Nadeem Perera and Ollie Olanipekun have masterminded a grassroots movement with enormous potential to bring communities together across intergenerational groups. I am in awe at the wonderful waves their Flock Together movement 'pebble' is creating. They are regulars on the BBC One show and Autumnwatch.

This book explores how they came to meet, the setting up and running of a group to encourage more people outdoors, specifically POC. They speak of how out of place POC can feel in these predominantly white areas of natural beauty. This makes me so angry. Nature is a beautiful free resource that everyone should be able to access without feeling they don't belong. It broke my heart when an incident is recounted where a school friend states nature is not for us.

This is where the book comes into its strength as both men explore what nature/outdoors means to them, their urban upbringing, school life, entrenched racism, and their means to escape that and take others with them. They emphatically acknowledge the important role that the natural world has on their mental state, self-esteem, self-worth and confidence. It's an exciting time for this movement to crest now. On the back of the pandemic, where so many people are isolated and stuck, this proffers an opportunity to engage with others and build our communities into something that represents us all.
I can see so much potential for this, such as Surfers Against Sewage plastic-free communities, the Right to Roam campaign or Incredible Edible community groups. People leading the way in their own community.
This should be in all schools and taught in the curriculum. It should be brought into policy for fair access for all.

Thank you th #Netgalley and #Octopus publishing for the opportunity to read this ARC.