Tree planting at Fieldhead to mark the start of Caring Garden Project
The local provider of mental health services is launching its Caring Garden Project by planting the first in a series of trees at Fieldhead in Wakefield.
The Caring Garden Project is part of the South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust’s Creative Minds strategy, which underlines the Trust’s commitment to having a creative approach to service delivery as well as promoting more opportunities for people to develop and grow creatively.
The use of creative activities in healthcare such as horticultural therapy in healthcare has been shown to increase self-esteem, provide a sense of purpose, develop social skills, help community integration and improve service users’ quality of life.
The project has been developed by a steering group made up of staff and carers, who have planned a green space that can be enjoyed by anyone at the Fieldhead site. The space will offer a relaxing environment as well as the space for services to offer horticultural therapy as part of a person’s recovery pathway.
The Trust’s gardener has a variety of fruit trees set aside ready to plant, with the first trees in the Caring Garden to be planted on Tuesday 6th March.
The Fieldhead site is the Trust’s largest site and it provides a wide range of services including specialist mental health inpatient and assessment services, corporate, non-clinical support services and learning disability assessment and treatment.
As well as trees the garden will eventually include a log cabin as well as allotments for services based at Fieldhead and also groups from the community to grow their own vegetables and flowers. There will also be a seating area where people can sit and enjoy the garden.
The Trust’s chief executive Steven Michael will be joining the project steering group to mark the start of the garden development by planting the first of the fruit trees.
Speaking about the project Lynn Fowley, equality and inclusion development co-ordinator, said, "We’re excited to mark the start of this project which aims to improve the health and wellbeing of service users, staff and visitors at Fieldhead. We know from research that as well as providing a pleasant environment, gardens can benefit our mental wellbeing, by helping to reduce stress and anxiety. The tress and garden area will also help increase biodiversity on the site and increase access to green space that can be used by services as part of their care."
More information about Creative Minds can be found at www.southwestyorkshire.nhs.uk/creativeminds