We are very proud to announce that we have renewed our ongoing commitment to the NHS Forest for 2024 by sponsoring 500 trees for yet another year. The NHS Forest is an initiative coordinated by the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare, a charity organisation.

At DSSR, we understand the need to integrate nature’s contributions into healthcare planning, and we appreciate the positive health benefits created by these invaluable natural assets which advance the sustainability and health objectives of the NHS.

Established in 2009, the NHS Forest aims to:

• improve the health and well-being of staff, patients and local communities through increasing access to green space on or near NHS land
• spark projects that bring together professionals and volunteers to use new and existing woodland for art, food crops, reflective or exercise spaces and to encourage biodiversity
• highlight innovative ideas to encourage the use of green space for therapeutic purposes, including social prescribing

The recent ‘NHS Trees and Woodland Valuation Pilot Study’ aimed to quantify and assess the contribution of trees to ecosystem services on NHS estates, finding that they offer significant value, totalling thousands of pounds each year.

It showed how trees and woodlands offer a range of invaluable ecosystem services. These include carbon storage and sequestration, air pollution removal, flood regulation, temperature regulation, and noise mitigation. The total estimated annual value of these services across the four sites in the pilot study was a substantial £82,531.

Our contribution last year resulted in new trees planted at Milnrow and Newhay Medical Centre in Rochdale. This new site was designed to the highest environmental standards, and the local community enjoyed a planting day for the NHS Forest trees–despite rainy weather. Pupils from three local schools were involved in planting an orchard, hedgerows, and woodland.