It’s all about the availability of doctors’ appointments and tackling waiting times. As well as reducing the number of prescriptions and helping overstretched health departments.  And yes – it is about saving money.

So what’s any of that got to do with nature? Well, more than you might think. When analysing our work in communities, health economists found something interesting. Wildlife Trust programmes targeting people with low levels of health and wellbeing delivered £6.88 of social value for every £1 invested. Could encouraging people to do activities in nature actually help the health minister with their to-do list? It can. Read on!

Let’s start with that question “What matters to you?”.  It might be your family’s health and happiness or being able to afford a decent house. Maybe it’s getting a good education and job or having clean, safe, and relaxing natural spaces near where you live.  These fundamentals are the building blocks to having good health.

Back in 1948, the World Health Organisation (WHO) defined being healthy as: a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.  Will a conventional medical approach achieve this? No.  Should it step in when we are ill and need medicine and expert care. Absolutely.

So how do we help people get to a complete state of wellbeing? The term “Social Prescribing” may be new to many, but the idea is as old as the hills. Like many ideas that last, it is rooted in common sense and evidenced by people’s lived experiences.

Preventable illnesses are sometimes caused by loneliness and social isolation, or physical inactivity. This can lead to anxiety, stress, lung conditions and other health problems. Activities that bring people together and increase their level of physical activity can help to improve people’s health. These activities provide practical support and training and can bring happiness and meaning into people's lives. This is social prescribing. An effective healthcare system rooted in the community, the people that live there and the organisations that work with them.

We are working with the NHS on a vital Government-backed pilot programme; “Green Prescribing for Mental Health”. This programme has proven benefits for mental and physical health. It also, critically, has a particularly strong impact on the wellbeing and resilience of children. The pilot programme started in April 2020 at the height of the pandemic and…well you can guess the rest.  While the programme lost momentum that year, we are beginning to see how it can benefit people’s mental health, reducing demand on the health service, and increase the use of local green spaces.  People, wildlife, and health services are all reaping the rewards.

Right now, the Treasury is considering whether to fund the programme beyond March 2023, which we estimate will cost around £2.5 million. We strongly believe this is work should continue for at least another two years to prove how beneficial green social prescribing can be.

My fear is that, if it ends in March, those promising green shoots – the signs that we are starting to take the weight out of the health system – will be for nothing. We need to give this programme more time.

It was a bold and pioneering decision to invest in Green Prescribing for Mental Health. We are urging the Government not to lose its nerve now.  The health and wellbeing of people and nature depend on it.

Read our letter to Rt Hon Steve Barclay MP re Green Prescribing for Mental Health