Highland Screening for new UK Documentary Spearheading Campaign to Get Children Back Outdoors

Cinema Nairn are proud to support the The Scottish Waterways Trust in their hosting of the only Highland screening for an inspirational new ‘Supersize-me’ style film documentary tackling the increasingly fragile connection between children and nature, at Nairn Community Centre at 7pm on Friday 6^th December.

Naturalist Chris Packham and brain scientist Professor Baroness Susan Greenfield are amongst the experts making an appearance in the feature-length documentary which marks the launch of the UK-wide Project Wild Thing campaign to get children away from computers, television screens and plastic toys and back out into nature.

Appointing himself ‘Marketing Director for Nature’ he works with branding and outdoor experts developing a nationwide marketing campaign to get British children outside.

The Project Wild Thing campaign is supported by The Wild Network. This collaboration of charities, corporations and individuals* committed to getting children back outdoors, was established by the National Trust, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, National Health Service Sustainable Development Unit and others in September 2013.

The Scottish Waterways Trust, which is a member of The Wild Network, reconnects adults and children with nature through projects along Scotland’s rural and urban canals, including the sixty mile long Caledonian Canal. 

Any money raised through the event will go directly to Project Wild Thing, Scottish Waterways Trust’s public events on the Caledonian Canal and to a couple of projects more local to Nairn – Wildthings and a new Nairnshire naturalists’ club.

Stephen Wiseman, Scottish Waterways Trust Heritage Officer for the Caledonian Canal explains the importance of the film’s message for Highland audiences:

“The Scottish Waterways Trust has teamed up with Project Wild Thing because reconnecting Scottish kids with nature is a priority and this inspirational film and campaign has the potential to develop into a huge, social change movement.

Urbanisation and our obsession with video games, mobile phones and tablets affects everyone, not just those living in our cities and large towns and this generation of British children is more disconnected from nature than ever before.

“Time playing outdoors has halved in a generation. Fewer than one in ten children regularly play in wild spaces. More kids can recognise a Dalek than can spot a magpie!

“The knock on is that obesity rates are ballooning and plummeting child wellbeing measures tell a depressing story. Reconnecting children, as well as adults, with the wild is critical and something we should shout about because, as we know from our own projects, spending time in nature increases health, happiness and wellbeing. 

“Following the screening, we’ll open the floor to what I think will be a lively and hopefully optimistic discussion about how we build on all the great work happening already, understand what works and inspires and ultimately create a real momentum for change - we’re working towards that along Scotland’s canals but the opportunities are all around us.”

Project Wild Thing is currently touring 50 cinemas across the UK. 

Further Information about the Screening

Venue:            Nairn Community Centre

Date:               Friday 6^th December

Time:              7:00pm -9:00pm

Price:              Adults £5, Children 10 -18 years old go free

Tickets available at the door

Further Information, Images and Clips

Ø  Further information can be found at www.projectwildthing.com; Facebook: projectwildthing; Twitter: @wearewildthing

Ø  Photos, images and posters are available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/99241742@N03/sets/

Ø  Film clips are available at http://vimeopro.com/greenlions/projectwildthingfilmclips