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The Natural Health Service for North Yorkshire is a regional green social prescribing programme. Through nature-based activities, it is designed to enhance physical and mental health, reduce social isolation, increase social and economic activity, and create healthier, more active communities across the region. Activities will offer sensory and hands-on experiences, from foraging and art to habitat management, delivered through a phased approach that gently builds confidence, skills, and deeper connections with nature and others. This will be delivered by a partnership, led the North York Moors Trust, bringing together the North York Moors and Yorkshire Dales National Park Authorities, and the Howardian Hills and Nidderdale National Landscapes, the region’s family of Protected Landscapes. Together, these landscapes cover half of North Yorkshire, with the region uniquely placed to develop and trial a service that improves public health by unlocking the benefits of spending time in nature-rich environments. The programme received £100,000 from York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority and UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. It forms part of Mayor David Skaith’s Moving Forward campaign, a £7million investment to create healthy and thriving communities. 10-week nature sessions will be delivered in towns, villages, and coastal communities both within the Protected Landscapes and across the wider region, which are designed to enhance health and wellbeing, build connection and increase social and economic activity of participants referred into the service. Participants will create personalised ‘Nature Plans’ - a simple set of achievable steps to keep engaging with nature and to connect with other community activities that sustain the benefits of being active outdoors. The programme will engage professionals across the health, social care, and community sectors, including GPs, link workers, social prescribers, job advisers, and probation services, to help them understand the benefits of nature connection and how it can be used as a health asset to support treatment, recovery, and the prevention of health and social challenges within their services. A standardised referral pathway will be developed to streamline access to nature-based interventions. The programme has been shaped on successful regional pilots such as Nature Prescriptions and Growing Green and Blue Health, and draws on a strong body of evidence showing that time spent connecting with nature reduces stress and anxiety, improves mood, lowers blood pressure, promotes good gut health, and boosts confidence. This approach can be a cost-effective way of reducing demand on NHS and other services. Running until April 2026, the partnership aims to lay the groundwork to make the Natural Health Service for North Yorkshire a viable, long-term service. David Skaith, Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, said: “We’re incredibly lucky to live in one of the most beautiful parts of the country - from our coastline to our countryside - and spending time outdoors is one of the best things we can do for our physical and mental health. “This partnership and our Natural Health Service is about making that connection easier for everyone, wherever they live, so that nature becomes part of how we look after ourselves and each other. “This is a great example of how we can use what makes our region special to build healthier and thriving communities.”
