Nature connection and therapeutic horticulture activities to boost health and wellbeing delivered by Birmingham Settlement in partnership with Living Well Consortium.
Green Minds is a new project funded by the WMCA Community Environment Fund aiming to improve health and wellbeing for individuals with low-level anxieties and poor mental health through nature-based activities as an alternative to Talking Therapies, targeting people on waiting lists, those who have completed CBT treatment or those whom it was deemed unsuitable.
Project aims
Green Minds aims to promote better mental health and wellbeing through meaningful, positive therapeutic horticulture and outdoor activities that also enhance an urban green space within a Local Nature Reserve (LNR) next to Edgbaston Reservoir. The project will:
- Establish a weekly therapeutic group with activities that improve mental health and wellbeing through connection to nature and land.
- Improve green spaces, increase biodiversity and foster environmental stewardship.
- Enhance environmental awareness and skills through tool management, conservation, species identification, and habitat creation.
The project will not only benefit people waiting for NHS-prescribed Talking Therapies, but enable more understanding of alternative therapies, and the impact of nature connectedness on mental health and wellbeing, all while enhancing access to green space in the city, restoring wildlife habitats and promoting sustainable approaches.
Participants can benefit from:
- Nature-based therapeutic horticulture activities guided by project staff and volunteers such as planting, mulching, sowing, harvesting, composting, plant care, maintaining community grow-plots, general site maintenance, and habitat creation, tailored to interests, abilities and seasonal needs of the site.
- Access to weekly outdoor yoga and tai chi sessions, walks and other physical activity. Over winter sessions will be delivered from our geodesic eco-learning domes, fostering connection to nature.
- Weekly wellbeing workshops, covering topics like social connection and wellbeing, gratitude, finding purpose and meaning, understanding and calming the nervous system, healthy sleep habits and more.
- Additional activities delivered at the Birmingham Settlement Nature & Wellbeing Centre for social connection and improved wellbeing such as arts and crafts, sewing workshops and archery.
Benefits
- Improved wellbeing through connection to nature.
- Reap benefits of being outdoors, whilst creating positive environmental impact.
- Strengthened social connections and support networks.
- Enhanced coping mechanisms, problem-solving skills and resilience.
- Physical Health Benefits: Activities like walking, yoga, and conservation work in natural settings promote physical fitness and mental health.
- Opportunities to meet new people and make new friends.
- Learn new skills through tool management, conservation, species identification, and habitat creation.
How to access support
The Green Minds project is open to referrals outside of Living Well Consortium. There is no requirement for project beneficiaries to be in receipt of or waiting for NHS Talking Therapies.
To receive support from the Green Minds team (either a self-referral, or on behalf of a client, patient, or service user) please complete the referral form here.
A member of the team will then be in touch.
Timescales, location and other information
- Therapeutic horticulture sessions take place Wednesday and Friday 10-2pm with additional sessions depending on demand.
- Sessions take place at the Birmingham Settlement Nature and Wellbeing Centre, 79 Selwyn Road, Edgbaston Reservoir, Birmingham, B16 0SL.
- See timetable for our full programme of additional activities.
- This project is funded until February 2025.
Download the Green Minds project flier.
Download the Green Minds social media asset.
For project enquiries please contact natureandwellbeing@bsettlement.org.uk
