Greencare
In March 2020, when the initial Covid-19 lockdown prevented any face-to-face therapy groups from taking place, Growing Better Lives started an online weekly group on Zoom. This was to keep users of services connected by engaging and sharing in elements of Greencare and nature, having some online playfulness and fun, as well as provide some peer and group support to the members. Rex and Vanessa worked with peer-mentors from the Slough service and GreenCloud was bor
What was planned as a remedy to the isolation that was created by the initial lockdown period, proved very popular with the members of the group and this was demonstrated to other services. The group carried on operating as lockdown eased and services started to return back to in-person sessions, but Rex and Vanessa stepped back and GreenCloud was facilitated by the local NHS service, under the guidance of Sam and Candida.
In November 2022, GreenCloud progressed further afield… onto the shores of Bangalore and Goa, in India! By collaborating with the Hank Nunn Institute (HNI), an organisation 5000 miles across the globe in India, GreenCloud International (GCi) lives on and continues to provide a Greencare space of community, connections and care.
Every week, on Wednesdays, under the skillful leadership of Neels, and volunteer co-facilitators from HNI or GCi, people who connect with nature come together in a therapeutic engagement space. Our membership now spans across the globe, with people logging in from Canada, UK, Ireland, India and Japan. A few pictures and/or videos of our interactions with different elements of nature are shared, with playful banter, we partake in a fun activity that includes online games, quizzes, crosswords, and our competitiveness shines through as we each vie for the title of ‘Obnoxious Winner’, we create artwork together as we capture our highlights of the weekly group and share meaningful moments with each other. It is not a clinical or psychotherapeutic space, but a supportive, caring and nourishing space.
The membership of the group comprises mental health workers, users of services and lived experience, and is open for anyone to join. If you would like to know more come along to one of our Zoom sessions on a Wednesday by dropping an email to us at greencloud@hanknunninstitute.org and tell us a little bit about yourself.
We can also visit you at your organisation and demonstrate a taste of the experience of being part of our GreenCloud group!