Existing Examples

Finding Land

Using NHS Land For Community Growing

The National Health Service owns 6.9 million hectares of land across the UK and already provides space for dozens of community growing sites. If your group is seeking land and think there might be some suitable NHS-owned land available, then an approach is definitely worth making.

Existing Examples

To help gain an understanding of what can be achieved and groups already in existence, you can find examples at:

• NHS Forest – This project encourages access to greenspace on or near NHS land and has a list of current sites
• Royal Edinburgh Hospital Gardens - An NHS Lothian initiative with a mission to make opportunities for good food and healthy lifestyles available to the local communities.

Projects on NHS land are diverse, ranging from a few tubs or flower beds near wards and waiting rooms to community forests.

Unsurprisingly, many of the gardens on NHS land have a health focus, which may encompassaims around helping or improving mental health, diet and exercise.

Others are concerned with patient well-being, such as the Harrogate Hospital and Community Friends Garden. There are also examples of community-run memorial gardens, such as the Children’s Memorial Garden at the Alexandra Hospital in Worcestershire

In a minority of cases, the NHS contributes funding in recognition of the health benefits. Your group could ask your GP whether there is any money administered locally, such as green prescriptions or via Patient Participation Groups.

You can get further information about the NHS commissing services via the Sustain website, but be aware that this can be a bureaucratic and difficult process.

Finding An NHS Site For Your Group

Most UK residents live within a fairly short distance of land owned by the NHS, which owns land not just around hospitals but also GP surgeries, health centres, care homes, dental surgeries etc.

In most cases it is usually obvious from an initial inspection that the NHS owns the land and is either not making full use of it or is having to pay for ground maintenance

What can prove difficult is identifying the person who can authorise allowing a group to use a site. As the NHS is a large organisation, there are likely to be bureaucratic hurdles to overcome as well. Be prepared to devote plenty of time and persistence to securing use of a site - gardening is probably not a priority for staff.

If you want land near a small practice or cottage hospital then the clinicians themselves (such as the GP or dentist) might know who to speak to. If you are approaching a larger organisation, see if they have an Estates Department and start there. In some cases a ‘Friends of’ group are involved with the hospital gardens.
Making A Successful Approach

Bearing the following in mind can maximise the chances of being successful:

• Show that you will engage patients in activities that will benefit their health or wellbeing
• Show that your garden will not present a risk to vulnerable patients
• Demonstrate that you are professional and well organised
• Produce evidence of the benefits you will deliver, for example FCFCG’s True Value Research and evidence from Sustain’s Growing Health work.
• Show that you will not take time or resources away from overstretched services

Other Useful Information

Thrive: Advice on therapeutic gardening

Community Land Advisory Service: Free help to draw up a written land agreement or lease.

Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens: – advice & support on all aspects of community growing.

Growing Health: A Sustain & Garden Organic initiative looking at how community food growing can be routinely used by the health and social care services as a way of promoting health and wellbeing.