The Wellies Project
WELLIES - Wellness, Education, Learning, Laughter, Inspiration, Education and Skills.
Growing Rural Enterprise offers training opportunities and works with rural businesses (farms, nurseries, woodland, animal centres etc ) to encourage community use of its resources as therapeutic activity.
The WELLIES project aimed to promote mental well being and recovery through workshops and courses using plants, animals and the countryside.
The project ran 36 one day workshops and six individual six-week courses including fishing, sausage making, floristry, looking after chickens, pig keeping, farm walks, dog walking, horticulture, horse riding, creating nature walks, making bird boxes, mini digger and tractor driving.
The project also produced a DVD.
125 individuals participated in the courses/workshops.
The project had impacted on people's wellbeing and positive mental health. Forty-nine people took part in a WEMBS Survey measuring their mental wellness at the beginning and at the end of the project, out of these 46 people (94%) reported an improvement in their mental wellbeing. This is an accepted measure of positive mood.
This model is now recognised as something that works well, has impact and makes a difference to mental wellbeing. It has also reduced the stigma of mental ill-health amongst rural communities.
Good partnerships with the right organisations are really valuable. For this project it was important to make sure that everyone brought something to the partnership and had good contacts that helped the project to succeed.
Julie White and Nick Platt
Growing Rural Enterprise Ltd
Julie 07971 666474
julie@growingruralenterprise.co.uk
Nick 07767 844921
Found In...
Resources
Growing Rural Enterprise
For learner comments and interviews see the WELLIES DVD on the Growing Rural Enterprise website.
