Health benefits of woodlands highlighted at awards ceremony
Last updated | 23/06/2010
Perth & Kinross Council's Countryside Ranger Service, through an innovative new partnership with NHS Tayside and supported by Forestry Commission Scotland and the John Muir Trust, will be hosting the first awards ceremony for participants in the Woods for Health - Perth project today, Tuesday 22nd June 2010.
Woods for Health provides structured outdoor activities to supplement traditional forms of care and highlights the benefits to physical and mental health and well-being that getting out in the countryside can have.
Exploring woodlands
Following successful trials elsewhere in Scotland, the Council's Ranger Service, NHS staff and representatives from voluntary organisations developed a pilot eight-week programme. This enabled people supported by a range of NHS services to explore Kinnoull Hill Woodland Park, accompanied by the Rangers. Each session looked at different areas of the park covering subjects from conservation and landscape to history and wildlife, based on achieving the John Muir Trust Discovery Award.
Success welcomed
Lifelong Learning Convener, Councillor Liz Grant will present the awards to the participants. She said: "This is the first time that a partnership between the Council and NHS Tayside has delivered such an innovative programme in Perth and the feedback to date has been excellent. Those who took part have told us they feel they have achieved a great deal from the course, and our staff and their health counterparts have also benefitted from the joint learning process and the chance to develop additional skills. Well done to everyone involved."
Julie Flynn, Head of Primary Care, Perth and Kinross Community Health Partnership commented: "This project has proved to be an excellent example of how joint working can provide new opportunities to participants and for staff development that previously would not have been possible. We hope that this project will continue to evolve and that participants assist in driving this agenda forward."
