Project aims to reconnect Portsmouth with nature

The Draw Me a Tree campaign, run by Wild City Portsmouth, was one of five projects shortlisted by the city council through its Climate Challenge scheme and could be awarded up to £5,000 at the end of its fundraiser next week.

They are planning to run a series of nature-themed art workshops in the spring.

'We want to run these in deprived areas of Portsmouth to get people outside and creative,' Bethia Santi Bridges, the company's director said.

'Our aim is to access pockets of the community that may lack regular exposure to nature. The workshops will be focused around getting outside and learning to reconnect, understand and prioritise our local patches of wild.'

She said the company hoped to be able to hold a 'sensory exhibition' in the summer to show off all the art created during the workshops.

The fundraising campaign runs until next Friday (November 12) with a target to raise £5,000 which the council has pledged to match fund through the £30,000 scheme it is running in conjunction with Crowdfunder.

It is one of the measures launched following its 2019 climate emergency declaration and 2030 target to be have net zero carbon emissions.

The Crowdfunder page: crowdfunder.co.uk/drawmeatree-wildcityportsmouth