An opportunity to grow ThriveLearn’s offer.
Thrive and Notcutts are working together to develop a new free to access online course to help people experience the health and wellbeing benefits of gardening and nature. This Cultivating Wellbeing course is set to launch in the autumn and will encourage people to use their gardens and spend more time connecting with nature as a tool to restore wellbeing and improve physical and psychological health.
The development of the course and ability to offer it for free to all learners, has been made possible with the generous funding from Notcutts, a family-owned garden centre group, who are a long-standing supporter of Thrive’s horticultural therapy work as well as the education programmes. Through the Charles Notcutt Memorial Bursary, support has been given for 28 people to study for the Award in Social and Therapeutic Horticulture Programme Development since 2016.
‘At Notcutts, we have a fantastic link to health and wellbeing through gardening as my Great-Grandfather, Roger Crompton Notcutt, was advised to work outdoors due to ill health. It was then that his passion for horticulture grew and Notcutts was founded over 120 years ago. We are proud that Notcutts is founded on wellbeing and we are delighted that the benefits of gardening are now being recognised and shared more widely.’
‘We are passionate about the benefits that gardening can bring to mental and physical health, and we are delighted that, through this free online course, we can give everyone the opportunity to learn and experience these rewards’ said Caroline Notcutt, Vice Chairman of Notcutts.
Notcutts are a valued corporate supporter of Thrive and hold many fundraising activities to support the work that we do. These have included donating the entry fee for cars to Notcutts Oxford Garden Centre’s annual classic car show and hosting flower arranging demonstrations, with the ticket price being donated to Thrive. With the opportunity to now diversify how we work with Notcutts, we are excited for the launch of this course and to continue our ongoing relationship.
The partnership between Thrive and Notcutts is one that is built on a mutual understanding of the benefits that can be found in getting out in nature, and the value of creating a space that can provide restoration and peace in amongst the hectic world in which we live.
`Spending time in nature and gardens has so much value and there is much research to support how it can boost our wellbeing. As we celebrate our 40th year, we want to see more people tapping into the health benefits and for gardening’s therapeutic benefits to be widely recognised.’- Kathryn Rossiter, Thrive’s CEO
With the exciting opportunity to join forces for this ‘Cultivating Wellbeing in Gardens and Nature’ course Notcutts have kindly offered their time and ideas to support the development of the course. Alongside their involvement in the course’s development, Notcutts are also supporting the creative aspects, providing locations for our filming and still images that will be used across the ThriveLearn site.
This piece of learning is set to cover a wide range of ideas that link to cultivating our own wellbeing in gardens and nature. This includes looking at our historic connections to nature, what nature and our gardens actually are, how we use them and how we can identify our own connection and affinity to nature. There will be a range of tasks, and an opportunity to explore how you connect to nature, offering new ways to get outdoors and explore all the amazing things that our gardens and nature offer.
The course is set to launch on the ThriveLearn online platform in the autumn and will be promoted across the Thrive and Notcutts websites.
If you would like to get notification when the course goes live please sign up to our Thrive’s Training and Education Newsletter to up to date announcements on learning opportunities.
