Rosemary Wilson gave an impassioned talk on her direct experience as a Mental Health Trainer at The Site in Solihull, where they created a garden with, by and for people with mental health problems - the results and return on investment are impressive.
Similarly, Anne Jepson provided a snapshot of a community allotment and healthy eating scheme in Edinburgh that she manages at the NHS - all ages, all illnesses, all encompassing.
Dr William Bird is a GP, Strategic Health Advisor to Natural England, and author of Natural Thinking, a report for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds investigating the links between the natural environment, biodiversity and mental health. He is eloquent, erudite and persuasive. His statistics are stark: mental ill health affects one in six of us; the cost of mental ill health is £12.5 billion to the NHS; the NHS spends £338 million on anti-depressants which may not work and the Chief Medical Officer says that physical exercise works better.
According to Dr Bird, parks provide the best places for passive and active exercise and for relaxation. Similarly obesity and coronary heart disease can be both prevented and treated through easy access to good quality parks and green spaces. His proposal, supported by a growing evidence base, is for a 'Natural Health Service' alongside the 'National Health Service', and for parks and green spaces to be funded accordingly.
I came away enlightened and even more convinced that the parklands we are planning at the heart of the Olympic Park have been conceived in exactly the right way.
An artist's impression of what the Park will look like after the Games:
The parklands will be beautiful, full of wildlife and with lots of things to do. All the venues, housing and the other community facilities forming part of the Park will be easily accessible by foot, bicycle and public transport. CABE Space, which has been providing key advice to the ODA throughout the planning of the project, argues for good quality, well-maintained and managed parks at the heart of all communities - this is just what we will be building for the Games, and as importantly, for legacy.
