Natural for Norfolk!– This proposal – focused on the development of opportunities for nature connection though social prescribing- would work at community level to engage a range of service users, community groups, community workers, social prescribers, green care projects etc. to:
- raise awareness of what green care activities and opportunities already exist,
- explore what sorts of needs they already and could meet, and
- help with expanding or developing existing and new green care projects so as to meet a range of health and wellbeing needs.
A Norfolk Green Care Festival is being run during the summer of 2022 to promote awareness and support for green care across the County.
The project would also help to develop green social prescribing and could eventually cover the whole of Norfolk and Waveney. Funding options need to be looked into before further progress can be made.
Growing Together– focussed on North Norfolk and Norwich as pilot areas, this is all about enabling communities to assess their local physical environment and to create or develop more green spaces for a range of possible uses, including community food growing.
- In Norwich the successful bid by the City Council for Government ‘community renewal’ funding will see six months of community support, training and advice focused on 4 communities in the first half of 2022.
- In North Norfolk the focus is on Wells next the Sea and its hinterland. The Wells Community Hospital will provide the hub for the early development of this project which will see communities helped to assess communal green spaces, provide advice on food growing to households and groups plus other activities to reduce food waste, improve food security and promote sustainability. Citizen Science and arts activities will also be available to local projects. It is hoped that a bid for Lottery funding will be submitted later in 2022 once the partnership developing this project has made some initial progress.
Community Wilding Norfolk– The Network is facilitating discussions amongst a wide range of organisations about coordinating tree and hedge planting and to find ways of supporting community -led nature recovery assessment and plans, which include other ways of improving biodiversity and mitigating the impact of climate change, such as managing flooding etc. We have developed a model(see diagram below) and are currently developing various strands of this in anticipation of further national guidance and regulations about ‘Nature Recovery Networks’ and ‘Local Nature Recovery Strategies’.
Nature connection on NHS sites– the Network is involved in work to develop ‘Green Plans’ for the new Integrated Care System (ICS) for Norfolk and Waveney, and is supporting work to enable NHS hospital, Primary Care and other sites to develop opportunities for improving biodiversity and nature connection to aid recovery, promote health and wellbeing among service users, carers, families, staff and the wider community.
First Nature!– The Network has initiated work to develop a campaign to expand nature connection opportunities for children and young people across Norfolk. Initial development work is underway and it is hoped to fully launch the campaign in the autumn of 2022.
For more information on any of the above please email Nigel Boldero : nbold@live.com
Norfolk Green Care Network 