Who We Are

Co-Chair of Steering Group / Co-Founder of the Nature Premium Campaign / Chair of Forest School Association

Through teaching, parenting, voluntary youth work and Forest School training I have come to understand that children need nature and nature needs children. For young people to grow up happy, healthy and hopeful requires regular opportunities to play and learn in, through, from, about, and as, nature. Education is the best route to change outcomes for an individual, a community, a nation and the global population, both human and non-human. I believe the Nature Premium will ensure that younger generations learn to live in harmony with the natural world, in line with the UNSDGs, and bring their green skills to solve the problems previous generations have created.

Policy Advisor - The Country Trust

Nina is policy adviser for the Country Trust.

Previously Nina worked at the BBC. Five years based in the Natural History Unit in Bristol, where she was responsible for extending programmes such as The Life of Mammals and Springwatch into accessible learning opportunities through partnerships, exhibitions, live events and learning resources. As Executive Producer for BBC Learning, Nina developed and led award-winning multi-stakeholder learning campaigns including Breathing Places, Dig In (cooking and growing), Headroom (mental health) and Hands on History.

Nina is delighted to support the Nature Premium campaign because she believes the opportunity to connect with nature should be part of every child’s life.

Schools and Communities Engagement Manager - The Woodland Trust

Karen Letten is Schools Engagement Manager at the Woodland Trust and leads the Trust’s UK programme for schools, inspiring schools about woods and trees. Responsible for creating the Trust’s Green Tree Schools Award that now has over 14K UK schools registered. This follows a career spanning over 20 years working in engagement, environmental & sustainable development education and outdoor learning largely in the charity sector but also in local government. She believes passionately that children and young people, whatever their background should learn firsthand about the amazing benefits of woods and trees and nature. This is why the Woodland Trust are supporting the Nature Premium campaign.

CEO - Early Education

The importance of access to nature for young children has been recognised from the very earliest days of early childhood education – the word “kindergarten” means “children’s garden”. But we know access to nature is not equal, and much more needs to be done to ensure every child has access to nature, from birth. We know that early years educators have a powerful role in facilitating access to nature for children and families, and the Nature Premium could unlock that potential. Acting on this is more urgent now than ever.

CEO - The Mammal Society

Schools and colleges can act as ‘levellers’ to enable all young people to have a minimum level of nature experience, when the opportunities and encouragement they get at home may differ enormously. The Nature Premium campaign is a vital piece of the jigsaw puzzle to realise this potential, recognising that schools and colleges will have different barriers to overcome in order to bring nature into school life for students. A premium applied per pupil would allow schools to come up with a bespoke plan of action to ensure that each student has opportunities for positive first-hand nature experiences in a safe, supported and social environment.

Head of Education and Communities - Learning through Landscapes

Mary Jackson is Head of Education and Communities at Learning through Landscapes (LtL). LtL is the national school grounds charity dedicated to enhancing outdoor learning and play for all children and young people, through well-designed, nature-rich school grounds and the outdoor spaces of early years settings.

Our aims therefore strongly align with those of the Nature Premium initiative - that all children should have regular time in nature, with particular support for those who need it most, and believe that by working in partnership we can help to ensure that this becomes a reality for children and young people throughout the UK.

Impact Communications – Core Nature Premium Team

CEO - The Harmony Project

CEO – Institute for Outdoor Learning

Youth Ambassador - Nature Premium

I come from the London borough of Hackney. A very socially active and diverse borough with great green and blue spaces with ecologies which have captivated me from a young age. But I was one of the lucky ones who evaded many of the barriers that exist for city dwellers - especially marginalised groups - when it comes to connecting with nature. The Nature Premium has a massive potential to shatter existing barriers to connecting with nature, providing benefits to those directly engaging, to their families, wider society, and generations to come!

Nature Premium Campaign Co-Founder and Lead

I’m a self-employed biologist, Accredited Practitioner of the Institute for Outdoor Learning and Forest School Practitioner. While working in schools I have realised that children today do not explore the natural world as I did when I was their age. They don’t have simple experiences that would open up a world of beauty and awe or would inspire green career choices. During Lockdown 1 it became apparent that there is an inequity of access to nature for some children in addition to the lack of experiences that the majority of children miss out on. The Nature Premium is a simple idea that could transform a generation and help children grow up greener.

CEO - The Garden Classroom (TGC)

Marnie Rose is CEO of TGC a national award winning charity specialising in nature connection outreach work in London and the South East.

The clear proposal of Nature Premium is so simple it is powerful. Having led a charity that specialises in nature connection in England's most nature deprived borough for 15 years, I feel traction is growing around how important it is for children to have regular weekly doses of nature during school time. Children from disadvantaged and urban communities do not feel nature is accessible to them and as UK communities work harder to create a more equal society, championing central funding for equal access to nature has never been more important

Headteacher - Galley Hill Primary School

The Nature Premium promotes regular nature experiences for students, enhancing both learning and well-being. For headteachers, it offers a flexible framework to integrate outdoor activities, from gardening to Forest School, tailored to each school's unique setting and needs. Beyond academic enrichment, nature exposure boosts mental and physical health. The Department for Education's emphasis on school autonomy aligns seamlessly with this initiative, allowing schools to innovate while achieving key outcomes. By adopting the Nature Premium, headteachers can ensure a holistic education, fostering environmentally-aware, healthy students, and enriching their school's curriculum.

Headteacher - Nightingale Primary School, Hackney

As a Headteacher of an Urban Primary school, I have seen first-hand the impact that being out in nature has on my pupils. They find peace and joy in the outdoors and it allows them to build their social skills and learn to solve problems for themselves. Crucially, they also build an affinity with the natural world and through this a much deeper commitment to protecting the environment as they move through their lives. The impact of making this available to every child cannot be underestimated.

Learning and Outreach Manager - Royal Forestry Society

We have never needed the Nature Premium more. Our world is facing a climate crisis and our children and young people are facing a crisis in their mental health. Equipping schools to connect with the opportunities that nature presents to us helps to address both of these crises.

Campaign Co-Founder and Lead

I’m a self-employed biologist, Accredited Practitioner of the Institute for Outdoor Learning and Forest School Practitioner. While working in schools I have realised that children today do not explore the natural world as I did when I was their age. They don’t have simple experiences that would open up a world of beauty and awe or would inspire green career choices. During Lockdown 1 it became apparent that there is an inequity of access to nature for some children in addition to the lack of experiences that the majority of children miss out on. The Nature Premium is a simple idea that could transform a generation and help children grow up greener.

Impact Communications

There are huge challenges that we face in respect of the health of the planet and people. The Nature Premium is an idea that is simple enough to be realistic and one that could make a difference from day 1. All the benefits that are offered by children having regular access to nature are exactly the same problems that are being caused by lack of it! Obesity, well being and mental health, school attendance and achievement, resilience and self esteem. I truly believe that a funded Nature Premium could provide lifelong health and happiness to children. Investment in children at this stage would reduce costs by numerous Government departments in the future. It is a proactive solution that could minimise the need for the constant reactionary cycle we are currently trapped in.

Project Manager

I am a Forest School leader living on a community run farm in west Wales. I have experienced first hand the joy and freedom that children feel when they are in nature. I believe that a greater connection with the natural world, for all people, is the only hopeful way forward through the climate crisis. The Nature Premium would represent a hugely important step in recognising the importance of this fact. It would provide an opportunity for our next generation of children to run down steep hills, climb up magnificent beech trees, get lost in muddy bogs and to breathe fresh sea air. The implications of this will be remarkable.