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West Cheshire residents can benefit from a range of free nature-based activity courses to help boost their health and wellbeing this spring.
The 12-week courses are part of Cheshire's Natural Health Service, which is managed by The Mersey Forest in partnership with Cheshire West and Chester Council. The service uses the natural environment to address local health inequalities and improve the health and wellbeing of individuals and communities in the area.
There are four courses currently taking place across some of the borough's parks, green spaces, and woodlands.
Many things that affect our health can't be treated by doctors or medicines alone. That is where initiatives such as the Natural Health Service come in, offering people alternatives which might be suggested to you through social prescribing.
A national Social Prescribing Day takes place every year on the 14th of March, highlighting how it works and how it can change lives. Social prescribing connects people to non-medical support to address their needs - it may be health conditions, loneliness, debt, or stress.
To speak to a social prescribing organisation in your area, simply contact your GP who can put you in touch with a local link worker. Research shows that access to and use of green spaces, whether in our towns, cities or villages or further afield, provides mental health benefits, including restoration from stress, reduced psychological distress and decreased depression and anxiety. Green social prescribing, such as that offered through the Natural Health Service, is a great example of this.
Gareth Howatson, Co-ordinator for the Natural Health Service, explains: "Through our Natural Health Service we've been able to connect with so many amazing members of the public who have taken part in our activities. By holding these activities outdoors, in the safe spaces that nature provide, many people feel comfortable to share experiences with one another which is hugely beneficial.
"As humans, we all experience what feel like our own challenges in life, and we often forget that other people are also facing challenges of their own. Our programmes remind us of this and provide comfort in knowing we aren't facing our challenges alone".
One participant who has previously accessed the course said "I feel I've benefited hugely from these sessions. I came to them as a result of feeling very stressed and anxious due to a recent family trauma. I wasn't sleeping and was breaking down all the time. I couldn't see a way forward. In parallel to attending a therapist, this course has helped me feel calmer, more focused, sleep better and have coping strategies when I hit tough times in the future".
A full list of upcoming Natural Health Service courses can be found below. To find out more about how to access the Natural Health Service courses please email: mail@merseyforest.org.uk or call: 01925 816217. All sessions are free of charge to access.
Gardening For All at Whitby Park, Ellesmere Port – Thursdays 10.30am – 2.30pm, from 14 April to 13 June 2024.
Mindful Contact in Nature at Helsby Community Centre, Mondays 11am – 1pm or 1.30pm – 3.30pm, from 18 March to 3 June 2024.
Healthy Conservation at Whitby Park, Ellesmere Port, Tuesdays 10am – 12.30pm from 2 April to 18 June 2024.
Mindful Contact in Nature at Castle Park, Frodsham, Thursdays 10am – 12pm or 1pm – 3pm from 4 April – 30 May 2024
Health Walks at Marbury Country Park, Northwich, Tuesdays 1.30pm – 3pm from 16 April to 9 July 2024.
Health Walks at Marbury Country Park, Northwich, Fridays 10.30am – 12.30pm from 19 April 2024 to 12 July 2024.
Mindful Contact in Nature at Castle Park, Frodsham, Thursdays 10am – 12pm or 1pm – 3pm from 6 June to 25 July 2024.
Mindful Contact in Nature at Helsby Community Centre, Mondays 11am – 1pm or 1.30pm – 3.30pm from 10 June - 29 July 2024.
Mindful Contact in Nature at Vickersway Park, Northwich, Wednesdays 10.30am – 11.30am from 5 June – 24 July 2024.
Gardening for All at Whitby Park, Ellesmere Port, Wednesdays 10.30am – 2.30pm from 5 May – 21 August 2024.
Gardening for All at Whitby Park, Ellesmere Port, Thursdays 10.30am – 2.30pm from 20 June – 5 September 2024.
The Mersey Forest has recently launched a Riparian Woodland Creation Project, which aims to help reduce flood risk and improve water quality by increasing tree cover along the watercourses of Cheshire and Merseyside.
This is a new, grant funded opportunity, which will cover up to 100% of the costs of implementation and ongoing management for 15 years, leaving a lasting legacy on your land and making a positive contribution to the local community.
Experienced advisors from our team will support landowners to develop their scheme free of charge and, as we're a locally based organisation, we will visit the proposed site to ensure a planting scheme is designed that works for the land and the landowner.
The project aims to transform the banks of our waterways into flourishing havens of biodiversity, while helping to reduce flood risk, improving water quality and enhancing the resilience of your land.
We're keen to work with landowners on this project, creating woodland that can work alongside productive agricultural land. Landowners can access our Trees for Climate or Grow Back Greener grant schemes which can cover up to 100% of woodland creation costs. We can also look at other Natural Flood Management (NFM) options such as leaky dams which have been highly effective in other areas of the Mersey Forest and elsewhere in the country.
Reduced soil erosion. Riparian woodland slows the flow of runoff before reaching a watercourse, allowing sediment to settle, and holding valuable soil on your land, instead of it washing away downstream. Ditches also take longer to silt up, so management is reduced.
Livestock benefits. Trees can provide valuable shelter for livestock during winter and shade during summer and help to reduce livestock contact with waterborne diseases. Additionally, where footpaths run alongside watercourses, fenced off riparian buffer strip can separate people and dogs from your fields, reducing the risk of livestock worrying.
Bank erosion. If you are losing parts of a field due to bank erosion, strategically planting riparian woodland along these sections will help to stabilise the riverbank through the tree's root structures.
Countryside Stewardship. Maintenance payments are often available for land on which woodland is planted and NFM interventions are installed.
Improve water quality. Riparian woodland helps to filter runoff and reduce the effects of spray drift, reducing loss of fertilisers, pesticides and sediment into watercourses and helping you meet the farming rules for water.
Reduce flood risk. Riparian woodland acts like a sponge, absorbing floodwaters and slowing their flow. This can help to reduce the risk of flooding downstream by temporarily storing flood water and reducing peak flows downstream.
Increased biodiversity. Riparian woodlands provide a home to a wide variety of plants and animals. Planting riparian woodland on your land can help to support biodiversity and create a haven for wildlife.
Reduced water temperatures. The shade provided by riparian trees will have an increasingly important part to play as the effects of climate change increase. Cool water temperatures are critical to the survival of many aquatic species.
Riparian woodland can be anything from a narrow strip of trees and shrubs directly along the bank top, to wider strips of woodland extending onto the floodplain.
All riparian woodland, whatever its size, is beneficial and we're keen to talk to landowners about potential woodland creation schemes big or small (funding is available for projects of 0.1ha upwards).
If you own or manage land along the banks of rivers, streams, or drainage ditches and would like to explore if riparian woodland could help these areas, we would love to hear from you.
Mersey Forest is currently offering grant funding for woodland creation through the Government's multi-million-pound, national Trees for Climate and Grow Back Greener programmes. This offers:
Grant funding to cover up to 100% of the costs of woodland creation
Woodland creation, design, planning and planting advice from experienced, professional woodland advisors.
Support for fences, water troughs, gates, contractors, Natural Flood
Management structures (such as leaky dams), and more
A funded ongoing maintenance plan to ensure success.
If you have any questions about planting riparian woodland on your land or would like to know more about how to access this funding, please contact mail@merseyforest.org.uk using "Riparian Woodlands Project" and your site name in the email title; or call 01925 816217.