Partnering with Portsmouth Southcoast Primary Care Network, we applied for funding from Portsmouth City Council. The Council thought this was a great idea, and we received funding to gentrify the medical centre.
Dr Jack Collins hopes that once the soil and work is done, patient groups will be able to maintain and plant new additions. It’s a great way to get people active and help them with being more social.
A special thank you
Of course, to do the work, we needed muscle! Which is why we asked for volunteers, and they came! These volunteers were made up of people from:
- Portsmouth Southcoast Primary Care Network
- Good Gym Portsmouth
- Portsmouth Friends of Earth
- Patient Participation Group
- Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife
- Southseagreen
- Landport Community Garden
- We even had Counsellor Chris Attwell getting is hands dirty!
We had a fantastic donation of topsoil and stones from SGN, who happened to be working in the area and see what we were doing. Thank you for your support! We planted a variety of flowers, herbs and bushes to make the area look nicer, and also added a path to the front of the clinic. It took three sessions to finish the project and we’re very happy with the end product.
Social prescribing is a way of connecting people with resources in their community. That might be local drop ins, like Spark Community Space, or other services like our Cycling Without Age. It helps those who might be experiencing social isolation to get out and connect with others.
A special thank you to everyone who came on their weekends to help us.