Wakehurst launches Habitat Hero: a new mission for May half-term

Saturday 27 May - Sunday 4 June 2023
Self-led mission with badge: £3.00
Garden entry ticket: Children (0-16 years): Free
Adult: £14.95, Members: Free, Young person (17-25 years): £7.50,
Recipients of Universal or Pension Credit: £1

Nature Heroes Cape: £13.50 (50% off for members)
Habitat Hero tickets on sale now

Brand new mission introduces young explorers to biodiversity and healthy habitats
Children can earn iron-on fabric Habitat Hero badge for their Nature Heroes cape
Daily drop-in session to make a bee hotel to take home
New sculpture trail and refreshed Tree Trunk Trek offer fun free extras for a full family day out

This May half-term, Wakehurst, Kew’s wild botanic garden in Sussex, invites families to take part in Habitat Hero, the next mission in the Nature Heroes event series.

This family programme offers a themed quest and collectable iron-on badge each half-term and school holiday, and from 27 May, visitors can join the self-led Habitat Hero trail to understand biodiverse habitats and gain the next badge for their superhero cape.

Following the success of the first two Nature Heroes events, Habitat Hero takes families on a scenic route around the tapestry of trees and shrubs in the Asian Heath Garden, and past the serenity of Mansion Pond, as they use x-ray vision at a series of activity stations to discover the secrets behind healthy and biodiverse environments. Whilst on the trail, children will be encouraged to use their investigative skills to give habitats a health check, untangle a food chain and take on a recycling challenge. Visitors can also join a daily drop-in session to make and take home a bee hotel, using materials foraged from the gardens.

Lorraine Lecourtois, Head of Public Programmes, commented:

“Habitat Hero reflects the core of Wakehurst’s own mission: encouraging a biodiverse world and learning how to protect our ecosystems. This May half-term trail is more than just a fun family activity, it’s about equipping the next generation with the practical skills and knowledge they need to care for our planet. We’re excited to welcome new visitors discovering the landscape for the first time, and to see families returning to continue their Nature Heroes adventure with us.”

Habitat Hero has been inspired by Nature Unlocked, the landscape ecology programme transforming Wakehurst into a living laboratory. As scientists investigate nature-based solutions to biodiversity loss and climate change, visitors are encouraged to reflect on the importance of biodiversity whilst at Wakehurst. Using the site’s microcosm of global habitats, Kew’s expert scientists are exploring carbon sequestration and hydrology across the landscape, pollination and its benefits, and the relationship between human wellbeing and the natural world.

As research continues across the 535-acre site, Wakehurst hopes that Habitat Hero will encourage visitors of all generations to take action to protect biodiversity, inspiring a passion to protect natural habitats and the wildlife that call them home.

Further out in the wild landscape, an array of additional free activities promises to keep children active over the May half-term. Wild Wood, a new sculpture trail nestled in the recently reopened Pearcelands Wood, forms an interactive gallery of hand-woven installations, with charming photo opportunities throughout to create memories to treasure. A stone's throw away is the newly refreshed Tree Trunk Trek, a natural log trail for energetic explorers to conquer, and messy play favourites the Children’s Walled Garden and Mud Kitchen will be reopening for the summer.

Habitat Hero paves the way for Wakehurst’s exciting summer programme Rooted, where the Tree Champion badge will be up for grabs. As the Sussex gardens celebrate one of the world’s most recognisable and loved plants, children can get up close with Wakehurst’s diverse collection of trees and become experts in species-spotting.

ENDS

For more information, images and interviews please contact Jessica Hayne, Communications & Content Executive: j.hayne@kew.org

For tickets, please visit https://www.kew.org/wakehurst/whats-on/nature-heroes/habitat-hero

Notes to Editors

Ticket Information

May Half term – Habitat Hero Mission

Saturday 27 May – Sunday 4 June, all day
10am to 5.30pm
Cape: £13.50
Member cape: £6.75
Mission: £3.00 per badge
Suitable for ages 4+

Members early opening (9am): 27 & 28 May, 3 & 4 June

Book tickets here

Make a bee hotel drop-in session

Saturday 27 May – Sunday 4 June, all day
Cost: £4.50 per bee hotel
Suitable for ages 4+ with adult support

Please note, the Habitat Hero mission (including the build a bee hotel drop-in session) takes place in areas of the gardens where dog walking is prohibited. Visitors arriving with dogs will be asked to respect the dedicated dog walking route.

For more information on Nature Unlocked: https://www.kew.org/wakehurst/nature-unlocked

For more information on Rooted: https://www.kew.org/about-us/press-media/rooted-summer-at-wakehurst

About Wakehurst

Please note that Wakehurst is referred to just as ‘Wakehurst’, not ‘Wakehurst Place’. We are part of RBG Kew.

The National Trust was bequeathed the Mansion and grounds of Wakehurst in 1963. It was then entrusted to us here at Kew in 1965, and we now work in partnership with the National Trust to care for our collections and heritage areas.

Address: Wakehurst, Ardingly, Haywards Heath, Sussex, RH17 6TN
01444 894066
Website: www.kew.org/wakehurst
Facebook: @wakehurst.kew
Twitter: @wakehurst_kew
Instagram: @wakehurst_kew
Hashtag: #Wakehurst

Wakehurst is Kew’s wild botanic garden in the Sussex High Weald. Its ancient and beautiful landscapes span 535 acres and are a place for escape, exploration, tranquillity and wonder. Its diverse collection of plants from Britain and around the globe thrive within a tapestry of innovative gardens, temperate woodlands, meadows and wetlands. Wakehurst is a centre for UK biodiversity and global conservation, seed research and ecosystem science. At its heart is Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank, the world’s largest store of seeds from wild plant species.

RBG Kew receives approximately one third of its funding from Government through the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and research councils. Further funding needed to support RBG Kew’s vital work comes from donors, membership and commercial activity including ticket sales. In the first six months of 2022, Kew welcomed over 10,000 visitors with a £1 ticket for those in receipt of Universal Credit, Pension Credit and Legacy Benefits.