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Over 100 years ago one of the National Trust's founders, Octavia Hill, argued that quiet, fresh-air and exercise, together with the sight of sky and growing things, were basic human needs. She was immensely concerned about access to open space for city-dwellers and her vision extended to an early dream of a Green Belt to protect and separate countryside from urban sprawl.
Fiona Reynolds, Director-general of the National Trust, says: "A growing body of research backs Octavia Hill’s intuition, but over a century later we still don't seem to value enough the physical and spiritual refreshment we get from our surroundings. We want to play our part in helping to reconnect the nation with outdoor spaces, whether in the Lake District or a local park.”
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The main outdoors activity for the National Trust in 2011 will be focused on walking. Working with local communities across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the charity will create 100 miles of new community walking routes as part of a major outdoor celebration planned for 22-30 October 2011.
It is hoped that thousands of members of the public will be involved in helping design local routes, clear undergrowth and tread the walking routes for the first time. The outdoors celebration will also include mass participation events giving people the chance to explore autumn colours and will launch the Trust's commitment to create a target 1,000 miles of new trails by 2020.
During 2011 there will also be a series of seven cycling challenge rides at Trust locations from Pembrokeshire to Cambridgeshire. In July the Trust's first ever cycling festival will take place at more than twenty places throughout the country including an evening community bike ride at Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire and a Kids On Your Bike Weekend at Scotney Castle in Kent.
The Trust currently has more than fifty campsites on its land, many run by tenant farmers, and plans for this year include creating a network of new, simple campsites in stunning locations. In Snowdonia the Trust has just launched green yurt holidays and will promote its thirty bunkhouses as great places to base walking weekends.
For more information please see www.nationaltrust.org.uk
*A survey for the National Trust revealed that 80 per cent of the happiest people in the UK said they have a strong connection with nature, compared with just 37 per cent of the unhappiest. The TNS survey of 1,294 UK adults was commissioned as part of the National Trust's inquiry into public access and enjoyment of the outdoors. The survey took placed on Tuesday 7 and Wednesday 8 December 2010.
**Research carried out by Essex University found that as little as five minutes of 'green exercise' can have significant mental health benefits (Barton J and Pretty J. 2010. 'What is the Best Dose of Nature and Green Exercise for Improving Mental Health? A Multi-Study Analysis', Environmental Science and Technology DOI: 10.1021/es903183r). The study published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology Research pooled the results from ten previous UK studies of 1252 volunteers on the effect of “green exercise” on mood and self-esteem. The researchers defined “green exercise” as activity in the presence of nature and they concluded that even small doses of outdoor exercise can have a positive effect on mental health.