Involvement in new national network MARCH
Dose of Nature's involvement in the 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.