Gardening and horticulture are good for you ! Studies show being in nature has;
-a positive impact on physical and mental well-being
– reduces stress and anxiety
-promotes relaxation and is mood improving
Our gardens are a safe and secure place to make friends, mix socially and learn practical skills for independence. People love the environments we create and we love empowering participants and sharing new skills for happier lives.
As horticultural therapists, we build a set of activities for each gardener to improve their particular health needs and work on their personal goals. The results we see are;
- better physical health through exercise
- strengthened muscles to improve mobility
- improved mental health through a sense of purpose and achievement
- the opportunity to connect with others reducing feelings of isolation or exclusion
- learning new skills to improve employability
- and just feeling better for being outside, in touch with nature and in the ‘great outdoors’ !
Social and therapeutic horticulture (STH) can benefit people in a number of ways. It can be part of a person’s rehabilitation process, to help them recover and ‘find their feet again’ after an illness or a difficult time in their lives. It can help people recover from a wide range of conditions, learn new skills, and slow down the deterioration seen when someone has a degenerative illness. STH also benefits people with many different disabilities, including those recovering from stroke and heart disease, blind and partially sighted people, those in the early stages of dementia, and people with physical disabilities .
Get Up and Grow are at the forefront of social and therapeutic horticulture and we make it our mission to improve local lives by offering different pathways to better health, training, upskilling and bringing nature into hearts and homes.
Picture of people project
Who we help
Canalside PCN has an active green prescribing programme which has been assisted by joint work with community partners and securing and NHS UK Green and Blue Social Prescribing Grant. Canalside has been very quick at embracing alternative ways to health and wellbeing through connecting with nature.
One of the key partners has been Get Up and Grow a service very invested in the principals of being connected with nature drawing strong links between nurturing nature and supporting the growth of the mind and wellbeing. Hayley who runs the organisation has got a very active and broad imagination in developing exciting growing projects which have been very enjoyable for patients and staff. Examples are seed packs handed to patients in GP practices, donations of shrubs which have been grown in poly tunnels, distributing plants free of charge in GP practices, using organic products to make pickles, pottery programmes to provide pots to grow the plants in, pottery programmes for staff within the GP practices.
Get Up and Grow attended the Royal Pharmaceutical Society conference in London 2023 and was by far the most visited tables offering something very colourful and nature based in a very pharmaceutical led setting.
Get Up and Grow present an exciting and accessible offer to encourage people to understand the importance of being connected with nature in an environment becoming more challenging with less priority for green spaces in housing, digital influence and reduced awareness of the importance of green spaces.
We love the sessions that Get up and Grow provide, each time we learn new things, make new friends and feel better for having a go.
What is Social and Therapeutic Horticulture
Social and Therapeutic Horticulture is a process of using plants and nature-based activities to build an affinity to nature by providing a meaningful activity that benefits the health and wellbeing of the community.
Plants are used to connect and enhance the quality of people’s lives by growing communities together. It allows the participants to consider the growing cycle and how this affects their own experiences. They learn how to plant and watch a new seedling develop and then with further care, blossom and reach its peak. Observing a plant then die down, but prepare for the next season can help participants compare this with their own life experiences and how we literally grow stronger through adversity. This can be particularly helpful for participants with feelings of depression who find it difficult to imagine a better future.