Enjoy a multi sensory experience with new 'Lens on Nature' programme

Immerse in the great outdoors, get hands-on with nature recovery and improve your inner wellbeing, with the brand new ‘Lens on Nature’ programme at Yorkshire’s Broughton Sanctuary. ‘Lens on Nature’ invites guests to enjoy a more sensory experience in nature, while nurturing their inner wellbeing. 

Launching in time for World Tourism Day (Wednesday 27th September), the new programme reflects the WTD focus on ‘tourism and green investment’. Bookable as an add-on to holiday home stays at Broughton Sanctuary, or as a standalone package for local residents, it includes: 

• Daily habitat spotting and bird watching (self led) with an identification booklet. This is part of a citizen science project and guests will collate wildlife sightings so that nature recovery specialists can monitor and track species development 
• One-time, group nature recovery project work with the on site woodland management team (2 hours). This is a contribution to the team’s ongoing work, from planting trees to collecting flora, fauna and fungi 
• Wild swimming sessions in Broughton Sanctuary’s outdoor ponds (unlimited and unsupervised)* 
• Plant a tree dedication (1 tree per person). This is officially recorded in a book at Broughton Sanctuary. Opportunity to plant the tree or Broughton’s team will plant for you and share a picture and details
• An activity from the weekly wellness schedule at Avalon Wellbeing Centre during the stay, for two people (additional people priced as per chosen activity)

Located in stunning Yorkshire countryside, Broughton is home to one of the UK’s leading nature recovery projects with over 350,000 trees planted in the last three years. Stay in one of their 19 newly renovated homes, hidden amidst 3,000 acres of beautiful historic parkland.

“Our aim is to help guests to focus on heightening their inner senses to hear, see, feel, touch and smell nature; to observe their immediate surroundings, be in the moment, and foster the connection between our inner and outer landscape,” explains Roger Tempest, the custodian at Broughton Sanctuary. “Those booking the Lens on Nature programme will enjoy the healing benefits of nature, through a combination of immersive activities and time in the great outdoors”.

Broughton Sanctuary is dedicated to encouraging the reconnection of our ‘inner’ and ‘outer’ nature. Driven by the belief that rewilding the land and kick-starting the recovery of natural processes must be in conjunction with rewilding the human spirit through learning to live in compassionate reciprocity with nature, Broughton Sanctuary is on a mission to heal both ourselves and our world.

The sense of sanctuary at Broughton is further emphasised by a carefully curated selection of outdoor activities which blend therapy with nature. On the doorstep of the Yorkshire Dales, immersive experiences include cold water swimming, a woodland sauna, forest bathing, ice bathing, sweat lodge, bike tracks and woodland dining in the Cosmic Garden. 

Lens on Nature costs £150 per home booking or can be booked as a day-only experience for a group of up to 6, over three days. 10% of all bookings are reinvested in Broughton Sanctuary's nature recovery programme.