String of Green Pearls

green spaces for human and planetary health!

So we started with one garden in the grounds of one practice in West Cornwall.

And since then it's just .... grown!

How it started ...

We started working with one practice on better using a small garden in the grounds which wasn't used well, not very accessible and definitely underloved. We scrambled together some tiny pockets of funding, borrowed tools, set up a small group of patients who were interested, made a plan and ... then Covid happened... so then we waited... started again - and now Stennack Surgery in St Ives has the most beautiful sensory garden, with aromatic and beautiful plants and herbs, accessible seating, a touch finger maze and hugely dedicated patients who manage the site, raise more funds, and make it available to staff and patients for meeting space, waiting room space, and just a beautiful spot to sit.

Then more people wanted to do the same in other practices and we could see a beautiful String of Green Pearls emerging. You can see lots of inspiring examples here! Then we started to develop relationships with secondary care, creating as Green Spaces Ranger at the main Cornwall hospital site, and offering partnership support to a co-created Lottery bid for a Healing by Nature programme on 4 acres surrounding one of the mental health units further up the county. The String of Green Pearls was born!

Saltash Health Centre say:

"Please see ...what we have bought with the green genius funding and other changes made to the garden.So far I have:

- bought a new picnic table and repainted the 2 original ones

- bought 2 veg boxes to use as raised beds, painted them and planted them up

with strawberries and rhubarb (we have some lettuce grown from seed to be planted in these)

- bought a bird table and bird bath

- bought 2 new plant troughs (which you can't quite see behind the tables in the photo)

and matching pots and planted them up with flowers

- bought honeysuckle plant to grow up the trellis around the door

- put together a cloche (which we were given for free) currently growing chillies + an aubergine

‘The staff are really pleased with it and have been using it in the nice weather

Some staff have some spare vegetable plants that they are going to bring in from home to put in the boxes

I still have £120 left to spend, so need to get some gardening tools such as a watering can and trowel, plus the hedgehog house. I am hoping I can stretch the budget to include a couple of small fruit trees

I also potentially have 2 more vegetable boxes that I might be able to get for free’

Meet the Green Pearl sites!

Primary Care Green Pearls

We now have 17 established or emerging Primary Care Green Pearls, ranging from a lovely locally made bench and some planters full of aromatic herbs by the surgery door, to a full scale permacultural or sensory garden developed in partnership with a local community organisation.

You can see more on our Make Your Garden Grow page, and our Practical Projects page. If you have itchy green fingers for your own sites, there may be ways we can help you find small pots of money to do so - always worth looking to see what is available. And you can contact each of us about any of the sites:

North and East Cornwall: Emily OReilly

Mid Cornwall: Martin Cluer

West Cornwall: Annette Eatock

RCHT Hospital Green Pearls

We have just launched a new partnership with Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust, and Eve is now our Green Spaces Ranger working with the Garden Team and the Estates Team to enable the whole site to celebrate its green spaces, bringing the outside into the wards, and encouraging the people on the inside to come out and enjoy!

We're using all the fabulous information on the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare and NHS Forests sites, and working with our Primary Care Green Pearls to share expertise, green finger wisdom and how we measure the benefits to staff and patients. The photo above is from the Space to Breathe report - stating how vital green space is for incredibly busy health care staff.

To find out more, contact Eve Tucker!

Healing By Nature Project!

The Lighthouse, a group of people with lived experience of poor mental health have created a fantastic partnership project called Healing by Nature, using 4 acres of land surrounded by a Cornwall Partnership Foundation Trust site.

Contact Peta Temple for more information.

Community Hubs Green Pearls?

We know there are community hubs who are working on their green spaces for health, and want to holler our delight and support!

If you work with or in a Community Hub and want to develop its green space for help, give us a shout and we'll see who we can connect you with!

Aug 2024 update!

We have been informed Pentorr Garden, accessible to both primary care and acute services, has been shortlisted for an NHS Forest award for its partnership working on its beautiful garden. Absolutely fantastic news and a massive congrats to the work of the Pentorr with support and determination from Emily, our fab N&E Climate Resilience Officer!