Dear Friend, 

This year promises to be a highly significant one for our sector as Covid vaccination programmes enable society to function with greater social freedom. 

Right now though, that prospect feels far away as we all contend with a surging virus and another major lockdown.  

Although this has forced Thrive to temporarily close all its centres and suspend programmes for client gardeners, one of our key mission goals remains very much unaltered – equipping people to run Social and Therapeutic Horticulture (STH) programmes. 

We want to understand the demands you are facing and how coronavirus is changing your work so we can tailor and adapt our training to meet your needs. 

To help us do this, please take a few minutes to answer our survey. 

This year will see exciting new developments to support the sector, some of which you will be able to read about in this edition. 

We also have our usual mix of profiles, research and news, and don’t forget if you have something to share with the Growth Point audience you are most welcome to get in touch.  

Best wishes 

Mark Lang 

Editor

Get your free resource

So far 2021 has offered slim pickings when it comes to good news, but here at Thrive we’re trying to do our bit to put that right. 

We're offering you the opportunity to download a free copy of Sow & Grow, a Thrive resource packed with practical STH-related activities that can be used across the seasons in a variety of settings.

STH 101: new course ideal for learning in lockdown

A new beginners' guide to STH has been launched by Thrive to help those who want to keep learning during lockdown. 

Blending online materials with interactive sessions with tutors, the course is ideal for career changers. 

The small plot packing a powerful punch

Don’t let anyone tell you that having a large space is a vital factor in delivering effective therapeutic horticulture. 

The experience of one city-based community gardening project shows that a small growing area can pack a big therapeutic punch. 

Joanna shows Why Gardens Matter

Joanna Geyer-Kordesch, a retired Professor of European Natural History and History of Medicine, found new dimensions to her appreciation of gardens after suffering a stroke. 

Joanna has written a new book exploring this and spoke to Growth Point about it. 

Green prescriptions research highlights importance of choice

Can green prescriptions help people with depression and anxiety? That might depend on how they are given out if new research is anything to go by. 

An international team led by Exeter University found spending time in nature does help people with such conditions if they are the ones who choose to do so. 

But researchers found the wellbeing benefits were undermined when visits were not by choice. 

'Protect green spaces to safeguard wellbeing'

Open spaces are essential for community wellbeing and must be protected from spending cuts, say researchers. 

Surveys show that being able to go to parks and gardens benefits people’s mental health but there are disparities in who can access them. 

Call to use STH on larger scale for coronavirus recovery

Social and Therapeutic Horticulture and ecotherapy could have a unique role to play in helping people with post-Covid recovery, say researchers. 

Such ‘simple and transformative’ interventions have been neglected ‘both in practice and research’ for too long and should be used on a much larger scale to mitigate the detrimental mental health impact of the pandemic, they argue. 

Writing in Frontiers in Public Health, clinical psychologist Pourabi Chaudhury and 
psychiatrist Debanjan Banerjee say: ‘If we can utilise the healing properties of nature with clients appropriately, it houses great potentialities for benefit.’ 

Read the full report here.

Tune in to Thrive

In the news...

Church uses garden to tackle isolation and improve mental health 

Nursery offers therapeutic service for struggling pandemic key workers 

Study looks at value of front gardens for reducing stress 

Jo Brand backs hospital’s campaign for therapeutic garden 

Charity eyes site to aid mental health through gardening