Green Care, Churchill Fellows and Community Growing

In May I had the pleasure of meeting (virtually) Australian Churchill Fellow Judy Brewer. Judy's research fellowship also looks at care farming but with a focus on young people and adults on the Autistic Spectrum. 

We often think that care farming and social gardening is a modern invention but in fact care farming and therapeutic gardening in Europe date back to the 4th Century BCE. The first use of gardens as part of the healing process was attributed to the physician Hippocrates as part of the Ancient Greek hospitals called Asklepieia, which were named after the Greek God of medicine Asclepius. Hospitals planted gardens and green spaces and patients spending time there was seen as an important part of the prescription during their stay in hospital. They were also encouraged to spend time in natural surroundings when they returned home.

I look forward to launching my own research fellowship project once travel is considered safe again but until then I continue to focus on green care projects closer to home. In May and June I began to work with Hannah Fenton from the charity Sustain, and Lucy and Rebecca from the charity Feedback, looking at wider issues for food and farming. Hannah had set up a county wide Food Partnership in Buckinghamshire and virtual meetings took place between local and national groups, food producers, and the County Council. I also enjoyed a number of online training sessions that looked at community growing and how this can contribute to a local food partnership as well as encouraging volunteers to learn new skills, spend time in nature and ultimately enjoy the fruit and vegetables of their labour!