Two in three families visit nature once a week at most, poll suggests

More than three-quarters of children want to spend more time in nature, the National Trust has found, as the conservation charity pushes ministers to ensure youngsters are no more than a 15-minute walk from green spaces.

- Jamie Grierson

An estimated 63% of parents are able to take their children to nature spaces only once a week or less, citing accessibility as the main barrier, the survey of 1,000 children aged seven to 14 and 1,000 parents by the trust and the children's newspaper First News found.

The trust is calling on the government to live up to its promise for every person to be 15 minutes away from nature-a target backed by 80% of parents in the survey - by enshrining the access in law.

As part of a commitment to level up access to nature, the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, said in January 2023 that everyone would live no more than quarter of an hour from green space.