Environment tackles mental health

People with mental illness and learning difficulties have been benefiting from volunteering to help protect the environment, said the Wildlife Trusts.

Dorset Wildlife Trust, Northumberland Wildlife Trust and London Wildlife Trust all run projects aimed at people with mental health issues.

One Dorset volunteer said the experience opened their eyes to how to give something back to the community.

Forty-seven voluntary local trusts help conserve the UK's habitats and species.

It felt good doing something for the wildlife and the community A volunteer

Dorset Wildlife Trust and the Poole branch of the Richmond Fellowship offer people from the Bournemouth Church Housing Association a chance to volunteer on Brownsea Island.

The volunteer, who has been undergone a rehabilitation programme, added: "We had to cut down rhododendrons, which are not good for the wildlife on the island.

"Once we all got stuck into cutting the rhododendrons down, it quickly turned into a lot of fun - hard but fun.

"It felt good doing something for the wildlife and the community."

Northumberland Wildlife Trust works with the St Georges Environmental Conservation Group to get people with long-term mental health issues out onto nature reserves for conservation work.

Tom Bell, who takes part in the scheme, said: "Volunteering offers me the chance to go somewhere and do something different I would not have done if I remained at home all day."

Meanwhile, Michelle Hussey, community project officer at London Wildlife Trust's Camley Street nature reserve in Camden, said: "When people feel down or stressed they will often head to the park for a walk - this shows how therapeutic the natural environment is for people.

"We are taking this to the next level by introducing people more intimately to the wildlife species on their doorstep, and using these experiences to address distressing and ongoing health problems."

The trust works with local primary care trusts to provide volunteering opportunities and health walks for people with mental health problems.