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Dose of Nature's involvement in the new national network MARCH
A new national network MARCH
Dr Daisy Fancourt at the Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care at UCL has been awarded a £1.25m grant to lead a new national network, MARCH, focusing on community resources that support mental health and wellbeing. The network proposes that Assets for Resilient Communities lie at the centre of Mental Health (M-ARC-H), and aims to increase our understanding of how social, cultural and community assets can enhance public mental health and wellbeing, prevent mental illness and support those living with mental health conditions.
Its launch meeting was held on November 8th, 2018, at the Royal Society of Public Health, and brought together 100 researchers, charity and community groups working in practice across the UK. For more information, visit https://www.marchnetwork.org.
Dose of Nature has been invited to be part of a MARCH special interest research group on natural environments and mental health, and will be working together with other academic, community and charitable organisations to promote research into the mental health benefits of spending time in natural spaces.
Dose of Nature hosts MARCH meeting in the Herbarium at the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew
On 2nd April, Dose of Nature hosted the first meeting of the Nature, Outdoors, and Mental Health Special Interest Group (part of the national MARCH network) at Kew Gardens. Academics, practitioners and representatives from Natural England and the local community attended to discuss potential new research projects regarding nature and mental health.
We are hugely grateful to Kew Gardens for their hospitality in allowing us to hold our first meeting at Kew.
We were once again blessed with beautiful blue skies and sunshine for our Guildford monthly conservation group. Our group worked on cutting back overgrowth along the river, as well as removing the invasive Penny Wort weed. We were delighted to welcome the Lord Lieutenant of Surrey to join us as part of his Surrey Day itinerary.
Dose of Nature clients and volunteers take part in Bank Holiday Dawn Chorus Walk
Dose of Nature Stall at Roehampton University for Mental Health Awareness Week
Dr Georgina Gould speaks to BBC Radio Surrey and BBC Radio Sussex
A Little Dose of Nature wins the Blueberry Changemaker Award in America!
This Easter, we invited young people to a creative craft workshop at Pensford Field
This World Mental Health Day, Romina talked to students and staff at Richmond College about Dose of Nature, and some of the science behind the mental health benefits of spending time in natural environments. Romina and Steph spent the afternoon answering questions from students at the college, and sharing the details of our young persons’ programme.
Despite the blustery conditions, we had a wonderful time celebrating the season with our Dose of Nature family at Pensford Field this July. Huge thanks to everyone who braved the winds to join us!
We very much enjoyed being part of this year's international Pint of Science festival, when Dr Georgina Gould explained the science behind the mental health benefits of nature to a new audience at a pub in Chiswick.
We were thrilled to be asked by the Eden Project to participate in their fantastic podcast series, Conversations in the Canopy. In one of the first episodes, “Why do plants make us happy?”, our very own Dr Georgina Gould talks to the Eden Project’s Todd Coleman about scientific evidence that shows how a daily dose of nature can improve our mental health and wellbeing. You can access the podcast on various platforms including Spotify and Apple , or you can click here to listen on YouTube .