Event NASP webinar: Learning from Phase One of the National Cross Government programme: Preventing and Tackling Mental Ill-health through Green Social Prescribing

All our webinars have closed captions and live BSL interpretation as standard.

In 2021 HM Government launched a two- year test and learn programme to explore how green (nature based) social prescribing could help prevent and tackle the rising numbers of people with mental ill-health. The programme was funded by a total of £5.77m from HM Treasury and national partners NHS England, National Academy for Social Prescribing and Sport England and was led by a collaboration of government department, length bodies, and strategic partners.

This innovative programme, one of the first of its kind in the world, was delivered through seven test and learn sites across England in the newly formed Integrated Care Systems. The sites were funded to develop new and sustainable ways to embed green social prescribing into their local mental health pathways, with a focus on people already experiencing early signs of mental ill-health and those living with health inequalities. Working through partnership with local VCSE nature organisations, the test and learn sites delivered nature- based interventions to over 8,500 individuals and showed positive impact on mental health outcomes, including those in marginalised communities experiencing health inequalities.

This webinar will share some of the key learning and recommendations from Phase One of the programme including:

• Findings from the national evaluation of the Test & Learn Programme commissioned by Defra Preventing and Tackling Mental Ill-Health through Green Social Prescribing
• Findings from national Research commissioned by DHSC including Exploring Perceptions of Green Social Prescribing Among Clinicians and Public and National Green Social Prescribing Delivery Capacity Assessment

The webinar will also describe the priorities and research focus of the current one-year Green Social Prescribing Extension Programme 2024-2025. The current programme is working with the original test and learn sites and is again funded by HM Treasury, with the aim of nature based social prescribing being embedded in all Integrated Care Systems over the next five years.

• Jules Ford – National Green Social Prescribing Programme Implementation Manager, hosted by NASP
• Professor Chris Dayson –  Professor of Voluntary Action, Health and Wellbeing, Sheffield Hallam University
• Dr. Louise Montogomery – National Lead for the Natural Environment, NASP