SWINDON, England, Feb. 20 (UPI) -- Officials of a British charity say they are refocusing their aim to help people enjoy the outdoors and get closer to nature by walking, cycling and camping.
Fiona Reynolds, director-general of the National Trust, a British non-profit group that looks after coastline and countryside rich in wildlife and open to the public, said the trust is often narrowly and wrongly associated only with country houses.
The organization will promote a broad range of activities that take place on the land it looks after, including walking, mountain biking, kayaking, surfing, camping and more than 1,000 summer events aimed at helping children get closer to nature, Reynolds says.
"More than 100 years ago one of the trust's founders, Octavia Hill, argued that quiet, air and exercise, together with the sight of sky and growing things, were human needs common to all people," Reynolds says in a statement.
"A growing body of research backs her intuition, but over a century later we still don't seem to value enough the physical and spiritual refreshment we get from our surroundings."
For example, recently Essex University found that as little as five minutes of "green exercise" can have significant mental health benefits, Reynolds says.
