RSPB Big Wild Sleepout

Discover the secret world on your doorstep by sleeping out in the great outdoors, whilst fundraising for nature!

Put up a tent in your garden, build a makeshift shelter or, if you’re brave enough, simply sleep out under the stars!

It’s your chance to sleep out in nature’s home, hear night sounds, feel the night air on your face and marvel at the night sky.

If you’ve not got a garden, we’ll be hosting a range of sleepouts and other night-themed events, helping you experience the night at its best.

When?

2014's Big Wild Sleepout is taking place over the week 16-22 June.

Why?

Nature is in trouble.

Register a fundraising page with JustGiving and fundraise for the country's threatened wildlife. You’ll be giving nature a home by raising money for conservation projects across the UK.

As well as helping threatened wildlife, it’s a simple way for you and your family to get closer to nature near you. Have you ever camped out in your garden, listened to owls hooting or discovered a hedgehog snuffling through your garden? Camp out with the Big Wild Sleepout and experience the elusive night-time nature that lives near you.

What's it all for?

You’ll raise money for conservation projects that protect birds, wildlife and the places they live. Here are just a few examples:

Otters have begun their recovery but still need your help.

Wetlands are home to 10 per cent of our nation’s wildlife species, but 57 per cent of wetland species are still in decline. With your support, we can make sure that marshy, muddy and silty wetland homes, both on and off our reserves, are managed properly across entire landscapes.

The yellowhammers in our fields need you.

Sadly, 60 per cent of farmland birds, such as yellowhammers, are declining. We’re working to change that. With your help, we can show other farmers how to make their farms better for nature. We also need to continue to lobby for incentives, to help farmers work in a wildlife-friendly way.

The bugs in our cities need you.

The green spaces between our homes and offices, as well as grass verges, can offer a safe haven for wildlife. Frogs, birds and hedgehogs need the bugs that live in them in order to survive in an urban habitat. Help us work together with city dwellers to create a web of life across our towns and cities.

How can you get involved?

We would like to offer your scouts group the chance to get involved with the Big Wild Sleepout. We can organise a visit from our staff that would include a several night-time themed activities involving wildlife. This could include camera trapping for small mammals, small mammal trapping, moth trapping, bat walks and possibly dawn chorus walks in the early morning.

All we would ask in return is that your group participate in a sponsored sleepout in order to fundraise for the RSPB.

If you would like to discuss the possibility of holding such an event, then please contact Sam Langford on 0141 331 9804 or at sam.langford@rspb.org.uk.