The first NHS Forest trees of the season are going in the ground this week, which coincides with National Tree Week. The event, which runs from November 27 to December 5 this year, is the UK’s largest annual tree celebration, organised by the Tree Council. It marks the start of the tree planting season, which runs from November to March.
Watch the recording of the full event
The winners of this year´s NHS Forest Awards were announced during our annual conference, held online on 19th October. We were absolutely delighted with the calibre of award submissions this year and are very excited to present these five projects. The breadth and creativity of projects across the country continues to be really inspiring, and it is clear that nature connection and nature recovery is playing an ever more important role in healthcare throughout the UK.
Following a summer of sowing and growing, an award celebration brought jazz, haybales and popstar glamour to Mount Vernon Cancer Centre. Judges toured the West London grounds to view dozens of green spaces coaxed into bloom by health workers in courtyards, entrances and outdoor seating areas. More than 100 staff signed up in June to the site-wide gardening competition, ‘Primp Your Patch’, launched by our Nature Recovery Ranger, Karen MacKelvie, as part of the Green Space for Health programme.
Despite the Covid-19 pandemic and the many challenges linked to carrying out in-person projects over the past year, our community work in Oxford is showcasing the possibilities of working with the NHS for engaging communities and creating opportunities for accessing green spaces for health and wellbeing.
We are delighted to invite you to our online NHS Forest conference, on the theme of An Equitable Recovery for People and Nature
Date: Tuesday 19 October 2021
Time: 2pm - 5pm BST
Register for free: Via Eventbrite
In June 2021, the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare launched our programme of “NatureWell” sessions for hospital staff in Bristol and London. These sessions, run in partnership with The Natural Academy, aim to teach healthcare professionals how to use nature to boost their wellbeing. Three intensive, three-hour sessions enable them to experience the healing power of nature and to gain inspirational techniques they can use on a regular basis.
This week, the first week of June 2021, is the UK’s first ever National Hedgerow Week. It couldn’t be a better time – the hawthorn is blossoming, birds are singing, and wildflowers are bursting into colour. The week has been organised by The Tree Council to highlight the huge contribution hedgerows make to our natural world: increasing biodiversity, capturing carbon, and reducing air pollution.
