Hosted by Beki & Gillian

In this episode, we explore how nature acts as a living guide — shaping spiritual practices through the seasons, tree canopies, flowing rivers, and more. It’s not just scenery — it’s sacred.

Featuring:

• Craig Worrall from Edible Leeds and 4 Wild Seasons, sharing his passion for fungi, local ecology, and how edible landscapes connect us to the cycle of life 
• Lorraine Jones from Haxby Methodist Church, founder of the Whole Life Community Garden, who brings nature into spiritual and community life through healing gardens and shared green spaces 

Join us as we unveil how earth, sky, and sea can inspire connection, purpose, and the sacred in everyday life.

More info about Craig Edible Leeds - Wild Food Foraging Courses and 4 Wild Seasons Pop Up Dining Events

More info about Haxby Methodist Church: Haxby and Wigginton Methodist Church (HWMC) | York, United Kingdom

Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and ring the bell for our next nature journey!

Hosted by Beki & Gillian 

Discover the magic of “sense of place” — how the smells, sights and stories of a landscape shape our emotional connection to the natural world. In this episode, we explore why feeling rooted in a location matters — and how it can inspire both personal well‑being and environmental care 

We’re joined by Alwyn and Tom from Forest of Flowers in Huby, whose deep bond with their local landscape shows how place-attachment can spark meaningful ecological action and personal transformation.

Listen in as we explore how personal stories and landscapes intertwine to create powerful connections.

Find out more about Tom and Alwyn’s work at Wildflower Seeds | Forest of Flowers | York

Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and ring the bell for our next nature journey!

Green Corridors: Tune into Nature 

Nature and Time, Hosted by Beki & Gillian

Step back in time with us through the ancient city of York, where history and nature converge. In this episode, we explore how York’s medieval city walls and historic churches have shaped the way people connect with the natural world.

From the Roman foundations camouflaged in the medieval ramparts to Victorian restorations, York’s walls are not just historic structures—they’ve always bordered and blended with green landscapes, offering both protection and connection. Projects like the “York Walls in Bloom” initiative transform these ramparts into biodiverse corridors, supporting bees, butterflies, and wildflowers on ancient stone

We’re joined by Liam Dennis from City of York Council, and Andrew Nichols from Holy Trinity Church, both passionate about York’s heritage and ecology. Together we’ll uncover how these historic monuments continue to connect us to the natural world and ask: how can we carry forward this legacy of architecture intertwined with nature into the future?

Explore with us the evolving relationship between history, landscape, and the spaces we inhabit. Find out more about York Walls in Bloom The City Walls – City of York Council Find out more about Holy Trinity: Holy Trinity (Goodramgate) Church, York - Churches Conservation Trust

Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and ring the bell for our next nature journey!

This episode of the Green Heart of York podcast is about volunteering. We will help people better understand how volunteering can benefit individuals, organizations, and communities. Hopefully, it will encourage you to volunteer, knowing that barriers can be addressed and broken down and that there is something out there for everyone, even if that isn't necessarily at St Nick's. We'll chat all about the positives of volunteering, why people volunteer in the first place, and try to bust some myths about volunteering too.

Featured participants:

Holly Hennell, Manager York Cares
Maria Gill, Senior Green Corridors Officer, St Nicks

This episode of the Green Heart of York podcast is about careers, whether that's in the charity or the environmental sector, and thoughts about entry into the sectors, as well as the benefits, the challenges, movement between sectors, and some of the realities that are involved every single day. 

Guest speakers:

Ellie Stead, CEO, St Nicks
Emma Williams, VCSE Sector
Harrison Green, Trustee, St Nicks
Maeve Milliken, Green Corridors Trainee, St Nicks

If you don't know what a green corridor is, let alone an urban green corridor, then today's podcast is definitely for you. You can expect to have a much clearer idea of what's involved, how you can get engaged, or learn and do more in relation to urban green corridors. Today's podcast is about urban green corridors in York. What are green corridors? What does the urban element entail? And how working and volunteering within urban green corridors can support positive outcomes for climate change and for individuals.

Featured participants:

Councillor Jenny Kent
Craig Ralston from Lower Derwent Valley & Skipwith Common NNR 
Ellie Stead, CEO, St Nicks
Beki Hagger, Senior Green Corridors Officer, St Nicks

The Green Heart Of York Podcast - Brought to you by St Nicks.

This session will provide some really interesting insight about being outdoors, different types of activities and how movement and mindfulness in nature can positive enhance your life. We’ve shared lots of ideas today on how to connect to nature, the benefits of connecting to nature and what we do to connect to nature. Have a think about them and see what you can do to connect to nature. It doesn’t have to be in a big or dramatic way. Notice how you feel beforehand, when you are focussed on nature and then how you feel afterwards. Notice your thoughts. It’s ok if they wander but try to bring them back. Try to bring a sense of curiosity to it. Notice how your body feels. And then try to keep some image from it in your mind and use this over the following week. It may be a path, a creature or a plant. For me at the minute it is the delicate hazel flower that is so tiny. What is it for you? Bring it back to mind during the week. If you do this it will bring back those feelings of when you were relaxed and calm at that time. It’s a little St Nicks Fix. 

Featured participants: 

Mike Fletcher, co-owner Pool Bridge Farm
Andrew Garner aka Wolf, owner Forest Quest
Ellie Stead, CEO, St Nicks
Eleanor Tookey, Senior Ecotherapy Officer, St Nicks