To mark social prescribing day on 10th March, a national charity is raising awareness of the benefits of green social prescribing with a short film – ‘Woodlands for Wellbeing’ – showcasing their work across Wales.
Small Woods was formed in 1988 as the national organisation for small woodlands and has a significant track record in managing social forestry projects, as well as promoting sustainable management of small woodlands for social, environmental, and economic benefit. Coed Lleol (Small Woods Wales) has been running health and wellbeing activities through the Actif Woods Wales programme since 2010.
Now in its third year, Social Prescribing Day is an annual celebration that recognises local community groups and projects which have kept people healthy and connected throughout the pandemic and beyond.
In 2020, Coed Lleol collaborated with Leader RDP in 3 counties to runa project which sought to widen reach amongst the health sector and improve the ability to engage with audiences through virtual, digital means. The result was a series of inspiring and beautiful short films on the importance of green spaces for health and wellbeing. ‘Woodlands for Wellbeing’ focuses on the experiences of participants.
Social Forestry Manager Amie Andrews said ‘these films have piloted new ways of encouraging health professionals to refer into outdoor health initiatives for physical and mental health and wellbeing. As well as the films, which are available to all online, we also organised events to engage health professionals in a holistic manner, through outdoor woodland wellbeing immersive sessions. These had a real impact on the people who participated, and increased their understanding of our work.’
To make these films, Coed Lleol received funding through the Welsh Government Rural Communities – Rural Development Programme 2014-2020, which is funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the Welsh Government. The project worked in partnership to promote best practice across the whole of Wales, the rest of the UK and beyond, with Cynnal y Cardi (Leader in Ceredigion), Cwm Taf Leader (Merthyr Tydfil) and Regenerate Neath Port Talbot (Leader in NPT) and new partners Green Care Finland (an outdoor nature-based social prescribing association in Finland).
Coed Lleol’s work on green social prescribing continues in 2022 as part of our ENRAW funded ‘Outdoor Health and Green Infrastructure’ project. The Outdoor Health and Green Infrastructure Project (National) and The Green Infrastructure Partnership project (South Wales – NPT, Swansea & Carmarthenshire) are funded through ENRaW (Enabling Natural Resources and Wellbeing) and HAF (Healthy and Active Fund).
As part of this project, Coed Lleol will be hosting a series of events for stakeholders throughout March in several locations across Wales. These will be opportunities to learn more about outdoor health and social prescribing, experience woodland activities, find out more about the activity programmes on offer, and to share ideas and perspectives.
Watch Woodlands for Wellbeing here: https://www.smallwoods.org.uk/en/coedlleol/what-we-do/outdoor-health-and-social-prescribing/
To find out more about a stakeholder event in your local area, visit: https://www.smallwoods.org.uk/en/coedlleol/news/spring-celebration-stakeholder-events/
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