It’s been a feature of the lockdown that the threat posed by the virus seems to have been measured by our ability to enjoy green spaces. Prime ministerial announcements have taken us from a solitary walk in the park once a day through the freedom to have a socially distanced picnic or kick about up to today’s big change - the chance to sit in the garden with family and friends.
What this shows is the importance we attach to green spaces in keeping us physically fit and mentally well. They help us cope with the anxiety and stress of having our lives turned upside down, but they also promote lifestyles which are part of our natural defence mechanism against the worst impacts of the virus itself.
What this narrative masks, however, is the huge inequity that exists in society when it comes to enjoying the restorative and energising effects of nature. Recent research from the ONS told us that one in eight households don’t have a garden, with black and minority ethnic families missing out much more than their white counterparts. For many that do enjoy their own outdoor space, the chances of fitting six people in it sitting comfortably 2 metres apart is pretty slim.
On top of this we’ve known for years that, although the majority of people have got a park or public green space within ten minutes walk of where they live, for some people in some communities these spaces are off limits. Data tracked by Natural England about who visits where and with what frequency shows that it’s precisely those most likely to benefit from a walk in the park i.e. those most at risk of physical and mental ill-health who visit them least. The same inequity is apparent in the figures with people living in disadvantaged areas or from BAME communities least likely to get a daily dose of nature.
We should also remember that, while the majority of us begin to enjoy our restored freedoms, life in relative isolation will continue for tens of thousands of people. Those who have been shielding are now able to leave their homes for the first time but there will be many in this group and more widely who will be slow to summon the confidence to venture far while the risk to their health remains. The pattern of health inequalities in our country means the concentration of vulnerable people is again weighted towards more disadvantaged areas.
In many of these areas community gardens and allotments have traditionally been a lifeline – places where people without their own outside space or without the mobility or confidence to connect with nature further afield can join other volunteers tending beds, nurturing plants and growing food. They often double as health centres providing horticultural therapy on social prescription and some are productive enough to help combat food poverty as fruit and vegetables are ‘earned’ through volunteering and communal cooking classes help share ideas for how to feed a family with healthy food on a limited budget.
Grow Blackpool on the town’s Grange Park estate – the biggest social housing estate in Lancashire – is a community garden that has become pivotal in the lives of many people in the area. It’s not just about the gardening, but has been part of the process to cultivate community ownership of a wider range of activities and services run from the adjacent @TheGrange resource centre.
The lockdown has put a stop to onsite volunteering but not to the sense of community that has grown up around the project. Groundwork’s community gardeners Connor and Clare livestream broadcasts from the site every Wednesday afternoon as a way of keeping volunteers connected and an ‘adopt a plant’ scheme and seed deliveries mean growing tips can be practised at home. Regularly attracting more than 200 views, the videos and associated online chat have become a weekly highlight for many and are being supplemented by a Facebook food-growing club, helping people share their experiences from planting to plating up.
There’s been a lot of talk of the need for a ‘green recovery’ from the pandemic. This mainly focuses on how we capitalise on some of the big shifts we’ve seen in behaviour – an upsurge in cycling and a huge reduction in business travel. As we progress this thinking we should also remember that a green recovery also needs to take root in our communities. We need to redouble our efforts to ensure those who need it most can connect with nature close to home and invest in the places and projects that grow the connections and relationships that will make communities more resilient in the face of future adversity.
Graham Duxbury is national CEO of Groundwork
