We started Day 1 of this year's 30 Days Wild at The Suffolk Show. Our Knettishall Heath catering van served hot and cold drinks and tempting pastries to visitors to celebrate the Big Wild Breakfast! Lucy Shepherd, our Learning Officer, joined the team at the show, and packed her own scrummy breakfast, which she enjoyed amongst the ox eye daisies.  

The team were thrilled to be back in the wildlife area of the showground, welcoming visitors and talking about #TeamWilder. Visitors could also get involved in our activities, such as pond dipping, bug hunting, and wildflower seed ball making.  

Our Farmland Advice team were also on hand to speak with landowners and farmers about ways we can help enhance land for wildlife whilst maintaining productivity, and also support smaller traditional farms to retain their beneficial wildlife features.  

On Day 2, we celebrated meadows. These are such important habitats for wildlife, especially our precious pollinators. You don’t need a big garden to create a meadow.

Our Planning & Ecology Advisor, Gareth Dalglish, has a lovely wildflower meadow in his garden. It was planted in 2020 and today is blooming!  

So why not follow this guide to creating your own mini meadow for your next random act of wildness!

Elsewhere across the Trust, our members of staff have also been going wild! On Friday, 3rd June (Day 3) Charlie, our Wild Learning Officer, attended the Woodbridge Fun Day - a Woodbridge Town Council sponsored event, funded by their Climate and Ecological Committee. Charlie was joined by some fantastic wildlife champions who helped build solitary bee homes by sawing up bamboo to fit inside hexagons to be put up in the town, helping to make the community wilder for wildlife.  

Charlie was also invited by Melton Parish Council on Saturday 4th June (Day 4) to build a mini-beast mansion at the fete in Melton. Charlie writes “Wonderful people, so much love for wildlife & Foxburrow Farm, and some VERY enthusiastic kids! I am so excited that we inspired so many others to build their own mini-beast home in their gardens!”  

A random act of wildness can also be taking time out for ones self, and our Wild Reads allowed us to do just that. Wild Reads is a partnership project between Suffolk Libraries and Suffolk Wildlife Trust to promote our connection between the natural world and the written word. 

It aims to give everyone the opportunity to enjoy the very best nature writing. The aim is to help inspire and ignite a love of nature in readers through the lenses of a wide variety of writers.  

Sarah, our Head of Communications, writes: “To me, nature is fascinating and fills me with wonder. Exploring other people's connections to nature and their personal expressions of it through writing adds yet another dimension.” 

Day 5 of 30 Days Wild landed on World Environment Day, and so our random act of wildness was to be mindful of our impact on our planet.

Even the smallest of changes to our lifestyle can make a positive difference. Our Team Wilder pages are packed with ideas to help you get started.    

However, 30 Days Wild isn’t of course just about the extraordinary! We want to challenge everyone to notice the everyday nature right on our doorstep. 

Day 6 saw Jane, our Digital Communications Officer, take a peaceful walk in the rain. Not many venture out in wet weather, but Jane says ‘I love visiting the woods in the rain, the soothing noise of rain drops alongside the birds singing, and best of all having the wildlife all to myself as most people are hiding indoors!’ 

And then on Day 7, Susan, our Reserves & Conservation Adviser, was admiring the busy bees taking advantage of the beautiful poppys in her garden. Gardens can provide an important habitat for pollinators, so if you would like to find out how to make your garden more bee friendly, why not have a look at this guide.  

I have loved watching everyone on social media tag us in their random acts of wildness! Please do keep sharing these with us, and look out for next week’s 30 Days Wild blog to find out what we have been up to.