Woodlands for Wellbeing

10 Mawrth 2022

To mark social prescribing day on 10th March, Coed Lleol is raising awareness of the benefits of green social prescribing with a short film – ‘Woodlands for Wellbeing’ - showcasing our work across Wales.

Now in its third year, Social Prescribing Day is an annual celebration that recognises local community groups and projects which have kept people healthy and connected throughout the pandemic and beyond.

In 2020, Coed Lleol collaborated with Leader RDP in 3 counties to run a project which sought to widen reach amongst the health sector and improve the ability to engage with audiences through virtual, digital means. The result was a series of inspiring and beautiful short films on the importance of green spaces for health and wellbeing. ‘Woodlands for Wellbeing’ focuses on the experiences of participants.

These films have piloted new ways of encouraging health professionals to refer into outdoor health initiatives for physical and mental health and wellbeing. We also organised events to engage health professionals in a holistic manner, through outdoor woodland wellbeing immersive sessions. These had a real impact on thepeople who participated and increased their understanding of our work.

To make the films, the project received funding through the Welsh Government Rural Communities - Rural Development Programme 2014-2020, which is funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the Welsh Government. The project worked in partnership to promote best practice across the whole of Wales, the rest of the UK and beyond, with Cynnal y Cardi (Leader in Ceredigion), Cwm Taf Leader (Merthyr Tydfil), Regenerate Neath Port Talbot (Leader in NPT) and new partners Green Care Finland (an outdoor nature-based social prescribing association in Finland).

Watch Woodlands for Wellbeing here.