More about the Sensory Trust

Why should people be outdoors more? The health benefits of contact with nature are well documented. Very well documented. A quick search of the internet will leave you up to your neck in research on the subject. What we need now is to do something with the research. That’s what Sensory Trust does.

There is another often overlooked benefit amongst all the cosy talk of woodland walks, health and wellbeing. Public space is where society happens. It’s where people from different walks of life bump up against each other. Different cultures, races, religions and opinions share public spaces. Regularly sharing space with others who are not like us makes us more tolerant of difference and is the mechanism by which society develops. Therefore, if we deny people access to public spaces - a park, a city square or a wood - we deny people the right to take part in society and in its development.

So it's generally agreed that being outdoors is good for everyone, and yet so many people are reluctant to do just that. Sensory Trust tackles the reasons why. We listen to how people feel about the public spaces that surround them, and the reasons why they don't go out and use them. Intimidating places, inaccessible places, dull places. Then we work with the owners and managers of the places to make them better.