The Greater Manchester Nature for Health steering group is pleased to share that Defra has extended its successful green social prescribing programme for another year. The next phase of delivery (2024/25) will build on the success of a national two-year programme that found connecting with nature led to improvements in mental health.
Greater Manchester was one of seven areas testing how nature-based, community-led initiatives such as community garden projects and local walking groups could improve health and wellbeing. The results, of what is believed to be the largest such project in the world, showed that after being supported to access nature-based activities, people’s feelings of happiness and of life being worthwhile jumped to near national averages, while levels of anxiety fell significantly.
Nearly £4 million of funding is being provided by HM Treasury’s Shared Outcomes Fund and partner organisations, and Defra and NHS England have announced they will continue funding the seven areas for another year. This will enable the region’s NHS, councils, voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise sector and natural environment organisations to expand the reach, sustainability and effectiveness of green social prescribing services, connecting people to the support they need.
Nature for Health, Greater Manchester’s green social prescribing partnership, brings together communities and organisations who are leading nature-based initiatives, to ensure those most in need (in areas of high levels of social and health inequalities, combined with poor access to nature) receive the support that is vital for their health and wellbeing.
This year’s work will have a renewed focus on addressing severe mental health needs and reaching minority communities facing the biggest health inequalities with culturally appropriate, accessible and relevant nature-based offers. It will also work on measuring and economically evaluating the effectiveness of referring people to nature-based solutions to produce the data and evidence needed to support a national roll-out, ensuring that anyone, anywhere in the country, can receive a green social prescribing prescription and benefit from these valuable nature-based interventions.
The funding boost will help Greater Manchester:
- Address severe mental health needs – NHS GM will work in collaboration with Pennine Care’s Early Intervention Teams and Groundwork (Stockport), Petrus (Rochdale), Lancashire Wildlife Trust (Bury).
- Reach into ethnic minority communities facing the biggest health inequalities – with START in Salford (Salford), Norther Roots (Oldham) and Manchester Mind (Manchester).
- Build on the success of our original programme with a central learning network – through City of Trees
- Local evaluation to understand impact and value for money for NHS GM – with Edge Hill University.
Sarah Coogan-Hill, Operational and clinical lead for physical health and treatment, at Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust said:
Nature-based social prescribing has brought many benefits. We have seen our patients find a place for themselves within their own communities with feedback such as ‘I’ve made a friend’, with others going on to be volunteers. It has given a pathway of development and growth for our patients, leading them to places and new experiences they didn’t know they could achieve through recovery.
Nature for Health partners include Groundwork Greater Manchester, Petrus Community, Lancashire Wildlife Trust, START in Salford, Northern Roots, Manchester Mind, City of Trees, Edge Hill University, Pennine Care, GMCA, and Natural England. They are all investing in, and supporting, green social prescribing programmes – aided through GM’s green social prescribing Steering Group and further bolstered by funding through the GM Environment Fund, delivered in partnership with GMCA.
Nature for Health is part of Live Well, Greater Manchester’s movement for community-led health and wellbeing: Live Well | Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership (gmintegratedcare.org.uk)
