Without the graft and tireless effort of these wonderful people, our much-loved heritage would be more at risk than ever this year.”
Ros Kerslake CBE, chief executive of the National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “The National Lottery is playing a crucial role in supporting heritage sites and projects during the crisis, but it’s the important role of that the thousands of amazing individuals, some of which we are celebrating and honouring today, that keep these places going and make our visits memorable.”
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