Published on: 25,Sep 2024

Millions more moving is our first policy report on how we can tackle inactivity by supporting people with long-term conditions to move. In this blog series, colleagues working in different areas of health and physical activity will be discussing themes central to the three policy ‘shifts’ the report calls for: leadership and accountability, movement embedded in healthcare, and movement as part of everyday life.

 

Tim Braund, Forestry England, Active Forests Health and Community Officer 

 

The Richmond Group report ‘Millions More Moving’ resonates with Feel Good in The Forest, (Forestry England’s social prescribing project), particularly its Shifts 2 and 3: embedding movement into healthcare and encouraging movement in everyday life. 

 

Nominated for a National Academy for Social Prescribing (NASP) award for the Best Nature Based Social Prescribing Project at the NASP 2024 International Conference, the project aims to enable people to discover, connect with and enjoy the health and wellbeing benefits of forests. 

 

The project is part of Forestry England’s Active Forests ‘Removing Barriers’ Programme, delivered in partnership with Sport England, that seeks to improve accessibility to and inclusion in the nation’s forests; reaching and supporting new and underserved audiences to experience physical and mental health benefits from being active in nature, incorporating Nature Connection Pathways: Senses, Emotion, Beauty, Meaning, Compassion.

 

People can self-refer or be referred by a social prescribing link worker or support organisation.  These sessions are free and co-designed with a bit of TLC (Talk, Listen, Change). 

 

Forests for Wellbeing 

The priority audiences are: 

• People with illnesses, impairments, health conditions and disabilities.  
• People experiencing the greatest health inequalities.
• People who are inactive or fairly active. 

 

Outcomes are for participants to be: 

• more active. 
• restored and resilient. 
• more connected. 
• more empowered. 
• more included. 

 

Between 2023-2024 Forestry England delivered over 10,000 Feel Good in the Forest active visits. 

 

A key workstream is to work with, and support, health and social care professionals, social prescribing link workers and other allied health professionals to experience first-hand the health and wellbeing benefits of physical activity and connection to nature in the nation’s forests. 

 

Forestry England has collaborated with the NHS, Allied Health Professionals, Physical Activity Clinical Champions and local social prescribing networks to provide taster days and training events. 

 

Since April 2023, Feel Good in The Forest has engaged with over 500 health and social care professionals. 

 

Project evaluation was undertaken by Forest Research.  Qualitative research provided substantial evidence of improvements in participants’ wellbeing. 

 

This is what participants have said: 

• “Just being here today has helped us to take it all in and connect to ourself and others, all in nature.” 
• “I found it easier to speak openly to strangers than to friends. It was comforting to be in the company of people who had similar feelings to me. They day benefitted from being a walk, as we each changed walking partners and talked openly. This would not have happened in a closed room.” 
• “A participant had not left his house (apart from to do food shopping) since January when his wife died. He used to be a keen photographer and saw the session advertised in his local newsletter online. He has come along weekly for 3 more sessions since.” 

 

Health professionals have said: 

• “I will definitely incorporate exercise and nature in my advice to patients and hopefully, as I become more advanced in my training, I will have more resources to get them involved with.” 
• “Plan to take some of this newfound knowledge to patients I look after, particularly in GP as another method for improving physical, mental health and overall wellbeing.”  
• “The session was very interactive and got us to connect with nature, thinking about how as doctors we can encourage patients to get out in nature to improve physical and mental health.”  
• “Being able to experience the activities I was able to really understand how the experience can contribute to patient wellbeing.”  

 

You can read more community wellbeing stories here.