Come and celebrate the NHS Forest At our Conference, University Hospital, Coventry
Tuesday, 25th October, 2011, University Hospital, Coventry, 11:30am
Event includes an awards ceremony presented by Pam Warhurst, Chair of the Forestry Commission
The NHS Forest is holding its first annual event to mark the success of its project to plant 1.3m trees across the UK, one for every employee in the NHS, and create a ‘Natural Health Service’.
With 4,200 trees planted so far and over 30 NHS sites engaged in the project, a Green apple award for one of our NHS Forest sites and being mentioned as a case study in the Forestry Section of the National Ecosystems Assessment and praised in the new public health white paper, we have a lot to celebrate! We are inviting people from existing as much as from potential NHS Forest sites to join in the celebrations which will also be attended by senior figures from the NHS and Forestry organizations.
The day’s festivities will include an award ceremony, outdoor activities such as tree planting and a NHS Forest quiz. The activities will reflect the distinctive nature of the NHS Forest project and get participants thinking about and engaging with healthcare and nature. There will also be opportunities for staff from new potential NHS Forest sites to find out how to get involved with the NHS Forest, raise money for it and get the community engaged. A locally sourced seasonal lunch will be provided with plenty of opportunity to sample the forest products.
The Centre for Sustainable Healthcare in partnership with the Forestry Commission, BTCV, Natural England and others started the NHS Forest in 2008 with the idea of planting 1.3m trees across the UK, representing a sapling for every employee in the NHS. Dubbed the ‘Natural Health Service’ the forest project aims to provide trees, bushes and flowers for every NHS campus, benefitting patients, staff and the local community through improving their access to green space on or near to NHS Estates and reducing the NHS’ carbon footprint. When the NHS Forest starts to reach maturity in 20 years time, it will reduce the NHS’ carbon footprint by a massive 10%. Taking into account that the NHS is one of the biggest resource users and carbon generators in the UK the decrease in its carbon emissions will be considerable.
The NHS Forest also offers a tree sponsorship scheme, which is run by Oxtreegen. The scheme gives patients, relatives and staff the opportunity to donate a tree as a thank you to staff for their care, to commemorate a loved one or celebrate a baby being born. Trees can be sponsored by purchasing NHS Forest merchandise including “twigees” and gift cards. For further information: http://www.oxtreegen.com/CharityTrees/NHSForest.aspx
University Hospital, Coventry is very excited about starting its own NHS Forest by planting trees on its estate. The Trust is also part of our lottery funded sister project ‘Outer Space’ which involves a detailed community engagement project on site. The project will focus on hard-to-reach priority groups and people who have a low level of engagement with the natural environment. Through activity days, setting up and running of nature trails, art therapy and story telling on site thousands more people will be able to engage with the green space on the University Hospital grounds.
Andy Hardy, Chief Executive Officer of University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust said: “The NHS Forest is a simple but effective idea to improve the environment. As a modern Trust this already fits in with our sustainability plans and our ethos as a responsible citizen and I am looking forward to watching this take shape on site.”
Rachel Stancliffe from The Centre for Sustainable Healthcare said: “The forest will win hearts and minds by connecting NHS staff with a highly visible project to introduce the broader issues of sustainability. It will also link staff, patients and the neighbouring communities with their local green space providing very tangible physical benefits for recreation and physical activity as well as wellbeing and a symbolic connection with the wider environment.”
Yvonne Hunt, Development Manager for Health at BTCV said: "The NHS Forest is a fantastic concept because trees and green spaces are proven to promote physical and mental health and to aid patient recovery. As a national charity, which mobilises tens of thousands of volunteers to care for their local green spaces, BTCV is delighted to support the NHS Forest and looks forward to working with many more hospitals and health centres to transform their grounds."
Media Note:
The event starts at 11am. The awards ceremony will take place around 12-30pm with interview and photography opportunities around that time.
For information about The NHS Forest please contact sarah.dandy@sustainablehealthcare.org
And see www.nhsforest.org for further details about the project.
For Information about University Hospital, Coventry contact: Clive Robinson, Sustainability Manger Clive.Robinson@uhcw.nhs.uk
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