NHS charities are to be given a share of funding worth more than £1m in green social prescribing investment to help create more green spaces.

NHS Charities Together has revealed the eight initiatives that are set to benefit from the funding.

Each charity will received grants of between £25,000 and £200,000 over the course of two years.

The funding, which runs in collaboration with Hubbub, is now in its second year and has helped some 52,000 people.

“Initiatives to harness the enormous potential of Green Social Prescribing have never been more crucial,“ Hubbub director and co-founder Gavin Ellis said.

“Improving access to green spaces not only hugely benefits people’s mental and physical health, but also increases biodiversity and builds our sense of connectedness with the natural world.”

Initiatives set to benefit from the funding include a sensory garden and mindfulness area for children with additional health needs; and a woodland space with yurts, amphitheater, allotments and outdoor plunge pools for wellbeing groups.

Other projects will include an outdoor space for patients with long-term health conditions, dementia or mobility issues; and a mosaic of wildlife habitats to increase biodiversity and provide a safe space for therapy and wellbeing activities.

NHS Charities Together CEO, Ellie Orton added: “One of our main objectives as a charity is to help improve the health of our nation, and in turn reduce the pressure on overstretched NHS services.”

“We look forward to working with local NHS charities to bring to life their visions and see first-hand the significant impact that these amazing spaces will have on staff, patients and local communities alike.”

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