Green Space for Well Being
The Tidy Britain Group held a seminar on 1st March which explored the value of green space to well being and mental/physical house. Just occasionally a seminar will contain a nugget that makes one think “doh” (Homer Simpson style) as it is so obvious. This one was the nugget that Green Space is more than just parks and publicly owned/operated open space. It is gardens (that some of us have) and office/work space grounds that many of us have. What can we do about those?
Some of the obvious things are that we can ensure that they are litter free. In some cases this is difficult to achieve but we can all plan a litter pick just before grass cutting rather than let the machine shred what is there into zillions of little pieces. If we start doing that we are in a stronger position to argue for the local council to do likewise.
Is it possible to consider the planting in the spaces over which we have control? Bee friendly plants may work well. There are a number of places that are seeking to plant bee friendly plants on the edge of car parks as, sometimes, it is thought that bees and people are not a good mix. Pyracantha is a spiky plant that is excellent for crime prevention and provides valuable bird food just as winter draws on. You will need gloves to pick out litter from it.
There are large number of voluntary “friends of park” groups dotted around the country. How many of them connect with their local CVS (or vice versa). Could it be possible for every park to have a friends group? Some groups raise money for additional items in the park. Others provide a cohort of volunteers who can pick litter just before grass is cut; who can be stewards at events; who can encourage the use of the park to deal with well being and mental health issues in addition to the obvious physical benefits. Some friends groups run the catering concession. All should be valued by local councils.
The seminar highlighted the work of Birmingham City Council. Their web-site www.naturallybirmingham.org provides detail of what they are doing and what they want to do. They are seeking to create additional green spaces and have metrics to show shortfalls on a ward by ward basis. Your premises may be able to help to address any deficit in the area in which you are based.
As is the case with these things there were a lot of powerpoint slides showing huge levels of detail. If this article has prompted some thinking of how you can develop something around green spaces in your area please contact Andrew Rainsfor, our Research and Policy Officer: andrew.rainsford@vsnw.org.uk; slides can be forward which will save on some thinking time and signpost areas of good practice.
