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Go Wild, Stay Well is a project enabling people who experience mental distress to gain the therapeutic benefits of nature by taking part in conservation work.
It is funded by Ecominds and developed in partnership by Mind in Taunton and West Somerset and Somerset Wildlife Trust.
Participants help with practical conservation tasks and they have already got stuck-in at our Quants and Langford Heathfield Nature Reserves where work has involved clearing bracken to sustain the habitats of vulnerable species, such as the silver washed fritillary butterfly. Members of the group also have the chance to learn more about local wildlife with a guided tour of the nature reserve they are working at.
According to Project Manager David Topham feedback has been positive so far. “There has been great camaraderie between the members of the group. This is really important for people who suffer mental distress and can feel marginalised by society, due to it still being a largely taboo subject.”
Go Wild, Stay Well has been funded by Ecominds, a £7.5million funding scheme run by Mind on behalf of the BIG Lottery Fund. Ecominds involves people with direct experience of mental distress in environmental projects that improve their mental and physical health, and local communities.
Ecominds projects range from horticultural and agricultural activities, through to walking groups and the regeneration of local parks, encouraging people to enjoy and benefit from nature and green spaces within their local community. Through these projects links between participants and their community will be formed helping reduce the stigma of mental health.
Outdoor activities like those funded through Ecominds have huge benefits to mental health; in fact supervised programmes of exercise can be as effective as prescribed antidepressants in treating mild to moderate depression (Halliwell, 2005; Richardson et al., 2005).
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Telephone: (01823) 652400
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