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Evaluation: Get in to Nature with the Woodland Wellbeing

Project.

Summer 2015

Donna Sealey Health Improvement Specialist

All photographs used in this report were taking during the course of the six week

project.

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Table of Contents Background to the project ................................................................................................................................... 3

What did this project encompass? ...................................................................................................................... 3

Who was the project for? .................................................................................................................................... 3

When did the project happen? ........................................................................................................................... 4

What will happen after the pilot finishes? .......................................................................................................... 4

Referrals in the project ........................................................................................................................................ 4

Budget and funding ............................................................................................................................................. 5

The importance of woodlands and green spaces for health ............................................................................... 6

Self-care strategy ................................................................................................................................................. 6

Social prescribing ................................................................................................................................................. 6

Prescribing Nature ............................................................................................................................................... 7

The pilot project .................................................................................................................................................. 7

GP referrals ...................................................................................................................................................... 7

How many attended overall? .......................................................................................................................... 8

Participant outcomes questionnaire ................................................................................................................... 8

Two month follow up .......................................................................................................................................... 9

Feedback from project partners ........................................................................................................................ 10

Why Public Health support this project ........................................................................................................ 10

Woodland Ambassador ................................................................................................................................. 11

GP Referrer .................................................................................................................................................... 11

Forest of Avon Trust ...................................................................................................................................... 12

Lawrence Weston Community Farm ............................................................................................................. 12

Participants testimonials ............................................................................................................................... 12

Lessons learnt ................................................................................................................................................... 14

What went well ................................................................................................................................................. 15

Recommendations ............................................................................................................................................. 15

References ......................................................................................................................................................... 20

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Background to the project

This pilot project will build on the previous work completed

by the Forest of Avon Trust and is based on the New

Economic Foundations five ways to well-being approach

through enabling those that take part to: Connect, Be

Active, Take Notice, Keep Learning and Give (see previous

evaluation of this work in South Gloucestershire -

http://forestofavontrust.org/wp-

content/uploads/2012/12/Outdoor-Activities-with-Adults-

with-Learning-Disabilities.pdfi).

This project was based in natural woodland that, as a setting, is also well documented to support

improved mental health and wellbeing (as has been documented by Forrest Research as part of the

Forestry Commissions work).

What did this project encompass?

The activities undertaken involved exploring and

enjoying the natural environment, looking for

seasonal plants, birds, insects, bush craft activities,

building fires and cooking and other activities

which the participants were keen to do. It had a

strong social aspect and was very relevant to the

Five Ways of Wellbeing, - see diagram opposite.

(www.neweconomics.org/projects/entry/five-

ways-to-well-beingii) The project was run through

a partnership between the Forest of Avon Trust,

Bristol City Council (Public Health) and Lawrence

Weston Community Farm, with sessions running in their Water Vole Woodland, which was closed

to the public during these sessions.

Who was the project for?

This project was intended to be for adults with mild to moderate mental health problems and also

individuals with a current or ongoing health condition with a psychological component. It was

suitable for those who were able to independently access the project through a referral or

signposting process. People needed to be reasonably physically able in order to participate, and

would be willing to undertake practical activities outdoors and move around over rough ground. It

Photo 1: Making pencils using bush craft skills

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was also important that those who choose to join had an

interest in experiencing an outdoor programme of six

sessions ran on a weekly basis in a range of weathers. This

project was aimed to target a group of up to ten adults from

the BS11 postcode locality.

When did the project happen?

The project ran during June and July of 2015 and ideally we

wanted to recruit individuals who were able to commit to

come out on six weekly sessions. There was also an

introductory shorter session to allow individuals to get a feel

for what would be involved in advance, then six consecutive

sessions that was run between 10am and 2pm. There was

also a follow up session for participants on September 25th

2015.

What will happen after the pilot finishes?

When the project was completed, those involved were given information on local opportunities,

including those at the farm, to volunteer outside to continue this type of experience. The project

also hoped to develop confidence in those involved to further spend time in natural spaces

independently. Information on local groups and activities were also made available.

There was a follow up day two months after the last session to see how those involved have taken

this forward and if they have accessed other opportunities outdoors and developed an interest in

spending time in nature.

The project aimed to capture the experiences of those involved and will look to compare the well-

being of those involved before and after the end of the project. This short report will also explore

the experiences of those involved and how these experiences can support a programme of self-care

in the future.

Referrals in the project

Five GP practices were contacted within the BS11 postcode to participate in this project, they were:

Ridingleaze Medical Centre – Lawrence Weston

Avonmouth Medical Centre

Shirehampton Group Practice

Photo 2: Camp fire cooking and nettle tea making

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Sea Mills Surgery

Henbury and Southmead Family Practice

Two GP practices declined to participate in this project, they

were Sea Mills Surgery, and Avonmouth Medical Centre due

to capacity issues. Each GP practice identified a ‘Woodlands

Ambassador’ lead within their practice who took the lead in

contacting the GP identified patients to refer into this

project. The GP practice was provided with a flyer (see

Appendix Two) for information to be passed on to their

patients who expressed an interest in attending, this was the followed up with a phone call. Each

practice provided information on patients contacted for this evaluation (see Appendix One). Each

participant was given a unique client identifier number for confidentiality reasons. It was generated

by the first letter of the practice and the referral number, so for example clients from Ridingleaze

Practice would be identified by R1, R2, R3 and so on.

Budget and funding

The total cost of this project is £6,640, the Forest of Avon Trust secured £3,000 from the

Neighbourhood Partnerships Wellbeing Fund and Green Capital funding and Bristol Public Health

had £3,388 funding for this project. The evaluation costs identified in the table above, and were

unfunded, were not needed to be met, this report has been done ‘in-house’ and didn’t incur any

financial costs.

Days Unit Cost Total Cost (£s)

Staff Time

Project planning 3 200 600

GP & public health consultation & surgery visits 4 200 800

7 days of delivery sessions with 2 staff 14 200 2800

Partner time - LW staff time to plan, consult and evaluate 3 200 600

Delivery Costs

Site use - consultation meetings & delivery 10 120 1200

Refreshments 7 20 140

Equipment & materials (safety gloves, tools & craft materials) 500

6640

Evaluation

External evaluation costs to produce report for public health and GP's 2000

The above element is currently unfunded

Woodland Wellbeing Pilot Project

Sub Total

The above figures reflect the sums bid for from the NP and Green Capital. The current anticipated programme

only has 6 delivery days which combined with reducing the rate paid for the consultation visits to £175/ day,

would save £500. (Available grants total: £5,888.) Further savings may need to be made.

Photo 3: making elderflower cordial

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The importance of woodlands and green

spaces for health

There is an increasing body of research that suggests

that contact with and the use of woodlands and green

spaces can be beneficial to people’s health and well-

being (Ulrich et al., 1991iii; Hartig, 1991iv; Kaplan, 1995v;

Henwood, 2001vi; Rhode and Kendle, 2004vii; Bird,

2004viii; Pretty et al., 2005ix). Kaplan (1995) and Hartig

(1991) have focused on the restorative benefits of green

spaces which allow people to recover from stress and fatigue. Pretty (2005), O’Brien (2005) and

others have outlined the importance of public green spaces as social spaces allowing opportunities

for contact with family, friends and local communities. People can often undertake a range of

physical activity in green spaces and may be motivated to do this by having contact with the natural

environment and getting out into the fresh air (O’Brien, 2006). Environmental volunteering which

includes activities such as tree planting, footpath repair and coppicing provides volunteers with

physical challenges that can improve health. The Green Gym run by the British Trust for

Conservation Volunteers gets volunteers to undertake a range of environmental activities to

improve their health and well-being (Reynolds, 2002). Educational activities such as Forest School

and school visits to woodlands also provide opportunities for children and young people to

undertake physical activity and improve their mental well-being (O’Brien, 2007 and 2009).

Self-care strategy

Self-care is an approach to health which helps people to keep themselves well and gives them the

knowledge to share in decisions about illness, from diagnosis to treatment and recovery. The aim of

this strategy is ‘to work towards a future state in which patients are empowered to self-care, taking

responsibility for their own health and wellbeing, and where health and social care professionals are

equipped with the tools, techniques and resources to support patients on this journey’x. This project

was an opportunity to pilot a self-care project where GPs, and potentially moving forward, other

primary care staff health and social care staff can support their patients/service users to access a six

weekly programme of woodland based activities at the Farm, led by Forest of Avon.

Social prescribing

‘Social prescribing provides a pathway to refer clients to non-clinical services, linking clients to

support from within the community to promote their wellbeing, to encourage social inclusion, to

Photo 4: using flowers to make cards

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promote self-care where appropriate and to build

resilience within the community and for the individual’

(Social Prescribing in Bristol Working Group, 2012xi).

Social prescribing has the potential to become fully

integrated as a patient pathway for primary care

practices and to strengthen the links between

healthcare providers and community, voluntary and

local authority services that influence public mental

health. These include leisure, welfare, education,

culture, employment and the environment (for example

urban parks, green gyms and allotments). Social

prescribing for mental health – a guide to commissioning and deliveryxii

Prescribing Nature Nature has always been seen as a healing force and people have always talked about the good of

‘getting some fresh air’ and ‘walking problems off’. Prescribing nature can be seen to help people in

all five ways - developing skills (learning) such as tending to plants (being active) can be

empowering and transformative. It can also be helpful for those who are feeling socially isolated to

function in a group (connecting) and to fulfil a role (giving) in society. Additionally, nature activities

can encourage mindfulness and help people get in touch with their senses (noticing).

Hundreds of studies have documented the effect of green space on health outcomes: In

Copenhagen, living a short distance from a garden or park has been linked to less stress and a lower

body mass indexxiii. In the United States, children diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity

disorder (ADHD) were more able to focus in a natural setting than in either a built outdoor

environment or an indoor onexiv. Another study from the United States revealed that children in

low-income households lowered their risk for asthma by living near areas with higher tree densityxv.

In Japan, greener neighbourhoods and more parks were associated with greater longevity among

the elderly. One study, published in the medical journal Lancet, even suggests that nature exposure

can help reduce health disparities, improving health outcomes in poorer communities so that they

more closely match those from wealthier neighbourhoods.

The pilot project

GP referrals

Five GP practices were involved in referring identified patients into the project, as shown in the

graph below, sea mills surgery and Avonmouth medical centre were not involved in generating

Photo 5: Elderflower cordial, ready and bottled

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patients in this pilot phase.

Ridingleaze Medical centre

contacted six patients,

Shirehampton Group Practice

contacted five patients and

Henbury and Southmead Family

Practice contacted seven

patients. Some patients didn’t

think this project was for them,

but out of the 18 referrals, 10

said they were interested in participating. However, as you will see below, very few numbers

attended.

How many attended overall?

The taster sessions was

attended by two participants

plus a family member carer and

were referrals from

Shirehampton Group practice,

they did not, however, return to

any of the six sessions of the

project. The three patients who

attended the woodlands project

were all from Ridingleaze

Practice, and two patients

completed all six sessions.

Participant outcomes questionnaire

Participants were asked a series of questions using the Likert scale as a way to measure if this

project has had an impact on them (see Appendix Three). The three participants answered the

questionnaire at the beginning, to use as a baseline, and the same questionnaire on the last session

for comparison. Participants one and two completed all six sessions, and participant three attended

two sessions.

0 2 4 6 8

Henbury and…

Sea Mills

Shirehampton

Ridingleaze

Avonmouth

Number of Referrals

Number of Referrals

0 1 2 3 4

taster session

week one

week two

week three

week four

week five

week six

Number of Participants

taster session

week one

week two

week three

week four

week five

week six

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Question one: overall, how satisfied are you with your life nowadays

Start: finish

participant one 7 8

Participant two 2 6

Participant three 2

Question Three: overall, how worried did you feel yesterday?

Start: finish

participant one 5 5

Participant two 7 5

Participant three 1

Two month follow up

On the 25th September 2015 the ‘reunion’ session was held at the

woodlands to bring participants back together and for everyone

to learn how the project has helped them if at all. Unfortunately

only one participant (plus her partner) was able to make the

session. The day was a longer session, which consisted of bush craft activities, cooking lunch on the

camp fire and discussions around the project and the impact it has had. There was an issue with the

GP surgeries not keeping accurate records of which patients had been contacted, so they were

unable to follow them up and invite them for this session. Her testimonial can be found further in

this report.

Question Two: overall, how happy did you feel yesterday?

Start: finish

participant one 8 4

Participant two 1 6

Participant three 2

Question Four: overall, how lonely did you feel yesterday?

Start: finish

participant one 5 6

Participant two 4 2

Participant three 2

Question Five: overall, to what extent do you feel the things you do in your life are worthwhile?

Start: finish

participant one 7 8

Participant two 2 6

Participant three 2

Photo 6: Making popcorn for snacks on the campfire wok

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Feedback from project partners

Why Public Health support this project

‘This project helps to achieve our North Health

Improvement Team objectives of ‘Building community

capacity and resilience to address health and wellbeing

issues’ and ‘Increasing access to community based

services and activities to support healthy lifestyles’.

There are many opportunities within our neighbourhoods

to link people with community activities which will improve their health and we are not using this

potential to the full. One of the reasons for this is that there is currently no formal, structured

arrangement between GP practices and local community organisations, through which people can

be referred or signposted – often described as social prescribing. There has been lots of discussion

about social prescribing in Bristol and many examples already exist across the city. We wanted to try

something out in Lawrence Weston, where we have Lawrence Weston Community Farm who are

keen to engage with health services so they can offer their patients activities on the Farm to improve

health and wellbeing. At the same time Forest of Avon wanted to try out a Woodland Wellbeing

programme for adults, along the lines of their Forest School Programme for children and we agreed

that the best target group would be people who are suffering from low level anxiety or depression.

We also knew a couple of local GPs who are keen to promote this kind of approach so we had

something to build on within practices. It links closely with the Clinical Commissioning Group’s Self

Care Strategy which is all about individuals with long term conditions being empowered to take

more responsibility for their own health.

As well as benefitting the participants in the Project and evaluating that benefit, we wanted to test

out what kind of systems and procedures would work best for everyone and this involves bringing

organisations with different cultures and priorities together and agreeing who will do what and

which systems and processes will work for everyone and get the best outcomes for participants. For

the GP practices in particular it relies a lot on people’s willingness and ability to do something

different and extra- for example the people who took on the ‘ambassador role’ to promote the

project. It’s obviously difficult (but not impossible) for practice staff to find time to attend meetings –

but the meetings we had were essential to discuss how best to make this work and get everyone’s

ideas and commitment. Bringing people together also built understanding of the project and fuelled

enthusiasm for making it work. Public Health is able to play a vital role by working across different

organisations and brokering discussions and in generally providing practical support and co-

ordination to the project.

The benefits to the participants in the project have been clearly demonstrated. Enabling people to

find activities and support in their local community which they can choose to access when they want

Photo 7: Learning new skills and enjoying nature

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to, inevitably reduces their isolation, builds confidence and

wellbeing and will make them less likely to need health service

support. Many of us do this for ourselves naturally but for others

there are many barriers to doing that. This project has indicated

that if we can go on to form strong partnerships between GP

practices and voluntary and community groups we can really

enable people to overcome those barriers. (Judith Taylor, Health

Improvement manager for North Bristol)

Woodland Ambassador

Each GP practice nominated a ‘Woodlands Ambassador’ within their practice, one Ambassador

shares her experience of working on the project:

‘As a woodlands ambassador, I took the project to a Friday meeting with the GPs to discuss if anyone

had any particular patients they thought might find this project useful. I was given a list of around 5

names and I called each person to explain the project. Once I had explained the premise, I sent out

further information to each patient to let them know the dates and give my details if they wanted to

discuss anything else about the project. A week before the taster session was due to start; I called all

patients I had sent out letters to, to remind them about the upcoming session. I encouraged each

patient to try and go along for the session to see what it was like’. (Ellie Rowlands, Deputy Practice

Manager, Shirehampton Group Practice)

GP Referrer

Each GP was asked to identify 5-10 patients that suitably fit the criteria, this information was then

passed onto the ‘woodlands Ambassador’ to make contact with the patient. One GP shares her

feedback on the project:

‘It can be difficult to find options for those with long term Mental Health problems to address the

important issues of regaining autonomy and accessing new life opportunities. The Woodland Project

offers an opportunity to form relationships and be creative, hopefully moving towards greater

confidence in accessing other activities or on the journey towards regaining employment. Over the

lead in period I kept a list of patients with whom I consulted that I thought may benefit from this

project. I focused primarily on those who were relatively physically fit and who were finding it

difficult to bring about change.I think the project fills a gap in local provision and therefore as a

practice we have welcomed it and are keen to be involved in the process of assessment and

refinement. Referral criteria need to be clear and accompanying explanatory material for patients

easily accessible to the GP during their consultations’. (Dr Veronica Pickering, GP, Ridingleaze

Medical Centre)

Photo 8: Making nettle tea

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Forest of Avon Trust

‘I feel that the woodland wellbeing sessions have been

really valuable for participants who seemed relaxed,

inspired and focused on the now during sessions. It's been

great to see how supportive they have been of each other.

They brought ideas each week of things that they wanted

to explore and we were able to support people to do what

they wanted whether it was making elderflower cordial,

drawing and modelling, finding out about wildlife or learning bush craft skills. Some of the most

valuable time was spent just being with each other in the calm environment of the wood drinking a

cup of tea or sitting around the fire. The participants were very enthusiastic about how the project

had helped them personally and seemed to be more confident about pursuing other interests as a

result’. (Rachel Tomlinson, Into the Woods)

‘The Woodland Wellbeing was a really interesting pilot project that clearly illustrated the benefits of

being in woodland for people who want to improve their mental wellbeing. Although the project

lasted just six weeks, participants reported that their mood was improved, noticed things in their

environment more, felt more confident about going to other places and would like to volunteer in

other projects. I really looked forward to the sessions and learnt a lot from the other people

attending, picking up new skills and ideas as well as new insights about running groups in an

outdoor setting.’ (Nicola Ramsden , Into the Woods)

Lawrence Weston Community Farm

James who is a long standing volunteer and freelance sessional worker at the Farm assisted on each

session of the project, he shared this feedback:

‘I’ve got absolutely loads out of being involved and it’s been really great and the experience has

been great, a window into what I think I would like to do as a career, you know. It’s always the

difficulty finding the funding for projects like this, but there’s a huge amount of value and you see it

on the confidence you see people gain when they learn a new skill and they see ability in themselves

that they haven’t really thought about before. It’s a hugely important thing for people building their

self-esteem’ (James – Volunteer)

Participants testimonials

Each participant took part in a one to one interview as well as a questionnaire; participants were given space

to expand their answers and accounts of their experiences and feelings. Moreover, their answers are not pre-

categorised in the interview schedule.

Photo 9: Identifying trees using leaves

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‘When I came here I felt stressed, and now I’m out in the

wilderness and I’m enjoying myself. The most things I enjoyed was

the woodcrafts, and I am think and it’s opened my eyes to the

wilderness, see what I can do. I’ve learnt to light fires without

matches, and I really good about coming and would like to come

back and do another course. I would be very grateful to come

back as I live very local. And I would to be a volunteer on the farm

and help out. It’s making me feel good about myself’. (Participant

R1)

‘Since starting the woodland wellbeing project, I have become more confident going outdoors. I no

longer stare at the ground when walking about, instead I’ve learnt from being here to look around

at all the colours, remember tree names and maybe collect fallen leaves to take home to press and

turn into cards to send to my family and friends instead of not keeping contact with them. I now

explore more when I walk out, which makes each day a bit better.

I’ve become more creative and bought my own whittling knife so I can sit in the woods and whittle a

gypsy flower. It’s a lovely reason to go out and have a packed lunch with my dog, and maybe if the

wood owner allows it I can take a small piece of fallen branch home to turn into a candle holder or

hair stick.

My family and boyfriend have noticed a big improvement in my depression, and are always asking

what I have done when I come home from this woodland wellbeing project. I love how gentle and

kind the people are, I felt relaxed and safe quite quickly and my anxiety was not bad at all. I think it

has been a very good idea and I am now sad it is ending but I have learnt so much. The woods and

being outdoors, so many things.

Since this started I found I was ready to enquire about volunteering at the RSPCA, and I started

counselling which I have always been too anxious to do before. It’s only the initial arriving at the

woodland wellbeing which was difficult for me, and probably other people with depression. Once

here, time goes so faster and it’s so calm and quite fun. It has greatly helped with my depression.

Thank you ’ (Participant R2)

Follow up session testimonial – participant R2:

Photo 10: cooking marshmallows on the fire pit

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‘Attending the wellbeing project has really changed my life. It’s

been a few months since I finished and it gave me the

confidence to walk further, go camping in Dartmoor (the best

holiday I’ve ever had), I now volunteer at a rescue home called

the Moggery. I’ve enquired about Animal care assistant

apprenticeships. I carry two books around with me, one ‘spot

50 trees’ and the other is about British wildlife.

Instead of rushing my dog walks like I used to. I now spend

time looking around, trying to learn the trees and I also carry a

little red sketchbook to copy berries I’ve seen, or herbs, so I can

learn what’s edible.

I’m hoping to attend a basket making class at the same place I

attended the wellbeing project. So I can use the basket to

collect strawberries/blackberries/wild garlic.

It really impacted my life in a good way coming here. I noticed straight away how I look around

more, but also feel more relaxed in nature and outside which really helps with my anxiety. Just

walking around wearing my whittled hair stick, I remember everything ive learned, and I’ve stopped

locking myself away. I enjoy being in nature. I’ve learnt to relax outside in nature! I used to be scared

of leaving the house, and only came out at night to walk my dog which was very unhealthy for both

of us. Now we always have a good walk. But I might look a bit crazy when I try and say out loud the

names of the trees to my dog.

I really hope this project runs again for people like me. I can’t think of other ways to help people.

This is so much better and healthier than medication. I really wish all Doctors supported this and if

everyone did this before going on anti-depressants they probably would never need them. Thank

you so much you’ve helped me a lot. (Participant R2)

Lessons learnt

There should have been a clear meeting point and signage at the farm, were people put off

by not knowing where to go once they got to the farm?, we don’t know how many clients

came and never made it to the woodland

The flyer and information sheet should have been one document with enough information

on, instead of two separate pieces of information, which may have caused confusion

The taster session had participants which had limitations, and the dynamics were wrong.

There is a need to ensure that patients are referred who have an interested

Photo 11: whittling a stick into a pencil

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People may have been worried about attending if they

didn’t come to the taster, needs to be made clearer, that it

will not matter if they don’t attend the taster, they can still

attend the project

What went well

Having James from the farm incorporated more skills into

the group, so participants were able to try more of a

variety of bush crafts and woodland activities

The general atmosphere of the group was brilliant, there

was no hostility and everyone blended well

The interests of the participants led the sessions rather

than pre-determined activities

Doing things that haven’t been done before, which meant we were all learning together

Participants lived nearby, so was more likely to attend every session

Recommendations

Visit to GP surgeries to do some ‘pop up’ events for patients to see the woodlands project

and what the project entails

Table top display boards in GP surgeries showing photographs of the ranges of activities and

testimonials from past participants

Having a face participants will recognise at the sessions as they would have seen them at

the ‘pop-up’ events

Offer to telephone participants on the morning of each session

Link in more formally with the new social prescribing framework for Bristol City Council and

the CCG

Run the programme for longer ie 3x10 weeks sessions per annum to allow maximum

benefit for participants

Clear signage and meeting point (café at farm)

Be clear that clients don’t have to stay the whole session time if that is a barrier to attending

Photo 12: making tea on the campfire wok

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More information with GP reception staff as they are the

day to day point of contact in practices

Link with the new community resource lead in GP practices

Widen to practice nurses and other health professionals, as

they often see patients who are not necessarily under their

GP

Good follow on menu of activities for clients so they have

somewhere to go after the project is finished

Have a clear referral pathways and patient information

record for recall, including referral form.

It is important to have skilled activity leader for targeted

groups, as this provides an invaluable form of support and encouragement to get involved

Green Prescriptions in Action: It is clear that nature is a valuable component to health and

wellbeing. Therefore, how could GPs encourage contact with nature for those who might

benefit from it? One way could be by signposting people to spend more time in the great

outdoors by making them more aware of activities they could do in the local area (Langford

K et al)xvi. Or, more formally, patients could be referred on to community based services in

the voluntary sector.

Clear guidelines and referral criteria for health professionals

Sourcing a more sustainable way to run these projects

Develop a more user friendly leaflet with contact details clearly written

Names of potential participants passed onto a project co-ordinator to contact, the pilot

referral process was a bit fluffy and it put the onus on the patients.

Photo 9: using natural plants and inks to create art work

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Appendix:

GP recording form.

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Get in to Nature with the Woodland Wellbeing Project

Being outdoors in woodlands and green spaces has many positive impacts on our health and well-being. The Woodland Wellbeing project is a new project working in your area, providing an introduction to the great outdoors and is free.

What kind of things can I do?

You will have the chance to:

Spend some relaxing time in nature

Have a go at simple practical conservation tasks

Learn about some of the wildlife in Bristol’s green spaces

Try your hand at some basic survival skills, like building a shelter or lighting a fire without matches!

Find out if being in nature can help you develop coping strategies for daily life

Learn some new ideas for using mindfulness and positive psychology

When and where?

6 weekly activity days

Fridays 10am - 2pm

June 12th - July 17th

Water Vole Woodland, Lawrence Weston Community Farm

Who can take part?

Anyone aged 18 and above who want to improve their mental wellbeing, reduce anxiety, depression or low moods. You should be:

Able to attend 6 Friday sessions from 10 - 2

Happy to spend 4 hours out in the woods

Willing to join in and work as one of the group

Not worried about a bit of mud!

How can I find out more?

Talk to the Woodland Ambassador in your GP practice and come to our taster session on Friday 5th June.

Woodland Wellbeing is run by the Forest of Avon Trust with Lawrence Weston Community Farm, Public Health Bristol and local GP practices.

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Get in to Nature with the Woodland Wellbeing Project

Client number:

Participant Outcomes Questionnaire

To help us understand the impact of our work and the benefits

emerging from this activity, we would like to evaluate our activity.

We would like you complete this questionnaire at the beginning and at the end of the programme. We

will also contact you three months after the programme has finished asking for you to complete the

questionnaire one last time.

Data will be treated confidentially and will be anonymised for the purposes of the evaluation of the

programme.

Overall, how satisfied are you with your life nowadays? Where 0 is not satisfied at all and 10 is completely satisfied. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Overall, how happy did you feel yesterday? Where 0 is not at all and 10 is completely. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Overall, how worried did you feel yesterday? Where 0 is not at all and 10 is completely. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Overall, how lonely did you feel yesterday? Where 0 is not at all and 10 is completely. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Overall, to what extent do you feel the things you do in your life are worthwhile? Where 0 is not at all worthwhile and 10 is completely worthwhile.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

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