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Heal Live: York – find out the latest on the upcoming Heal film about rewilding our first site in Somerset and join us and our expert panellists to discuss access to nature and the need to create sanctuary for wildlife.
Heal is back on the road for Heal Live! York is the second in a series of three in-person events, which include London and Birmingham. Each event offers an opportunity to hear about the ups and downs of establishing our first rewilding site, Heal Somerset, including an update on our upcoming film showing the beginning of its amazing journey towards recovery. We’re really excited to share with you the changes we’ve witnessed and to show what rewilding can give back to wildlife, to people and to communities in a relatively short space of time.
We will also be joined by some brilliant expert Yorkshire-based speakers from within the rewilding and wildlife sectors where we will hear about examples of innovation and good practice in the area. We will also be asking what the local rewilding community is doing to tackle disparity in access to nature, whilst ensuring balance when it comes to wildlife’s need for sanctuary. There will be the chance for everyone attending to contribute, challenge and question, to deepen the conversation.
Confirmed speakers for this event include:
- Jan Stannard, Founder and acting CEO, Heal (host)
- Amy-Jane Beer, Naturalist and writer
- Daniel Hill, Rewilding Ranger, Heal Somerset
- Dr Sheree Mack, Creator of Earth Sea Love
- Samantha Mennell, Trustee, Yorkshire Rewilding Network
Jan Stannard is a Co-founder and Chair of Trustees of the national rewilding charity Heal, which launched in March 2020 to raise money to buy land in England for nature recovery, climate change action and wellbeing. Jan moved into the charity sector after 40 years’ experience in business, having served on company boards in the strategic communications and digital marketing sectors. She first became active in campaigning for wildlife in 2015 when she set up a local swift group, which has since organised the installation of hundreds of swift boxes. She also oversaw the largest ever amphibian ladder project in England in 2018, helping to stop migrating toads from drowning in road drains. She has a BA in Geography and a first-class honours degree in Psychology, and while studying for the latter, qualified as an executive coach and trained as a resilience specialist.
Amy-Jane Beer is a biologist turned naturalist and writer. She has worked for more than 20 years as a science writer and editor, contributing to more than 40 books on natural history. She is currently a Country Diarist for The Guardian, a columnist for British Wildlife and a feature writer for BBC Wildlife magazine, among others. Amy-Jane campaigns for the equality of access to nature with RightToRoam.org.uk, is honorary President of the national park society Friends of the Dales. She lives on the Castle Howard Estate where a new journey of wilding is beginning.
Daniel Hill is the Rewilding Ranger at Heal Somerset. He is currently co-ordinating the 2024 baseline surveys, managing both contractors and volunteers, and is working closely with Rewilding Britain to provide feedback on their monitoring framework as one of 5 pilot sites. Looking forward to 2025, Dan expects to be out in the field implementing Heal’s first kick-start interventions such as smashing up land drains, building leaky dams and introducing pigs, utilising teams of volunteers where possible.
Dan’s passion for nature was sparked as a child growing up on an organic small holding in rural south Wales watching red kites soar above. His love of rewilding developed through volunteering with the RSPB on the Somerset Levels after completing a degree in Mathematical Sciences. He now continues his learning on The Rewilding Training, an in-depth course run by Embercombe.
Dr. Sheree Mack is a Creatrix with a practice which manifests through poetry, storytelling, image and the unfolding histories of black people. Sheree engages audiences around Black women’s voices and bodies, Black feminism, ecology and memory, nature, grief and healing. She advocates for Black women’s voices, facilitating national and international creative workshops and retreats in the landscape, encouraging and supporting women on their journey of remembrance back to their bodies and authentic selves. She is the Creative Director of Earth Sea Love CIC established to offer opportunities within nature for the Global Majority.
Sammy Mennell has been rewilding a small patch of Yorkshire since 2018. This passion led her to join the Yorkshire Rewilding Network, which works to connect, enable and inspire rewilders throughout the region. She has held various roles, such as Festival Director, where she created Yorkshire's first rewilding festival, exploring how arts, knowledge sharing and gathering in person can inspire more action for nature. She then became Chair of YRN before heading up a project, funded by Rewilding Britain, to create localised rewilding hubs exploring how people without land can form meaningful relationships with rewilding and how to make it more accessible.
Travel
At Heal, we actively encourage and support sustainable travel. When travelling to our events, we invite you to consider more eco-friendly options such as walking, cycling, using public transport (buses and trains) or car sharing. However, we understand that these alternatives may not always be feasible and appreciate your consideration.
This will be an engaging, warm and informative evening full of stories of hope and positive change, so will be enjoyed by anyone with an interest in nature and wildlife, from rewilding and wildlife experts and professionals, students and campaigners to young people, landowners and anyone who is interested in finding out more about the principles of rewilding or is simply seeking answers in the face of devastating nature and climate decline in the UK.
Thank you to our event sponsor, The Curious Network.
The Curious Network creates surprising places and manages vibrant communities across the UK. Using careful design to regenerate each unloved space into a unique place that wears its heritage proudly on its sleeve. This provides a sense of belonging and connection through considered building design, building long-term relationships, and holding events. This network is also open to businesses beyond our buildings through our virtual TCN Membership. Which provides access to the talent, growth, connections, and community that help businesses and their employees thrive, wherever they're located.
Thank you to Thatchers Cider and Nexba for providing free drinks for the event.
