intu brings giant British bugs into 13 shopping centres nationwide
intu has launched Big Bugs On Tour, a national exhibition that brings adults and children face-to-face with 12 giant British bugs at 13 intu shopping centres nationwide.
The initiative is being backed by naturalist Chris Packham and features 12 supersized, indigenous bugs including the honeybee, ladybird, hornet, swallowtail butterfly and the nut weevil. It launched at intu Lakeside and will be on display until the end of July before spending the next year visiting 12 other intu centres around the country including intu Trafford Centre, intu Metrocentre and intu Braehead.
The campaign to reconnect kids and adult to nature comes as reports show children are now better at identifying Pokemon characters than British wildlife, despite a £10m pledge from Government to encourage children to get closer to nature.
Research by intu found that almost four in five parents (78 per cent) want their children to be more connected to nature and 86 per cent think they spend too much time looking at screens, but one in six children in the UK (17 per cent) have not set foot in a park or forest in the last 12 months.
One in five children (21 per cent) were unable to correctly identify a bee while one in four children (25 per cent) have not seen a caterpillar in over a year. One in ten kids (10 per cent) did not know honey came from bees.
Adults were also lacking in their bug knowledge, with one in four (25 per cent) unable to tell the difference between a bee and a wasp and a quarter (25 per cent) unable to correctly identify a grasshopper.
Roger Binks, customer experience director for intu, said: “We know that a closer connection to nature makes people happier and Big bugs on tour is an opportunity to help educate adults and children on the importance of the bugs in their gardens and put a smile on their faces.”
