12 Sustainable Staycation Summer Activities

The post-pandemic trend of staycations is here to stay and with that brings plenty of summer activities to add to your bucket list. Staycations became a means of escape and survival in the face of travel restrictions, and in doing so, many people discovered the joys and conveniences of holidaying on home turf. Staycations tend to be relatively less expensive, less time-consuming, and significantly more eco-friendly than anything that requires a trip abroad. Taking fewer flights is one tangible way to reduce your environmental impact, plus rising flight costs post-Brexit and mass flight cancellations along with a mounting lost luggage crisis hardly make flying an appealing option right now!

Whether your staycation looks like a luxury getaway in one of Britain’s wonderful boutique hotels (check out Gina Jackson’s wonderful book for all the hotel inspiration you need!) or sleeping under your own roof, how you spend your time makes all the difference. Get the most out of your holiday by curating an itinerary of local summer activities that offer adventure and escapism whilst also preserving or having a positive impact on the environment and giving you a chance to practice sustainability in action. To help you plan the ultimate staycation, we’ve pulled together 12 of our favourite sustainable summer activities both within London and around the country.

Brace yourself for Open Water Swimming at West Reservoir, Hackney

West Reservoir offers the wildest swimming experience you’re likely to find in London, with 23 acres of open-water on a 30 acre site in a hidden corner of Hackney. The reservoir one of our favourite spots in London, and we’ve even catered several weddings and events held at this urban oasis. The swim courses range from a 100m warm up lap to a 400m loop and sessions are fully supervised, providing a safe environment for confident swimmers to try open water swimming for the first time. Wetsuits are strongly recommended, and swimmers not wearing a west suit must use a tow float (they have some for swimmers to borrow subject to availability). Booking online is essential, and sessions costs just £11 for an hour swim. There is a humble café on-site however the local area is bursting with neighbourhood gems. We recommend combining your swim with a trip to Esters or The Good Egg for great food and coffee, or on a particularly hot day, head to Romeo & Giuletta Artisan Gelateria for a well-earned ice cream!

Learn to ferment with The Fermentatirum

The Fermentarium is an independent organisation based in Walthamstow dedicated to promoting the small-scale production of “real” fermented food and drink that offers fermentation courses in everything from soft fermented drinks to cultured condiments, sourdough bread making and dairy ferments. The courses are aimed at beginners and provide an in-depth introduction to everything you need to know about different fermentation, and by the end of the class you will have made your own ferments to take home, as well as recipes, confidence and a handful of new skills to experiment further. Workshops last 3 hours and cost in the region of £70-80, with a wide range of times and dates available.

Have a go at Stand Up Paddle Boarding with Paddleboarding London

Paddleboarding London combines a love for stand-up paddleboarding with the city of London, offering urban adventures on the water, peacefully navigating through some of London’s busiest neighbourhoods and showing off the city in a whole new light. From private and group sessions in which you can master the basics to 2-hour paddle tours through Regent’s Park; SUP Yoga at St Katherine’s Docks to Full Moon Paddles at night and Paddle to the Pub social evenings along Regent’s Canal. Sessions start at just £30 for drop-ins, or serious staycationers can become a member for affordable club rates.

Be a Beekeeper for the day with Pearly Queen Bee Experience

Pearly Queen is a collective of urban beekeepers whose ambition is to keep and protect bees and help educate the public about these wonderful creatures. They produce hyper-local London Honey to spread their passion for the huge array of plants and flowers, and the diverse nature of the city landscape that makes honey produced in London so unique. Each part of London even has its own distinct flavour and taste, which is why Pearly Queen marks the location of the hives on every jar – from the light floral Hackney, to the deep molasses of Enfield or the nutty hue of Dulwich. Throughout the summer, Pearly Queen runs Bee Experiences where the public can learn all about how a hive works, how bees communicate and get up close and personal with the bees themselves. As well as learning about the importance of bees, you’ll also gain an insight into the role beekeepers play and have a chance to don a beekeeping yourself to meet the bees, before enjoying a taste test of the various honeys they produce. The Bee Experience costs just £30 and takes place at the apiary in East London.

Take part in a Beach Clean with Washed Up Cards

Washed Up Cards is a company creating unique greetings card using upcycled plastic found washed up on rivers and beaches around the UK. Prior to founding Washed Up Cards, Flora Blathwayt worked for pioneering sustainable food brand, Rubies in the Rubble (which we love!) which creates delicious condiments out of surplus ingredients. After attending a beach clean up event for World Rivers Day and being shocked at the amount, and diversity, of microplastics she picked up, Flora applied the same approach of rescuing surplus produce to rescuing surplus washed up plastics and began using them to make unique, memorable greeting cards. Flora organises Beach Cleans on the River Thames at least once a month, offering people the opportunity to do something positive for the environment whilst also reaping the benefits of this surprisingly meditative activity, spending time outdoors beside the water and meeting like-minded people. On 16^th August, Flora is taking Social Pantry on our first ever team beach clean up! Up and coming beach clean up dates are listed on her website, and in true sustainable staycation spirit, how about purchasing a few of Flora’s Washed Up cards to send in the place of traditional holiday postcards and tell friends or family what you’ve been up to?

Discover what’s growing in London on a Herb Walk with Hackney Herbal

Hackney Herbal is a social enterprise on a mission to show people how to incorporate herbs into their lifestyles, for health and improved wellbeing. The idea came from a desire to create more value out of the herbs that were being grown in private, public and community gardens. Hackney Herbal grows herbs in a patchwork of sites around Hackney and from these, they create unique herbal tea blends. The funds from the sale of these go towards free community activities in Hackney that promote good mental health and community resilience. On August 21^st, Hackney Herbal is leading a Herb Walk at the Olympic Park, providing an opportunity to discover and connect to edible and medicinal plants growing in London, how to identify them and learn about their uses and history. The two hour walk also offers an immersive nature-bathing experience guaranteed to help you escape the hustle and bustle of the city. Tickets cost £20, with concessions available for people who are unemployed or on low incomes. Hackney Herbal also runs a weekly Nature Club for Hackney residents, and gardening volunteering sessions that do not require any previous experience. Another great way to spend your day whilst investing in the soil and community!

Learn green woodcraft skills with London Green Wood

London Green Wood is a not-for-profit cooperative and a community of green woodworkers based at Hackney City Farm. Their aim is to encourage crafty-ness, creativity and self-reliance in everybody, running courses for adults and families to learn basic woodcraft skills. These include Spoon Carving, in which you’ll learn safe knife grips and carve a spoon from a locally felled tree, and Bowl Carving – a more physically demanding course learning to carve a bowl from a log using an axe, an adze, gouges and drawknive – and Family Whittling courses suitable for children 6 years old upwards. Courses range between 1hr, half and full days, and can easily be combined with exploring the farm and gardens, browsing the ‘Get Loose’ packaging free food store, and stopping by Frizzante Café – a farm to table Italian restaurant styled on the typical Italian agriturismo, serving breakfast through to dinner made with ingredients grown on site.

Feast Over Fire with Nomadic Dinners

Nomadic Dinners is an outdoor restaurant offering hidden woodland feasts inspired by nature, at a secret location ancient forest clearing in Buckinghamshire. Nomadic works with MasterChef champions, celebrated food writers and award-winning executive chefs from some of the country’s top restaurants to produce hyper-seasonal and foraged feasts cooked over fire, served on a giant table carved out of a fallen birch tree surrounded by wild flora and fauna and roaming animals such as wild deer, rabbits and badgers. The experience begins with a welcome drink on arrival, crafted using some of the wild botanicals that grow on the land, followed by a guided tour of the estate by Nomadic’s resident forager. Guests will visit the vegetable patch to pick some of the seasonal ingredients grown on site for the meal, before venturing further afield to gather other wild ingredients which grow in abundance. Guests then return to the beautiful open-sided tipi for an elaborate four-course meal cooked over an open fire stoked by branches and dead wood from the surrounding trees, with each course introduced in detail by the passionate chefs and foragers. The feast concludes with hand-picked herbal teas and toasting marshmallows over the fire – because what would a summer holiday be without toasting marshmallows! Tickets cost £150 and the experience lasts in total approximately 4 hours. We highly recommend browsing their beautiful Instagram account for an idea of what to expect!

Visit regenerative farm, Wakelyns in Suffolk

Wakelyns is a pioneering organic agroforestry research farm in Suffolk. It is home to the revolutionary YQ grain – a diverse wheat population created by crossing 20 different parent varieties, chosen for yield (Y) and quality (Q) resulting in 190 crosses making up the YQ population – and runs a wide variety of events and courses that reconnect people to the land and raise awareness about agroecological, real food and farming methods and the importance of local food communities in the face of our current climate, economic and social crises. There are Bird, Butterfly and Tree Walks during which you can learn all about different varieties and identification techniques whilst exploring the 53 acre site of natural beauty, followed by a delicious lunch at the Wakelyns Bakery incorporating grains and fruits grown on-site. There is a a wide variety of courses teaching heritage crafts from Orchard Dyeing on 13 August, Willow Weaving and Willow Sculpture, on 20 August, and Teaspoon Carving on 27 August. Wakelyns also offers community events with free admission such as Community Butterfly Day on Saturday 6 August 2022, where attendees of all ages can join in with the National Big Butterfly Count, make wildflower seed ‘bombs’ for your garden, make butterfly cakes and other butterfly themed crafts, as well as enjoying refreshments from the bakery and guided walks around Wakelyns. Children and dogs are welcome, and admission is free though booking is essential.

Pick Your Own at Chegworth Valley Farm

Chegworth Valley is a family run arable farm in Maidstone, Kent, that covers almost 200 acres of orchard and farmland growing a wide range of fruits, vegetables and salads for use in their award-winning juices and to sell to farmers markets. Their extensive range of produce includes diverse apple varieties, farm fresh pears, cherries and plums, and soft fruits including blackberries, raspberries, strawberries and gooseberries. For a limited time each year, Chegworth Valley offers fruit-lovers of all ages to visit the farm and ‘Pick Your Own’ fruits. Right now, it’s PYO Plum season, with three varieties of plums to pick from – Opal, Jubileum and Victoria. The PYO farm is open 7 days a week from 9-5 weekdays and until 6 on weekends, and is family, buggy and dog-friendly, making it an accessible and inclusive wholesome day out for all. You’ll have the chance to hand-select and purchase perfect produce and maximise flavour and nutrition by eating your fruits within hours of picking. At Social Pantry, we are passionate about connecting to where our food comes from and support small-scale local businesses and farmers/growers as part of a more equitable and sustainable food system, and attending a PYO is one of the most direct ways you can fulfil these aims yourself. Follow @chegworthvalley on Instagram for PYO updates.

Experience cattle driving on horseback at Meldon Farm, Dartmoor

Meldon Farm offers unique horse riding experiences in Dartmoor and is the only place in the UK driving cattle using horses, keeping alive an ancient tradition and providing an unparalleled way to experience the breath-taking landscape and views. Dartmoor is one of the last remaining true wilderness landscapes, famous for herds of wild Dartmoor ponies that have lived freely on the moor since prehistoric times alongside cattle owned by local farmers. In historical times the 70,000 acres of moorland were divided into quarters, North, South, West and East, and every summer, huge numbers of cattle would be driven up from the ‘down country’ on horseback to graze the newtakes and moors whilst allowing the lowland grazing to recover and regrow. Whilst most farmers now use quad bikes, Meldon Farm continues to use horses to slowly move cattle and invites confident riders to join for 3-6 nights and ride western on their Quarter horses over diverse terrain consisting of woodland, valley bottoms, steep inclines and declines, rivers and rock clitter and great hill tops, all whilst taking in the breath-taking views and connecting with nature. There are options to stay in local hotels or for a wild, immersive experience, guests can stay on the farm in one of two ‘shepherd huts’ with outdoor fire pits for open-air cooking, whilst also having access to the guest lodge.

Wildlife and otter spotting by canoe, Norfolk

One of the upsides of the pandemic is that otters – a species that had previously dropped to crises levels in the UK – recolonised the 125 miles of the Norfolk Broads including Strumpshaw Fen. Otters are most likely to be seen at dawn and dusk in the backwaters of rivers rather than the main arteries of the broads, meaning that one of the best ways to spot them is by kayak or canoe. The Canoe Man regularly runs Otter Spotting Guided Canoe Trails in Norfolk that combine a leisurely scenic paddle along miles of quiet, undisturbed tributaries whilst exploring and learning about the ever-changing creeks and the wildlife that inhabits that it has to offer. There are options for 2.5 hours spent entirely on the water or 4 hour tours that include quick stop for lunch at the Gelderston Locks pub midway through the day. Looking for a longer immersion in nature? The Canoe Man also offers 2-day Bushcraft Canoe and Kayak trails which involves daytime and evening paddling with plenty of opportunities for wildlife spotting and photography, bushcraft sessions to learn essential skills and set up camp for the night, open-fire cooking, and a night camping out under the stars before making the return trip down the broads the next day.

If you have an idea for hosting your own sustainable event and would like the help of Social Pantry, or fancy Social Pantry catering your wedding, private or corporate event or workplace, please get in touch with our team – we would love to hear from you!