Woodland Warriors at My Own Time and Space

The VVU had a wonderful visit to MyOtas (My own time and space) which is a Basildon based project that helps neurodivergent children of all ages and backgrounds learn basic life skills through outdoor play.

Sessions take place at the Memorial Park in Wickford and it was a lovely autumnal morning when the VVU popped down to see the project in action.

No two sessions are the same and there is always a wide range of activities on offer – from balancing and using core muscles on the tree swing, to climbing rope ladders and trees. The project uses the outdoor setting to develop problem solving skills, the young people learn about animals that are found in the woodland, they have also made tools, learned how to safely make a fire and while we were there we learnt how to make soap out of conkers and pizza and jam from fruits found in the woodlands!

MyOtas says how the outdoor setting helps to relax the young people, enhancing endorphins within the brain to relax and alleviate anxiety and stress. For these young people this provides a foundation from which to learn and enhance life skills such as self-confidence, making and maintaining friendships, self-regulation of emotions while giving an appreciation for the natural world.

During our visit the young people and parents told us how they felt safe at the sessions. One young person shared how coming to MyOtas/Woodland Warriors is their stepping stone to building confidence to make friends, attend medical appointments and other services.

A parent told us that when other services hadn’t worked for their child and reintegration to school hadn’t been successful MyOtas/Woodland Warriors was the thing their child felt able to start doing and participating in.

We could see how much the project meant to the families in attendance and we look forward to popping down for another visit to see how everyone is getting on.