Celebrating Community Garden Week: Cultivating Health and Wellbeing

As we celebrate Community Garden Week 2024, it’s an opportunity to reflect on the role that green spaces play in enhancing our health and fostering community wellbeing.

From the 1st to the 7th of April, this annual celebration honours the remarkable community and school gardens across the UK.

One example of this initiative is the Midlothian Community Hospital Garden, overseen by Cyrenians in partnership with our Green Health programme. This is one of three community gardens across the NHS estate. Here volunteers, staff and local residents collaborate to maintain a thriving green space. Open daily to the public, the garden offers a range of volunteer and group programs, fostering a sense of purpose and community engagement.

Over the years it has evolved into more than just a garden; it’s a hub of education, exercise, and purpose, offering a diverse range of activities from heritage growing initiatives to the community food forest.  

The Midlothian Hospital Community Garden is just one of many projects supported by NHS Lothian Charity. By supporting community gardens across Edinburgh and the Lothians, the Charity endeavours to create inclusive green spaces for all. Through partners and initiatives, our Green Health programme aims to harness the healing power of nature, fostering wellbeing for both individuals and the environment.

As you explore the gardens this week think about the interconnectedness between nature and human health. As one supporter put it, “This is what this Garden does for people. It grows people it makes them blossom.”