Coed Lleol Woodland\Nature-based Wellbeing sessions
Coed Lleol (Small Woods Wales) is the name for the Small Woods Association in Wales. We help to improve the health and wellbeing of people across Wales though (free!) woodland and nature based activities.
Who can get involved: Anyone who lives and\or works in Wales. You can self-refer or ask to be referred by your local social prescriber\community connector. Local groups are also very welcome.
We work to:
- Provide healthy sustainable woodlands that benefit their owners, the environment and wider society
- Decrease social isolation
- Improve the mental health of our project participants
- Encourage our participants to get active outdoors
- Help our participants discover new skills and interests
- Provide supportive and fun environments for our project participants
Our sessions are designed to offer participants the opportunity to learn new skills, gain confidence, provide a friendly environment and opportunity to make friends, spend time outdoors and protect the natural environment.
Each session can consist of multiple woodland activities, such as:
- Campfire cooking and foraging
- Woodland walks
- Conservation activities
- Woodland crafts
- Green gym
- Survival skills
- Mindfulness
- Forest bathing
- and much more!
Spending time in woodlands has been proven to lower heart rate and blood pressure, reduce stress hormone production, boost the immune system, and improve overall feelings of wellbeing. Here are quotes from some of our participants who attended our pilot programme in Carmarthenshire:
“I have begun ‘playing’ with new skills and exploring others ie. Spinning/weaving. Has provided positive time out from our current situation. Made links with other local projects.”
“My mental wellbeing improved a lot. I look forward to the weekly group and helped beat loneliness. It encourages me to do new activities outside”
“I’m quite shy, and with 2 young children it can be hard to get involved in things. I have made new friends and am now involved in other things in the area”
During Covid-19, we’ve been working online to help people connect to nature and woodlands at home and in their local area.
One of the ways we’re doing this is through online video sessions, currently held on Zoom. Zoom is free to download and can be used on a computer, tablet or phone. At the moment we are hosting 3 online Zoom sessions a week : Nature Education, Mindfulness and Foraging. The online sessions are free and open to anyone in Wales.
Website address: https://www.smallwoods.org.uk/en/coedlleol/
Social media: https://www.facebook.com/actifwoodswalescarmarthenshire or https://www.facebook.com/CoedLleol
For more information on joining any of our sessions, please register via our website, here: https://www.smallwoods.org.uk/en/coedlleol/advice-and-info/book-onto-a-session/
This story is part of the Green Stories Campaign
supported by Carmarthenshire Third Sector Environment Network.
