Speaking at the event Keynote speaker Dr Rachel Bragg OBE who has been actively involved in the development and promotion of green care, care farming and STH sectors in the UK said: “Today's symposium has been fantastic. There's been such a range of different people talking about how nature, plants, growing and gardening can have an impact on people's mental and physical wellbeing. Bringing everybody together like this to talk about how we can share a common language and work collaboratively to help the sector as a whole as well as individually is great.”
Packed with over 35 presentations including posters and garden tours, social and therapeutic practitioners, green care and medical professionals, academics and researchers heard global perspectives on the impact of plants on human health.
Thrive Ambassador David Domoney gave an inspiring speech at the welcome dinner. David is a published believer in improving health through nature, and as a devoted horticulturist and TV Gardener, he spoke of the importance of well crafted communication to raise awareness of the power of gardening for better health.
Keynote speaker Dr Rachel Bragg OBE presented ‘Plants for people from gardening in everyday life to horticultural therapies’ giving an overview of the huge variety of contexts that plants and growing are used in to bring benefits for people’s health and wellbeing.
Rachel addressed how to bring clarity to the sector encouraging delegates to find a common language, and focus on the primary outcomes of their service and the needs of the individuals.
We are a professional sector with properly developed and evidenced programmes.
Keynote speaker Dr Rachel Bragg OBE
Rachel highlighted that too many multiple outcomes can be confusing and that not everything green is the same, saying: “Everything green can do everything for everybody - goes against what we’re trying to achieve. We’re not just a bunch of hippies, we are a professional sector with properly developed and evidenced programmes. All sorts of contexts, create all sorts of deliveries, creating so much choice, but also confusion. Our green tale needs to be told in a clear way to avoid negative misunderstanding.”
Anna Baker Cresswell recounted her journey of ‘Horticultural Therapy and the Military’
where it is used as a rehab intervention and to improve mental wellbeing. Anna founded the Gardening Leave charity providing horticultural therapy for veterans in walled gardens and the High Ground charity alongside a new Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre at Stanford Hall where the charity has horticultural therapy facilities and provides STH as part of a multi-disciplinary team approach to care.
Anna started with a poignant quote about a military patient who told her the first time he forgot his injury was when he was in nature picking eggs. Her journey has been one of logical steps, strong connections and impactful projects working with those who ‘got it’ while overcoming resistance from those who didn’t. Anna delighted in how STH is now mainstream in more ways than many of us fantasised about and emphasised the importance of speaking the same language.
Dr Sue Stuart-Smith recited ‘The Well Gardened Mind in Everyday Life’ with insight into the psychological significance of attachment to place, being in tune with the seasons and experiencing beauty. Drawing from her book The Well Gardened Mind and new project the Serge Hill Project, and as a prominent psychiatrist and psychotherapist, Sue shared how connecting to nature alleviates symptoms of anxiety, stress and depression, by creating feel good endorphins and positive purpose while releasing negative energy.
Gardening is not so much an activity, but a relationship with nature and yourself.
Dr Sue Stuart-Smith
She said: “So much of our life is dominated by screens, connecting with the earth and the cycle of life is an important antidote which is why so many people turn to it. Gardening is not so much an activity, but a relationship with nature and yourself.”
Sam Alford and Julia Durbin spoke of ‘Eden Project: Nature Connections for Healthy People and a Healthy Planet’. Sam is Head of Nature Connections at The Eden Project and led the national cross-governmental Green Social Prescribing Programme to tackle and prevent mental ill-health, and Julia is Social and Therapeutic Horticulture Project Officer.
The Eden Project’s programmes bring people with mental health difficulties together to connect with nature and others, and address the challenges of human health and the state of the planet in crisis. Their purpose is to provide a safe therapeutic space where people can tell their stories in their own time by providing a range of programmes suited to people with different health needs in the community.
Dr Olivia Chapple gave an overview of ‘Horatio’s Garden – the impact of connecting people with nature’. Olivia is founder and Chair of Trustees at Horatio's Garden, the charity working to create gardens in challenging clinical environments to support patients, visitors and staff. She shared her experience over the past 11 years of working to build gardens in NHS spinal injury centres. She outlined how the gardens at the centres were valuable to all connected to the centre from clinicians to patients. The garden is used by different members of the team to support their own clinical work, as well as being a place of recovery for all.
In the words of Fiona Thackeray from Trellis “Without awareness we can’t have recognition, so let’s work together.”
Are you taking part in the next World Therapeutic Horticulture Day? Save the date - 18 May 2025!