Using Green Social Prescribing To Improve Wellbeing in Brinnington, Stockport
Background
Green Social Prescribing is the practice of supporting people to engage in nature-based interventions and activities to improve their mental and physical health. Groundwork have been an active partner in the Nature for Health partnership and an advocate for Green Social Prescribing for many years.
We have partnered with Pennine Care’s Early Intervention Teams in Brinnington, Stockport to deliver a Green Social Prescribing Programme with adults suffering from mental health issues.
Not everyone has access to green spaces, some people don’t even have a garden. Groundwork allows access to these spaces.
Sessions have been held at Green Thumbs Allotment and Webb Lane Allotments in Brinnington, providing a familiar outdoor environment each week for participants to unwind and interact with the nature around them. Sessions were held at the same time each Wednesday afternoon, helping the participants to build a routine.
Over the course of 12 weeks, participants take part in a range of nature-themed activities including food cultivation, garden care, tree planting, and bushcraft. They’ll plant different vegetables and herbs in the allotment plots and cultivate them over the course of the programme.
Connecting With Others
Michael and James are two residents who joined the first cohort of the green social prescribing programme. They had met a few months prior on the hospital ward where they were both being treated for mental health problems.
James joined the programme in July 2024, and encouraged Michael to join the group too, offering a familiar face and shared journey to lean on. Their friendship quickly grew beyond the hospital, with the gardening sessions becoming a weekly ritual.
We’d go to the sessions together, grab a McDonald’s on the way, and eventually, it became a routine we looked forward to.
For Michael, the social aspect of the programme stood out the most. The idea of being around other people in a new environment felt a bit daunting. Gardening was entirely new to him, and initially, he lacked confidence in the sessions. But after building a familiar routine alongside James, Michael began to feel confident.
The variety of green social prescribing activities kept James engaged and excited to return each week. He’s since joined other Groundwork volunteering days and feels more confident getting involved in hands-on activities. Beyond practical skills, James says the experience has helped him transition back into everyday life, including a phased return to work.
One part of the programme was encouraging people to take notice whilst outside in nature. Groundwork staff lead participants on mindfulness walks around the allotments and local parks, encouraging them to take notice of the things they can see, smell and hear. This is a great way to connect with the environment around you and remain present in the moment.
Groundwork also held a photography session which encouraged people to focus on finding interesting features of the environment like changing leaves and fungi, and shared tips on how to capture good photographs outdoors.
It has been a pleasure to work collaboratively with Groundwork for the past eight months. The people our service works with have experienced significant difficulties with their mental health, are socially isolated and often do not have easy access to green spaces. This programme has provided them with an opportunity to get out, meet people who share similar experiences and engage in nature based activities. The programme they provide has made a real difference to the overall wellbeing of the participants and promoted their recovery. The staff at Groundwork have been passionate about their work and committed to providing a great service for those who attend.
Tom Powell, Support Worker, Stockport EIT
This project was made possible thanks to funding from the NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board and delivered in partnership with Pennine Care.
