A group of fifteen children will be among a “lucky” group who will be probably the first humans for three thousand years to sleep in a cave near Swansea next weekend. They will join hundreds of other groups all across the country who are planning to spend a night with nature this week and raise funds for the RSPB at the same time.

The Big Wild Sleepout is an event which is all about spending a night outside to raise money and help to save our wildlife. All you have to do is to get a group of family or friends together and have a sleepout in the back garden, or at your local RSPB reserve. Discover the whole world of wildlife that is on your own doorstep by putting up a tent or if the weather allows sleep under the stars. Get the barbeque on, or prepare some sweet treats to pass round, with your donation box, and raise some money.

Why not organize a nighttime safari. Using a torch see what you find in the garden. You will probably find snails, beetles and woodlice. You might be lucky enough to see moths, a mouse or even a hedgehog. The overall aim of the event, which runs all week so you still have time to get involved, is to help people find out more about the wildlife around them. Garden favourites such as starlings, hedgehogs, butterflies and even ladybugs are in serious trouble and face further declines in numbers without action being taken to protect their habitats. The event has been designed to be fun, and is primarily aimed at children so that they get involved and hopefully inspire them to care about the wildlife around them.

The group in Swansea will actually be sleeping 600 feet underground on bare rock, but those involved are excited about facing the cold and damp conditions. All they will have is sleeping bags as they sleep next to an underground lake fed by waterfalls. The group of eight to sixteen year olds plan to cook a meal on open fires outside the Dan yr Ogof caves, be part of a nighttime wildlife walk looking out for bats, foxes and badgers and then being up early to experience the dawn chorus, at around 4.30am. A great adventure, personally I’m very jealous.

Other events around the country will include people sleeping on farms, in tree houses, and down on Aylesbeare Common in Devon they are even building a replica Iron Age roundhouse. So why not grab your camping gear, and don’t forget the warm padded jacket as you just might need them, and get involved