A DAY IN THE WOODS

Connecting People To Nature Through Green Prescribing

AUTHOR

Paul Ritchie, Sorbus Learning CIC

Paul is a biologist with a passion for Outdoor Learning and teaching local communities, voluntary groups and others about ecology, conservation and wildlife gardening through courses, workshops and talks. Paul is Director and project leader of a small not-for-profit Community Interest Company (CIC) https://sorbuslearning.co.uk/

In 2022 Sorbus Learning CIC worked in partnership with Surrey Care Trust, Surrey County Council and Reigate & Banstead Borough Council, to provide a programme of outdoor learning for staff, volunteers and clients at the Gateway Allotment Project in Earlswood, Surrey. The purpose was to test the effectiveness of these outdoor activities at connecting people with nature as part of a green social prescribing programme seeking to improve their physical, mental, emotional and social wellbeing. The project achieved its intended outcomes and was an inspiring learning experience for all involved.

Background

During the winter 2020/21 I wrote an article for Horizons magazine entitled “Where the Wild Things Are” (Horizons Issue 92) about our family experience during the first lockdown and shared our views about the benefits of connecting with nature and gardening with wildlife during those challenging times. At the time I was trading as a self-employed outdoor learning practitioner and was broadly optimistic about the future…how much can change in a year?

Like many in the outdoor learning sector my business dropped away as a consequence of restrictions imposed by Government and a reluctance of clients to engage in courses, workshops or outdoor learning activities. After an initial steady increase in turnover for 3 years I ended that first financial year in lockdown recording a loss with HMRC. We needed to rethink our business model if we were going to keep doing what we are passionate about: connecting people with nature. We started by reviewing our strengths and weaknesses and considered what opportunities were open to us to face the threat of financial instability. We realised that our family and circle of friends have access to a network of skilled, experienced and enthusiastic associates who have something to offer communities so we set about framing a new business model that involved us registering as a Community Interest Company (CIC). This would enable us to apply for grant-funding.

Surrey Heartlands

Surrey Heartlands is a partnership of organisations working together – with staff, patients, their carers, families and the public – to support people to live healthier lives in Surrey. It secured funding as one of seven test and learn sites for the Green Social Prescribing Programme (GSPP) in England, which meant funding to enable working with communities to try new things. The GSPP in Surrey Heartlands aims to connect people with the health benefits of nature to improve mental health outcomes and address health inequalities for people and communities.

The test and learn sites were to explore opportunities and bring together communities to be involved in the natural environment. This could include walking, cycling, community gardening and food-growing, as well as practical conservation tasks such as tree planting. For people who needed help to get access to nature this could be through supported visits to local green spaces, or waterways and other outdoor activities to reduce isolation and loneliness.

The Surrey Heartlands GSPP test and learn site focused on communities hardest hit by coronavirus. This included areas around Spelthorne, Woking, Guildford and Reigate & Banstead, as well as people across Surrey who have mental health conditions, are living with dementia or who are caring for someone, who have a learning disability, or are from Black, Asian or ethnic minority backgrounds. One of these target areas near Redhill was served by an existing community scheme coordinated by the Surrey Care Trust (SCT) called the Gateway Allotment Project, based on New Pond Farm Allotments in Earlswood, which is owned by Reigate & Banstead Borough Council (RBBC).

Our proposal

Our primary purpose as a community interest company is to connect people with nature and for about three years we had been exploring opportunities to set a ‘Day in the Woods’ project locally so that adults could benefit from the Forest School experience. As a team of experienced outdoor learning practitioners and woodland workers, but perhaps more importantly successful fundraisers and previous recipients of grant-funding, we set about adapting our project proposal to meet the criteria set out by Surrey County Council (SCC) for their ‘test and learn’ programme.

We submitted an application for a grant-funded project to be planned, delivered, monitored and reviewed by Sorbus Learning CIC in December 2021 to help people connect with nature. It comprised a 7-month programme of outdoor learning workshops, courses and events delivered for SCT at the Gateway site. The purpose was to test the effectiveness of outdoor learning sessions as a method for providing high quality and accessible nature-based activities as part of a national green social prescribing programme. We were successful so after initially identifying learning needs with our clients we started delivery in April 2022.

Our project

This project was funded by SCC through the Adult Care Team with a formal grant agreement from the Surrey Heartlands Nature Connection Fund (NCF) paid to us as a potential green social prescribing provider. The funds were held in our business account, to be managed and recorded as ‘restricted income’ for the purposes of HMRC and Corporate Tax. Our funding partners at SCC set clear outputs, inputs, measures and outcomes for the project that required us to collect aggregate and individual data about clients under GDPR guidelines.

We planned, delivered and reviewed our green social prescribing programme through four project stages – client phase (project proposal), planning phase (project plan), delivery phase (activity programme) and reporting phase (final report). We recorded data using traditional forms, national criteria (e.g. Nature Connectedness Index), zines, photographs, highlight reports and perhaps most importantly video testimonies. We wrote a final report to ensure effective sharing of the learning outcomes arising from the project with SLCIC, SCT, SCC and RBBC as key stakeholders.

The Surrey Heartlands green social prescribing programme (GSPP) aims people to nature so that it will improve mental health outcomes and address inequalities. Surrey Heartlands GSPP will improve the health and wellbeing

Developing new nature-based initiatives to everyone – the aim is to work with aims to connect address health wellbeing of people initiatives that are accessible with local people and

Outcomes

As part of the Surrey Heartlands NCF grant-funding agreement, SCC set four key outcomes for staff, volunteers and service users or clients participating in the programme:

1. The anecdotal, photographic, video, written and verbal feedback suggests the outdoor learning sessions helped increase familiarity and connection with nature and outdoor environment, with one attendee at a Family Day event proclaiming loudly to the group – “I’ve learnt two things today, solitary bees don’t sting and pigs have teeth!” The hard data has yet to be processed and interpreted.

2. A key feature of our ‘Day in the Woods’ activity was a Kelly Kettle for boiling of water because on the sound of its whistle the coppice group came together around the camp-fire for a drink, biscuit, rest and chat. An opportunity for engagement and socialisation with other clients, volunteers and practitioners. The verbal feedback of “it makes me feel alive” was recorded on video and photos for that outcome.

3. As outdoor learning practitioners we delivered activities that increased the learning and skills of the participants based on nature, wildlife gardening, natural environment and nature. Moving the activities from the allotment site to nearby Felland Copse immersed the clients in a more natural environment of an ancient woodland and the opportunity to learn coppice and woodcraft skills.

4. We should not forget the positive benefit for the educational, physical, mental, emotional and social health and wellbeing experienced by the practitioners who engaged in this project too.

A key aspect of our success in securing grant-funding was having an appropriate project proposal ready with supporting evidence and adapting it to meet the specific criteria set out in the funding agreement. We also engaged with partners at an early stage of the application process and client phase to ensure that our project would meet their aims and objectives. When validating ourselves to the funders we were able to draw on our professional status as Accredited Practitioners of the Institute for Outdoor Learning (APIOL) and qualified Level 3 Forest School Leaders.

Conclusion

Our outdoor learning practitioners provided an extensive and varied programme of outdoor learning activities, workshops and courses that engaged clients, volunteers and key workers with nature and the natural environment. We worked in partnership with teams from SCT, SCC and RBBC to develop a 7-month programme that took place both on New Pond Farm Allotments and the ancient woodland at Felland Copse nearby, to benefit people and local communities of Earlswood, Woodhatch, Horley, Reigate and Redhill.

Participants experienced a range of different outdoor activities appropriate to their learning needs and capabilities that helped their mental wellbeing, isolation and physical health and fitness. These activities also facilitated their understanding of nature; acquiring new practical and artistic skills; experiencing different methods of relaxation and restoration; and providing relaxed opportunities to socialise and make new friendships. In short, this grant-funded programme empowered, motivated and restored people through their connection with nature p