Trees for Wellbeing - The Plan

TREES FOR WELLBEING

THE PROJECT

Our vision is to create abundance in our local area; green spaces that are great for residents and local habitats, and that can support happy, healthy and connected communities.

We aim to help fulfill this vision by working with people from all walks of life to establish permanent food landscapes. We are interested in how green spaces, particularly trees, reduce preventable illnesses and help people to get well sooner.

Calderdale Royal hospital has a wonderful natural environment that should be celebrated, and the clinical value of the hospital grounds recognized as a broader approach to healthcare. £10,000 TD Green Streets funding is being invested in Calderdale Royal Hospital to create a series of small food forests within the grounds. These are low maintenance, high impact, edible gardens which model natural woodlands. They include a range of trees, shrubs, creeping and climbing plants, and even mushrooms that work together to provide a flourishing environment for everyone to enjoy, with foods and plants to try and take home.

We are supported by Community Forest Trust, an award winning charity delivering community forestry initiatives, delivering successful environmental projects and are at the forefront of green infrastructure development and environmental regeneration in the UK.

We are working with the hospital staff, patients, visitors and neighbours of the hospital to have a say in how these are designed and developed. As well as providing advice and hands-on workshops on planting techniques and maintenance to those involved, we will be working with people to care for, develop and benefit from these beautiful and abundant gardens.

It’s not all hard work, we aim to engage people in the internal environment with the external environment through our ‘Art of Tea’ work. We’ll have time to sit back and enjoy a good cup tea in true English style, taking inspiration and plants from the food forests to make some wellbeing brews, and do some arts and crafts. This will be opportunity to connect with the gardens and share experiences with the people involved in the project.

For more on the ‘The Art of Tea’.

THE ORGANISATION

Trees for Wellbeing is a project run by Rooting and Fruiting, a Social Enterprise. Rooting and Fruiting’s mission is to act as a platform to encourage a spirit of investigation and experimentation in the area of permaculture and mycology. As well as develop systems and technologies to create mineral rich soil, clean water and to provide nutrient dense food and medicine. With strong community ties and creative facilitation we aim to restore, support and strengthen ecosystems, along with the humans within it, in order to create resilience for the future.

Find out more on our webpage: www.rootingandfruiting.co.uk

Come along & support our community project at Calderdale Royal Hospital; help plant healthy environments and grow healthy communities