Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust Well-being Garden 2023
This project in Devizes has involved creating a well-being garden for staff and service users on the hospital site.
Initial consultation with staff and service users resulted in some seating, raised beds – with planting spaces and a small sand pit for creative play. Around this is some perimeter willow planting to define the space and create an instant leafy effect.
The garden has been launched with planting of the raised beds with herbs and edible plants and sowing some seeds. Staff and service users will visit regularly to water and add to the planting as well as enjoying spending time in the space.
Next steps in the project will be to provide staff with creative ideas to engage service users with plants and connect with nature. We will be looking at some training/engagement sessions and some signs and QR codes linked to easy to follow self delivered activities to support this.
‘We need to find ways for everyone to have a close relationship to nature because it’s good for wellbeing and its good for a sustainable future.’
More from Miles Richardson Professor of nature connectedness at University of Derby
