“What bird was that?”

At Bridge Support we call them Good News stories. Those moments in the lives of the people we support when something goes right. That may be enjoying an afternoon of entertainment, getting a volunteering opportunity, moving on into new accommodation, finding a job – or, like last Friday, going fishing.

Tony, who manages one of our high support hostels in south east London, told us about the fishing trip yesterday, during the all-managers’ meeting. One of the things about Good News is that it is shared. One of his colleagues had taken Tony and a group from the project, and although Tony hadn’t caught any fish, he had, he told us, caught the bug! It was, he said, a really good day and a really good laugh. And one of the group had considerably more luck – three fish! The photos are already up on the wall.

And as Tony said, it wasn’t just the fishing but all the other wildlife. Hence this post’s title.

In the way of Good News, the conversation broadened as we discussed the benefits of this sort of outing. For many of our clients, all of whom have enduring mental ill health, it can be very difficult to open up. But sitting side by side, quietly, outside, in nature, helps. There is a real therapeutic benefit. And that benefit arrives not through a structured session but through shared attention directed outwards, not inwards. Fishing makes you look out – the rod, the water, even may be the fish – not at yourself.

Earlier in the week I was reading about research led by Professor Viren Swami of Anglia Ruskin University, and published in Environment International. The study* – the largest multinational study of its kind ever carried out – found that contact with the natural world is linked to significantly higher levels of life satisfaction, and that the mechanism runs through the body rather than the mind alone. Physical sensations – the feeling of sun, wind, grass underfoot – activate responses that cognitive appreciation of nature does not.

That fishing trip – and those other activities that Bridge encourages: Thameside walks, helping in our Recovery College allotment, and in the gardens of our projects – are not peripheral wellbeing extras, but are doing precise and measurable psychological work. The research is not specific to our client group, but the fishing trip suggests the mechanism operates here too.

Tight lines next Friday, Tony.

*Viren Swami et al., Environment International, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2026.110277