Health board’s green spaces receive national recognition

A Swansea Bay University Health Board project that has wellbeing and wildlife at its roots has unearthed national recognition.

The estate team’s work delivering the Biophilic Wales Project alongside the National Botanic Garden of Wales, Swansea University and Natural Resources Wales has brought numerous benefits including improved wellbeing of patients, staff and volunteers, along with boosting the environment and wildlife.

The success of the project saw the team take home the Partnership Award as one of four winners within the NHS section of The Sustainability Partnership Awards.

Highlights

The estates department identified health board sites that could benefit from the development of green spaces, with just some of the highlights seeing staff and volunteers plant 4,000 trees and shrubs; establish 36 sites with pollinator planting and hanging 16 bird and bat boxes and bug hotels across 16 locations.

The project also saw two green roofs constructed at Morriston and Gorseinon hospitals, while those sites benefited from the redevelopment of courtyards into tranquil gardens. Three floating reed beds were also established in the health board’s Baglan headquarters.

Additionally, their innovative approach to nature saw wildlife digitally delivered to wards in Cefn Coed Hospital and Ty Olwen Hospice thanks to a live link from the National Botanic Garden of Wales in collaboration with Tadorna Wildlife.

In all, the project benefited from 10,915 hours of volunteer participation.

Recognition

Howard Stevens, Estates Technical Services Manager, said: “Winning the award is great recognition of the hard work and dedication of all the organisations, staff and volunteers involved in this inspiring project.

“Being connected to nature can help boost a person’s mental health, and that was recorded in our findings.

“The wellbeing of our staff, patients and volunteers is incredibly important, and we’ve been able to affect that by increasing biodiversity and improving various green areas within our sites at the same time. We have supported climate change mitigation and adaptation through ecosystem approaches and reduced noise pollution and pollution levels in our air and enhanced air quality by planting trees.

“The project has been a real success, and this award really highlights that.”