We are delighted to announce the launch of Wilder Connections, an ambitious and inspirational new programme taking place at Wilder Doddington, which has been made possible through a £1.9m grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, as well as a grant of £250,000 from Anglian Water.  

The Wilder Connections project is designed to offer opportunities for local people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds to benefit from the nature recovery at Wilder Doddington, and to get hands-on in supporting it. Activities will engender a sense of connection to nature, and build the wellbeing, confidence, enthusiasm, skills and understanding to contribute to its recovery. The project will target some of Lincolnshire’s most marginalised and vulnerable communities and we will be working closely with expert organisations such as Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, Hill Holt Wood and the Field Studies Council to deliver it.

There will be wellbeing visits for community groups; a supported volunteering programme; primary school visits; Alternative Provision for youngsters who are at risk of exclusion from school; Forest School for families with young children; opportunities for students and academics at the University of Lincoln to do field-work and research; and courses and workshops open to learners of all ages. There will also be new trails, interpretation and Citizen Science activities for people to explore Wilder Doddington independently.   

Additionally we are working with the River Restoration Centre and Freshwater Habitats Trust to create what will be a regionally important freshwater habitat site at Doddington. This will be achieved by holding much more water on the land and slowing the flow off the land into drains and rivers – it will also have the effect of reducing flooding downstream in Lincoln.

And as a central hub for Wilder Connections, we are building the ‘Wild House’, a state-of-the-art Passivhaus Premium building with environmental credentials that will honour the Doddington Hall Conservation Charity‘s commitment to sustainability and quality. The Wild House will be a beautiful, inspiring, flexible and adaptable space which can host over 2,000​ ​volunteers, students, school and community group members annually –  and a long-term asset to the local community.

Despite being one of the UK’s most important farming regions, Lincolnshire’s population scores second from bottom for access to nature out of all the counties in England. Data published in 2023 shows only 31% of adults in the wider region believe that spending time outdoors is an important part of their life. We hope that Wilder Connections will help address this inequality, providing access to green spaces for those that can’t readily find it, and that it brings both mental and physical health benefits with it too. 

We hope that over time Wilder Connections will demonstrate that involving local communities in nature recovery programmes not only provides health, economic and environmental benefits, but such initiatives can also become viable, sustainable business or social enterprise models that others in the UK can adopt. With this legacy-building in mind, we are committed to sharing the lessons we learn on this journey, in the form of a Wilder Connections blueprint.

We are honoured and super-excited that Wilder Connections has been given the chance to become part of Doddington – and Lincolnshire’s – future and can’t wait to get started.

For more information on Wilder Connections please click here. To stay up to date with the latest news, please sign up to our newsletter here.

– Claire Birch, Chair of the Doddington Hall Conservation Charity

Wilder Connections has been made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund, with thanks to National Lottery players, as well as support from Anglian Water.