Connect with Nature
Discover nature’s power to boost your physical and mental health and wellbeing
Find out more
Become a Green Health Volunteer
Give your passion for nature a purpose and support patients, visitors, and staff across NHS Lothian.
Find out more about current opportunitiesGreen Health
Our natural health service
Contact with nature can have a positive effect on physical and mental health. Hospital courtyards and gardens create therapeutic spaces for patients and breathing spaces for staff. This is why Green Health has been highlighted as a long term strategic priority for NHS Lothian Charity. Through our Green Health programme, we work in partnership with NHS Lothian to enhance the NHS estate and community greenspaces, and connect more patients and staff to therapeutic activities within them.
Project Highlights
RIE Staff Wellbeing Courtyard
NHS Lothian Biodiversity Action Plan
Wildlife at the Western
Havens: Stories and Portraits from NHS Lothian
Join our amazing NHS Lothian staff on their journey to discover their hidden havens – those peaceful pockets within the busy healthcare environment where they find moments of quiet to recharge. From an indoor basement laundry to an outdoor rooftop terrace, the stories and portraits capture the essence of these havens and the impact they have on wellbeing.
Latest News
Guest Blog: New guidance to help people with poor ment…
Nature-based programmes, such as gardening, conservation work, forest bathing, hillwalking, and other ‘green’ activities, could and should be an option at all stages of a person’s recovery journey.
Introducing the New Staff Wellbeing Courtyard at the R…
We’re excited to share that the Staff Wellbeing Courtyard, located just off the OPD6 corridor at the Royal Infirmary of […]
New Online Resource for Green Social Prescribing in Lo…
NHS Lothian Charity and Health in Mind are delighted to announce the launch of a new, centralised online resource dedicated to Green Social Prescribing in Lothian.
Blog: A Look Back at the Positive Health Network Gathe…
Ian Mackenzie, NHS Lothian Charity: Green Health Programme Manager, shares his reflections and takeaways from the recent Positive Health Network […]
Recent case studies
Bee Healthy Project at Carmondean Health Centre, West Lothian
The Carmondean Health Centre has taken a proactive step towards promoting biodiversity and improving staff and patient wellbeing by creating […]
Climate Challenge Grants – 2024 Impact Report
Why the Climate Challenge Grants were introduced Climate change poses a major threat not only to our planet but also […]
RSPB Nature Connections Pilot at the Western General Hospital
Through the summer and spring of 2023, our team worked with RSPB Scotland to test nature connection activities and a […]
Nature Heals
Nature heals. It’s a simple statement, a simple message, but sometimes the simple things are the most powerful. I’m a […]
Scroll through our upcoming events
Green Health Activities at the Royal Infirmary: Autumn 2025
What’s on The activities below run each week. No need to book, just turn up and take the opportunity to […]
Green Health Network Event
The latest in our series of networking sessions to connect people and practice across NHS Lothian and beyond.
Positive Health: Green Health and Tonic Arts Network Gathering 2025
Our 2025 Network Gathering is a platform for sharing knowledge, building partnerships, and advancing positive health initiatives using creativity and nature.
Green Health Activities at Astley Ainslie: Autumn 2025
Join Aisling, our Nature Rehabilitation Ranger, for a range of nature-based activities to support your health and wellbeing. All activities […]
Connect to our network to learn and share
If you feel passionately about the benefits of nature and their potential in addressing health inequalities, join our Green Health Network. All you need are a few good ideas, a little time to spare and a willingness to be involved with promoting and supporting green health activities across the Lothians.
Get in touch
Get in touch if you would like to find out more or discuss how we can work together to benefit NHS Lothian patients and staff.
🌿 Our Green Health Summer Newsletter is here! Discover nature activities & refreshed spaces for wellbeing @NHS_Lothian. ✨ Highlights: Connect with Nature, Green Health activities & new resources!
Read now 👉 https://ow.ly/tvZc50WS0Vu
#LothianGreenHealth #ConnectWithNature
🌱 New for East Lothian! We’ve launched a #GreenSocialPrescribing resource with @NHSLothCharity.
Find green activities to support your mental health and recovery.
Start exploring ➡️ https://eastspace.org.uk/green-social-prescriptions/
#LothianGreenHealth #Eastspace
We’ve launched a new #GreenSocialPrescribing resource for West Lothian with @NHSLothCharity 🌼
Making it easier to access local green activities for wellbeing.
Take a look ➡️ https://westspace.org.uk/green-social-prescriptions/
#LothianGreenHealth #Westspace
Look through a different lens this summer. 📸Join our Nature Ranger, Aisling, for photography workshops for staff & patients at Astley Ainslie Hospital in partnership with Stills: Centre for Photography from 23 June!
Find out more👉https://ow.ly/jEak50VVwZn
#LothianGreenHealth
We’re thrilled to have supported NHS Lothian to create their Biodiversity Action Plan. We look forward to continuing to work together to support these important green spaces, enhancing the wellbeing of patients, staff, & the community, & protecting our planet. #LothianGreenHealth
NHS Lothian are very proud of the green spaces we own & manage. This is why we’ve launched a Biodiversity Action Plan to create a thriving natural environment across our estate. https://news.nhslothian.scot/2025/05/21/nhs-lothian-launches-plan-to-develop-and-protect-our-green-areas/
🐦 Astley Ainslie bird walk! 🌿 Apr 22nd – drop in between 12:15-2pm. Spot woodpeckers, buzzards, nuthatches & more! 🦅 Learn bird ID with Aisling. Binoculars & guides provided. Meet at pet cemetery/St Roque lawn. All welcome! #BirdWatching #NatureWalk #LothianGreenHealth
