Health & Nature Fund Projects
The Health and Nature Network launched the Health and Nature Fund in October 2025, and we are delighted to announce the shortlisted projects. Backed by Kent County Council Public Health, the fund supports the expansion of high-quality nature-based preventative mental health interventions that connect people with Kent’s blue and green spaces and help tackle health inequalities, particularly in coastal communities.
We received an exceptional number of strong applications, reflecting the growing momentum across Kent for innovative, evidence-informed health and nature programmes. The projects being funded demonstrate the creativity, commitment and progress being made county-wide and highlight the powerful role that nature connection can play in keeping people well.
All the available sessions in the following projects are FREE to participants.
Multi-area Projects
East Kent Mencap
Blue and Green Project
East Kent Mencap will run a 8‑week Blue & Green Wellbeing programme in Folkestone and Thanet for adults with learning disabilities, using local parks and coastal spaces to boost mental wellbeing, confidence and social connection. The course includes supported walks, gentle activity, outdoor mindfulness, environmental tasks and group discussions, and a personalised Green Wellbeing Plan for each participant.
Visit East Kent Mencap's website
Kent & Medway Mental Health Trust – Kent & Medway Wellbeing and Recovery College
Nurture in Nature
Recovery College staff will complete 2 RSPB Nature Prescriptions training courses and deliver at least 4 Nature is Nurture programmes plus one online option across Thanet, Dover, Folkestone & Hythe/Romney Marsh, Swale, Ashford, and Canterbury. Each new student will receive a completion booklet.
The programmes will be in the Autumn prospectus which launches on the 10th August 2026.
To sign-up: Complete the initial enrolment Expression of Interest Form
Visit Kent & Medway Mental Health Trust's website
Kent Wildlife Trust
Wilder Wellbeing for Parents and Carers of SEND Children
This project will deliver two 6-week Wilder Wellbeing programmes for parents and carers in Romney Marsh and Canterbury, plus summer nature sessions for 14-25-year-olds in partnership with SNAAP and a dedicated parent-carer wellbeing session. Through gentle walks, nature-based creative activities, wildlife learning and simple wellbeing tools, participants will build confidence, reduce isolation and feel more able to enjoy local green spaces. Each programme supports up to 12 people and takes place in accessible locations such as West Blean, Thornden Woods and RSPB Dungeness.
Visit Kent Wildlife Trust's website
South Kent Mind
Coastal Activities for Mental Wellbeing
A 12-week nature-based wellbeing programme delivered weekly across Romney Marsh, Folkestone, and Dover, using coastal settings to support adults with mental ill health, social isolation, anxiety, low mood, or stress. Sessions combine gentle walking with evidence-informed activities—mindfulness, grounding exercises, sensory nature engagement, walking-and-talking, creative outdoor workshops, mindful birdwatching, photography, and community beach cleans—to promote calm, connection, physical activity, and a sense of purpose.
Visit South Kent Mind's website
Wild With Wheels
Wellbeing Without Walls – Naturally Inclusive
Wellbeing Without Walls is a 10-week inclusive nature-based course in Dover/Folkestone or Ashford, led by Wild with Wheels CIC. It supports people with physical, sensory and mental health needs to connect with local landscapes through sensory nature engagement, creative activities and gentle mindfulness. Groups of up to 16 are supported by trained facilitators, volunteers and an ongoing online community for connection between sessions.
Visit Wild With Wheels' websiteAshford
Calm Nest CIC
CalmNest Carers’ Nature Nurture Hubs
CalmNest’s Nature Nurture programme will provide free weekly outdoor wellbeing sessions in Ashford for unpaid carers and social care workers, using gentle nature‑based activities and peer support to reduce stress, build resilience and ease isolation. Participants will also co‑create a simple self‑care toolkit they can keep using after the programme ends.
Visit Calm Nest CIC's website
Dandelion Time
Nurture in Nature
Dandelion Time has moved its Ashford service to a peaceful new site in Shadoxhurst, with gardens, woodland and grazing fields that create an ideal setting for nature‑based therapeutic work. Through the Nurture in Nature School Programme, children aged 7–10 with lower‑level challenges take part in three outdoor sessions that help build resilience and confidence and support their overall wellbeing through meaningful time in nature.
Visit Dandelion Time's website
Equinox Walks
Ashford Camino Wellbeing Pilgrimage
The project will pilot an Ashford Camino — a gentle, pilgrimage‑style wellbeing walk that encourages reflection, connection with nature and engagement with local landscapes. Taking place in accessible green and blue spaces around Ashford, the sessions will offer mindful walking, simple nature‑connection practices and supportive group reflection. Designed to be welcoming for people who don’t usually join organised activities, the walks will use routes such as the Ashford Green Corridor, local woodland, riverside paths and parts of the North Downs Way and Greensand Way.
Visit Equinox Walks' Facebook
Project Salus
Community Forest School and Allotment
A Forest School on the allotment and adjacent woodland offering wellbeing-focused, tailored sessions for NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) young people (recruited via local partners). Participants learn from nature, help manage the site, and take part in intergenerational events, wellbeing days, and open events to improve mental health and community involvement.
Visit Project Salus' websiteDover
Future Foundry
The Forge Gardening Club and Dover Youth Festival
Future Foundry will run a youth-led, nature-based wellbeing programme for 10-19-year-olds in Dover, combining a fortnightly community gardening club, environmental action and a nature-focused Dover Youth Festival. Young people will take part in gardening and greening projects, River Dour conservation, outdoor creative workshops and fire-based wellbeing sessions, helping them build confidence, resilience and stronger connections with nature and peers.
Visit Future Foundry's website
White Cliffs Countryside Partnership
White Cliffs Wellbeing
The White Cliffs Wellbeing project offers six weekly nature-based sessions for adults inspired by childhood outdoor experiences, helping participants shift from passive time outside to playful, sensory engagement that supports mental wellbeing. Activities include river and pond dipping, bushcraft, insect ID, and reflective moments, with a personalised nature journal created in week one. Run by the White Cliffs Countryside Partnership, all sessions are free and designed to build lasting grounding techniques and confidence in nature.
Visit White Cliffs Countryside Partnership's websiteFolkestone & Hythe
Feral State School CIC
Feral State: Free Family Beach School for Folkestone’s Harbour Ward and East Cliff
Feral State Beach School CIC will run 12 free beach-school sessions for families in Folkestone, helping parents and children aged 3-11 build confidence, wellbeing and a stronger connection to their local beach. The programme blends child-led coastal exploration, creative learning, gentle activity and ecological awareness, delivered through an intensive summer series followed by monthly sessions. A trained volunteer cohort will also support long-term blue space community activity and environmental stewardship.
Visit Feral State School CIC's Instagram
Kent Wildlife Trust
Wilder Wellbeing – Bereavement
This project will run a 6‑week Wilder Wellbeing programme in Romney Marsh for people who have experienced bereavement, offering gentle nature‑based activities, mindfulness, journaling and supportive group connection to help reduce loneliness and rebuild wellbeing. Sessions draw on forest‑bathing practice and encourage participants to keep meeting afterwards. The programme is delivered in partnership with Cruse Bereavement Support, who will provide staff training and referral pathways.
Visit Kent Wildlife's website
Touchbase Care
Forest Therapy for Adults with Disabilities
This project delivers three 6-week forest therapy programmes for adults with disabilities from Touchbase Care. Led by a certified practitioner, sessions support access to beaches and woodlands, using nature connection and mindfulness to reduce stress and anxiety and increase confidence, walking and time outdoors.
Visit Touchbase Care's websiteGravesend
Kent Wildlife Trust
Wilder Wellbeing
This project will run two trial 6‑week Wilder Wellbeing programmes in Gravesend for people with English as a second language, and members of the Gurdwara Sikh community. Each group of up to 12 participants will take part in gentle walks and nature‑based creative activities such as clay work, leaf printing, mandalas, bird‑feeder making and nature journaling. Delivered with The Grand Healthy Living Centre and the Gurdwara, the sessions create a warm, culturally respectful space for people to explore mental wellbeing, connect with others and build confidence in nature.
Visit Kent Wildlife Trust's websiteSwale
B2R Health Coaching
Health Coaching in Nature: Walk Your Way to 5K – Isle of Sheppey
A 10‑week nature‑based health coaching course on Sheppey, blending gentle Couch‑to‑5K activity with NHS‑trained health coaching to help 40 adults build confidence, manage stress and form healthy habits. Aimed at people who are inactive, isolated or experiencing low mood or anxiety, with referrals through GP and social prescribing teams, the programme includes weekly sessions, homework walks and online support, with pathways into local walking and running groups for long‑term wellbeing.
Visit B2R Health Coaching's website
Diversity House
Nature Connect
Nature Connect will offer guided coastal walks, mindfulness sessions and small‑space gardening workshops to engage participants who are experiencing social isolation, low confidence, or limited access to outdoor wellbeing opportunities, particularly within BAME and underserved communities in Swale, helping residents improve wellbeing, feel less isolated and build resilience through everyday connection with nature.
Visit Diversity House's website
Elmley Nature Reserve
Grounded: Wellbeing Through Clay, Coast and Care
Grounded is an eight‑week nature‑based wellbeing pilot for single mothers on Sheppey, offering free sessions at Elmley Nature Reserve that blend green and blue space activities, gentle movement, creative making and growing. The programme helps women build confidence, social connection and a stronger relationship with nature, supported by trusted community partners, free childcare and an accessible WAV shuttle service.
Visit Elmley Nature Reserve's website
Lynsted Community Garden
Cultivating Wellbeing Through Nature
A 6–week nature–based wellbeing programme for people experiencing social isolation or low wellbeing. Led by a Level 3 practitioner, it builds connection, confidence and gentle activity through growing and healthy eating, arts and crafts, movement and sensory experiences in the seven–acre Lynsted Community Kitchen Garden.
Visit Lynsted Community Garden's website
SATEDA
Improving the Mental Health and Wellbeing of Women Experiencing Domestic Abuse
A six–week nature–based wellbeing programme, beginning on the 1st June, for women who have experienced domestic abuse. Weekly 2–hour sessions cover plant propagation, mindful plant care, and nature crafts, combining hands–on gardening, sensory activities, and creative projects to support mental health, grounding, and community connection.
Visit SATEDA's website
Sheppey Matters
Project Name TBC
A 6–week nature–based wellbeing programme for adults that improves mental, physical, and social health by building meaningful connections with local green and blue spaces. Delivered in a welcoming, judgment–free group setting, activities include nature walks, noticing exercises, guided journaling, creative prompts using natural materials, nature photography, and grounding practices from a Level 3 nature–based intervention trained facilitator to foster reflection, self–awareness, and peer support.
Visit Sheppey Matters' website
West Faversham Community Association
Nurturing Nature for Men
A 6–week programme for men to take part in nature-based activities, such as walking, grounding exercises, nature crafts and gardening. Activities will foster social connection and peer support amongst men, to reduce social isolation and encouraging participants to recognise their wellbeing needs.
Visit West Faversham Community Association's websiteThanet
Sports Connect CIC
Coastal Calm
Coastal CALM is a free blue– and green–space wellbeing programme for 12–18–year–olds in Thanet, in partnership with Northdown Family Hub. Two cohorts take part in weekly SUP and blue–space sessions, water–safety tasters, and nature–based green–space activities to build confidence, connection and healthy routines.
Visit Sports Connect CIC's website