Growing gardens, growing minds.
Gardens to add value to life and learning.
Flourish is a new charity. Our aim is to drive a change in educational policy to make gardens part of school life. This way we can reconnect children with nature and improve their mental health, educational achievements, and their employment opportunities in the future.
Over the last six years, we have involved children in hands-on gardening. The results have been moving and astounding.
Now we are ready to test a school-wide approach and track the results so that we can make the case for wider roll-out.
We believe Flourish can provide governments across the UK with the mechanism needed to establish the natural world in education policy, as called for in the Dasgupta review.*
‘The loss of connection
with nature causes us pain.’
Raoul Curtis-Machin | Director Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh and Flourish Adviser
There is now wide recognition of a new psychological pathology: Nature Deficiency Disorder. And the damage is being done as children develop.
But this is also when the greatest benefits - the lifelong lessons - can be achieved by an increased exposure to nature and beauty.
What we do.
Creating Nature’s classroom
We create high quality school gardens for outdoor learning and play. Our gardens become both the classroom and the playground.
Education fuelled by nature
We empower and employ teachers to work in the gardens, to fully integrate therapeutic horticulture and outdoor learning throughout all curricular areas.
Sowing a sustainable future
We reconnect children to nature, support mental health and equip them with the tools needed to face climate change and loss of biodiversity.
Watch our video to find out more
‘The development within each individual is endless and the measure of the impact is that we’ve now got children arriving at school on time, excited to learn. It’s magical.’
- Carolyn Brown, Acting Head, St Joseph’s RC Primary School, Inverness
‘I learned
about trust.’
“I love the outdoors. Being outdoors and learning makes me feel happy.
I will remember how I learned how to make a path and use systems. This meant I had to work as a team.
I learned about trust and
trying something new.”
Primary 7 pupil
Help us reach our funding goals and bring the magic of outdoor learning and gardening to more children.
We need your help.
We know this approach works. We know children are happier, healthier and more engaged when gardens are part of their education.
We now need to demonstrate that our approach is cost effective so that local and national governments affect real change.
This is why we're working with St Andrews University to develop specific metrics needed to measure the impact and effectiveness of our approach.
Our three year scoping study needs £1,350,000 funding in order to deliver the rigorous testing required. Please help us achieve our target and reach more children with this life-changing work.
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