The NHS Forest
NHS Forest is one of our Green Space for Health team’s key programmes. It is dedicated to transforming the green spaces of healthcare sites for health, wellbeing and biodiversity through planting trees.
What is NHS Forest?
NHS Forest is a project run by CSH’s own Green Space for Health team. It is funded through sponsorship from organisations and individuals.
NHS Forest helps healthcare sites to plan, plant and manage trees, woodlands and related green spaces to create habitats for wildlife and sustainable social spaces for people. It provides free tree bundles and tree-planting advice to healthcare sites across England.
NHS Forest believes that a nature-positive health service is vital for building stronger, healthier and more sustainable communities.
Why is NHS Forest important?
Green spaces are one of our most neglected health resources. Evidence clearly shows the benefits of access to nature and green space for mental and physical health, including positive outcomes for heart rates and blood pressure, stress, mood and self-esteem, obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and many other physical and mental health problems. Access to green spaces on healthcare sites has a clear positive impact on patient outcomes and staff health and wellbeing. Evidence shows that in England alone the NHS could save an estimated £2.1 billion every year in treatment costs if everyone had access to good quality green spaces. Tree planting is a key part of green space development as trees offer unique health and sustainability benefits. This is why we believe that growing trees and developing green spaces on healthcare sites is essential.
NHS Forest Trees
The NHS Forest project offers fully funded tree bundles for healthcare sites in the UK.
Each bundle has been designed to provide a variety of benefits, such as attracting wildlife or providing spring colour, and contains trees of different species and sizes. We also offer orchard bundles.
Planting trees on healthcare sites creates better places to live and work. Trees provide privacy and seclusion for staff and patients, cool buildings, provide cleaner air, create habitats for native wildlife and store carbon.
What do I need to apply?
Trees offer the most benefits when they are mature so you will need to confirm that the land where the trees will be planted will not be built on for 10 years. Once your order is confirmed, trees will then be delivered to your site on a pre-arranged date between November and March.
If you are interested in registering your trust or healthcare site for a free tree bundle, then please visit the NHS Forest website. Expressions of interest open in summer ready for the planting season to start in November. Full details will be available on the NHS Forest website.
During the 2023-2024 season we supplied 27,000 trees to over 140 sites. 95% of applicants were ‘very satisfied’ with the trees we provided and would recommend us to other trusts.
Find out more
Learn more about the NHS Forest project, all of the work it is doing and the impact it is having on healthcare sites across England and the UK on our dedicated site.
Please contact Liz Rees, CSH’s Green Space for Health Programme Director if you have any questions, or for more information on how to apply.