Free and accessible farm visits for people with disabilities, people aged 65 and over and those from socially deprived areas

Getting out into the countryside and onto farms need not be difficult thanks to a new initiative called Let Nature Feed Your Senses. Farms and nature reserves across the country are opening their gates and offering free visits to people that currently cannot, or do not, have access to the countryside because of age, ability or social situation.

While the very act of taking exercise has undoubted health benefits, numerous studies also show that connecting with nature leads to increased well-being, physically, psychologically and even socially.

Let Nature Feed Your Senses is a Big Lottery funded initiative run by farming charity LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming) and Sensory Trust. The project organises memorable sensory-rich farm visits that help connect visitors to nature and the story of their food.

Farm visits are available to a huge range of groups of people, including wheelchair users, people with dementia, those with neurological conditions such as cerebral palsy and multiple sclerosis, and those with sensory disabilities, learning difficulties and brain injury.

Visits can be booked from now until August 2012. You can search for farms near you via the website www.letnaturefeedyoursenses.org or by calling 0247 6413 911 or 01726 222 900 to speak to a project coordinator.