Young Groups
Eco in Mind for
Young People
At Eco in Mind, we support young people through
social-emotional learning outside in nature. The service has
been successful in supporting young people struggling to
attend at school due to anxiety, depression, bereavement and
self-harm. Young people feel they can relax, connect with nature,
learn about growing vegetables and be active
through a wide range of tasks.
They feel a sense of purpose and meaning as they know what
they are growing is supporting local food banks and the
wider community. We also focus on nature-based arts to help
to take notice of nature helping support both mental wellbeing
and behaviours to help look after the earth such as wildlife
habitats, recycling and bird feeders.
Eco in Mind FAQs
Spending time in green space or bringing nature in to your everyday life can benefit both your mental and physical wellbeing.
The project provides practical support by our trained staff and volunteers to those with mental health problems.
Our aim is to improve the quality of life experienced by our participants. We achieve this by supporting them to build confidence, self-esteem and resilience whilst connecting with nature and other people.
Do you love spending time doing things like growing food or flowers? Being outdoors can benefit both your mental and physical wellbeing. It can:
- Improve your mood, reduce stress/anger.
- Help you take time-out and feel relaxed.
- Improve your physical health.
- Improve your confidence and self-esteem.
- Help you make new connections.
- Provide peer support.
The aim of the service is to improve mental wellbeing through eco-therapy and to build and strengthen self-esteem, confidence and resilience in a peer-support environment.
Anyone with mild to moderate mental health and wellbeing challenges can access the service.
We can provide bespoke programmes for groups or charities that could benefit from this service. In addition, we offer team-building days and/or projects for companies to work on the allotments.
The sessions run all year and the sort of activities you can expect include:
- Sowing seeds and planting fruit and vegetables
- Digging, weeding and pruning
- Planning new spaces
- Upcycling pallets into furniture
- Creating wildlife habitats
We deliver an ecotherapy based group at several locations across Dorset.
We offer regular sessions throughout the week across all sites. There may be other one-off sessions available too. please check the Events Calendar for the latest services near you.
If you are interested in participating, please complete the form below or if you have any questions go to our Contact form and select Young People Services.
How did Eco in Mind come about?
Dorset Mind, in partnership with Meyers Estate Agents, have created the project. The project was the idea of founders Mark and Claire Meyers as a result of lived experience in their family. They wanted to create a community project that would inspire people and bring them together to benefit the local area.
We became partners to bring our experience delivering mental health support groups together with their vision to start Eco-in-Mind.
Volunteer for us
Without our volunteers we simply couldn’t do what we do. Our volunteers are the backbone of our charity. Dorset Mind volunteers help us deliver our mental health support services across our vast county in a variety of roles across the charity. We offer voluntary positions that suit the times you’re able to commit – and your level of experience.
