Green health projects across Caithness and Sutherland get funding boost
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Projects including paddleboard instructor training and befriending walks are among those to receive funding from the Highland Green Health Partnership.
Support for 15 community projects delivering sustained action for nature-based health interventions across the Highlands has been announced during Green Health Week.
They include training for young people, digital resource creation and purchase of tools and equipment.
Applications covering a wide range of project ideas and initiatives were put forward.
The projects that have been supported span seven of the nine NHS Highland health board areas and will help sustain green health activity and enable more people to access green health opportunities across the Highland region.
There are five successful projects in Caithness and Sutherland. One is for funding to support paddleboard instructor training for three local women. Trained instructors will build capacity for the Sutherland Girls on Boards project which aims to decrease social isolation, increase confidence and build mental and physical resilience through paddling and engaging with nature.
Caithness Voluntary Group has also been awarded funding for its nature walks to Dunnet Community Woods, which will enable the volunteer befriending team to support older adults and those with reduced mobility to access local natural spaces and help to reduce loneliness and social isolation through connecting with nature.
Lyth Arts Centre will lead a project for the Bower Art Garden to transform an area of unused scrubland to a community led greenspace encouraging socially engaged arts practices – the first space of its kind in the north of Scotland. This funding will enable the project to host performances, community meals and workshops in the new garden for the local community.
Gearrchoile Community Woodland in Sutherland has received funding for its community wellness woodland programme to deliver 55 one-hour sessions to increase green health and creative opportunities for local children and adults.
Meanwhile, Lairg and District Centre's Coisich! project is a series of walking activities aimed at local adults and children focused on exploring Gaelic in the landscape, biodiversity, archaeology and listening to the sounds in the environment.
The other projects are Gairloch Area Development, Glen Urquhart Rural Community Association, Sluggans Woodland Park Group in Skye, Fearn Feed Food Garden in Easter Ross, Nature 4 Health in Nairn, Darach Social Croft in Lochaber, Stratherrick and Foyers Community Trust, Insh Community Holdings in Badenoch and Strathspey, Wild Things in Inverness/Cairngorms and Staffin Community Trust in Skye.
Kate Thomson, senior development officer for the Highland Green Health Partnership, said: "The green health projects we are funding this year are diverse and exciting and it is great to see a wide geographical spread of projects supported.
"The small grant fund allows us to support local community organisations who are integral to the provision of green health activity in Highland."
More information on the projects can be found at www.thinkhealththinknature.scot
Details on events to mark Green Health Week can be found at www.thinkhealththinknature.scot/directory
