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What is Green Social Prescribing?

Tom teaching the Chorley group about air-purifying spider plants

Our health is complex and can be affected by many things that doctors or medicine alone cannot treat. Green social prescribing can help - but what is it, and what does it have to do with wildlife?

Circumstances such as loneliness, financial pressures, poor housing, employment issues and more can put a strain on our wellbeing, contributing to poor mental and physical health. Social prescribing can help change these circumstances by connecting people to non-medical support, out in the community.

Community is something that many of us have lost touch with due to the technological advancements of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. There's no longer a need to go and visit people due to phones and video calls, everything we could ever need is just a click away, from medicine to clothes and groceries thanks to e-commerce, and vehicles mean we don't have to walk anywhere even if we did need to go out.

These are all fantastic advances, but it does mean we've all become more isolated. We don't have the opportunities to meet with people, have a chat and catch up, and to rally around to help those in need in our community.

So at it's heart, social prescribing is about finding ways to connect people, maybe though a craft club, local walking group or a choir to name a couple of examples.

Green social prescribing

Fun at the Witton Park Greenhouses

Fun at the Witton Park Greenhouses

Green social prescribing supports individuals to access nature based groups and activities in their community, based on the individuals interests, wants and needs. Activities could include but not limited to: including walking groups, community gardens, practical conservation, forest bathing, nature based crafting, reconnecting to your own garden and climate action groups. 

According to a 2021 report by the Mental Health Foundation,

"When it comes to mental health benefits, nature has a very wide definition. It can mean green spaces such as parks, woodland or forests as well as blue spaces like rivers, wetlands, beaches or canals. It also includes trees on an urban street, private gardens, verges and even indoor plants or window boxes. Surprisingly, even watching nature documentaries has been shown to be good for our mental health."

 

Nature can be found all around, and can be accessed without having to travel miles to a national park, it's right there on our doorsteps, and it's the job of green social prescribers to connect people with these local opportunities.

How does wildlife fit in?

On our nature and wellbeing sessions, everything is based around wildlife, nature, and taking small actions toward supporting the outside world. These actions are also important for supporting the bigger conservation activities that the trust does.

Gardening with wildlife, snail on gardening gloves with pot plants behind

Tom Marshall

Even if we're working from an allotment, we're planting species alongside traditional food crops that will help pollinators, and planting bushes that we know have berries in winter for the birds. We'll also be educating people on our sessions about the importance of choosing peat-free compost, and why pollinators are so important for food growing.

We also connect people to other work happening in the trust, going on visits to nature reserves, or supporting our work on the coast at Fylde Sand Dunes by helping to plant Christmas trees.

This all helps people to feel connected to others, and to the world around them, as well as gaining confidence in their knowledge and skills. Of course, it's also helping local wildlife, which is central to everything we do.

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