North Yorkshire Pioneers UK's First 'Natural Health Service' To Boost Wellbeing

A pioneering £100,000 pilot programme in North Yorkshire is using the region's national parks to improve mental and physical health, securing a further £550,000 to expand its green social prescribing model.

North Yorkshire is leading national innovation in health and wellbeing as the home of the UK’s first Protected Landscape-led Natural Health Service.

According to a new regional report launched today, the programme demonstrates how the county's natural assets can be harnessed to help people live healthier, more active, and more connected lives. The initiative positions the region as a testbed for a new green social prescribing model linking health and nature.

The intervention comes at a critical time for the region. Recent data indicates that healthy life expectancy in North Yorkshire has fallen by 1.9 years for men and 2.3 years for women, meaning the number of years residents spend in good health is declining. Rising levels of loneliness have also been linked to poor mental health and lower levels of physical activity.

Led by the North York Moors Trust, the landmark partnership was supported by £100,000 from the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority via the UK Government Shared Prosperity Fund. It brought together the North York Moors National Park, Yorkshire Dales National Park, Howardian Hills National Landscape, and Nidderdale National Landscape. The opportunity is expected to grow further with the anticipated designation of the Yorkshire Wolds as a National Landscape.

James Metcalfe, the Executive Director at North York Moors Trust and the project’s manager, asserts that the natural environment offers a powerful, proactive solution to these systemic pressures. He argues that the focus of health must shift toward prevention before patients ever reach a clinical setting.

“We all know the challenges that the health service in particular are facing.

The government has prioritized prevention. If we're going to do that properly, it has to start well before the hospital and it has to start well before a GP appointment and we think prevention can start in our protected landscapes and can start in nature.

Just through our own work through the last 6 months of the pilot already picking up from individuals who took part that they're not going to the GP as much. Some would be there on a weekly basis and are not doing that, are not presenting in an A&E waiting room and not necessarily using some of the health service in the way that they would have been prior to this program,” 

The pilot programme, supported by the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority, utilised the diverse geography of the county as a "test bed" for green social prescribing. This approach has been particularly effective along the Yorkshire coast, where the therapeutic qualities of the maritime environment have been leveraged to support local residents. Mr Metcalfe emphasised that the project is, in many ways, reclaiming traditional practices that have been lost in modern life.

“We're really blessed in North Yorkshire to have fantastic green and blue spaces. That's why North Yorkshire is a real test bed for this because we've got such an array of green and blue spaces.

In terms of the coast, I think anyone would see that spending time at the coast, spending time at the beach is so therapeutic. We've been doing that for many decades, even centuries really.

So, we're really just going back to many things that we used to do and maybe in the modern time we don't necessarily give our elves the permission or the time to do that. We're giving people that permission. We're giving people that time to spend with us with one of our facilitators in a structured program with activities that we know are proven to work to do things in the Moors or at the coastline because we know that we've got a fantastic array of natural assets and we think they should be being used a lot more in terms of not just visitors and tourism but for their a and wonder and the impact that can have on health and well-being,” 

James says the programme's delivery is highly structured, beginning with using local green spaces.

“A group of participants start engaging with us. That might be for a variety of reasons. It could be mental health, physical health, it could be social isolation. It could be recovery from cancer.

We take them through building blocks really. So let's say it's a group from Scarborough. We work with them in Scarborough in some green spaces, Peasholm Park, somewhere like that. All around how to slow down, how to notice nature, how to appreciate some of the sensory elements. taste, touch, smell, sound, scent, getting them just to slow down and be grounded in nature and feel comfortable in nature and with each other. And that's all based around activities that are well researched and evidence now of being really beneficial for predominantly your mental health.

We'll start to build in other activities. So, it might be art and crafts. It might be bushcraft. It might be carving. It might be cooking on a fire. It might be habitat management. Or it might be just a sensory walk. book, photography, all these things that are really evidenced in research about being really beneficial for ourselves and our well-being. And we'll do them in the protected landscapes. So, we'll do them in the mowers or in the dales, in the Howardian Hills or Nidderdale and spending time in those landscapes as a group,” 

The initiative specifically targets those at high risk of poor health outcomes, including carers, the unemployed, and those recovering from serious illness. One such group involved former patients from the Friarage Hospital who were navigating the challenges of returning to work and social life following cancer treatment.

“It might be that we have a group who've been prescribed to us for low-level mental health needs. It might be a carer's group and this is their weekly reprieve from being a full-time carer. It might be a group as we had from the Friarage Hospital who have come out the end of their cancer treatment and this is part of their sort of returning back to work, returning back to socialization and how to cope with that and deal with that and lots of the challenges that that come from that.

So, it's it's really it's targeted to the groups in many ways but done in the protected landscapes which is most important because we think that these landscapes can really add additional benefit to a traditional green social prescribing program,” 

Evaluation by academics at York St John University has provided robust data to support these claims. The research found that participants experienced a 24% increase in mental well-being, an 18% increase in social well-being, and a 15% reduction in feelings of loneliness and isolation.

Dr Tom Ratcliffe, Lecturer in Sustainability, Tourism and Heritage Management at York St John University, said: 

“Our evaluation shows unequivocally that the Natural Health Service for North Yorkshire works. In just ten weeks, participants experienced measurable improvements in mental and physical wellbeing, stronger social connection, and reduced loneliness. The evidence shows that when people engage with nature in a structured, inclusive and person-centred way, the benefits are substantial and wide ranging. 

"Participants also developed a stronger sense of responsibility towards nature, recognising that small, positive actions can make a difference. Healthcare professionals also showed a clear demand for the green social prescribing model. The task now is to embed this approach so that green social prescribing becomes a routine part of prevention and early intervention across North Yorkshire’s Protected Landscapes and our wider health and care systems." 

James Metcalfe says the findings are significant:

“The evaluators at York St. John, despite it only being short term, found significant differences in in people's behaviours.

In terms of mental well-being, mental health. There was 24% increase in people's perception of their mental well-being. Their social well-being increased by 18%. People perceive their loneliness and isolation to have decreased by 15%.

So these are really significant for a project for such a short term. window of delivery and it's all the other things, the friendships that are created by coming together in many cases in challenging times in people's lives and they're forming them friendships around commonalities in their struggles,”

Beyond the statistics, the report highlights the human impact, including stories of weight loss, improved sleep, and newfound confidence. For some, the programme provided a vital lifeline during the isolation of winter months, with one participant noting they had previously spent entire days in bed before the "nature prescription" helped them reconnect with others. Another participant credited the service with helping them avoid the need for antidepressants. Mr Metcalfe added:

“There's all the other things that you don't necessarily see in the data, which is that friendship, which is that social connection, which is the person who said that they've lost a stone in weight in a couple of months because they've been much more active with us. And then beyond the program, it's the people thinking about going back to work or volunteering or just becoming more socially and economically active.

So, it's all the other outcomes really. So, yes, there's these great statistics that we've got around mental health. health and well-being and social connection and physical activity. But it's all the individual stories for individuals as well, which is really important,”

The overarching ambition of the report is to change the public and political perception of National Parks and Landscapes. Rather than viewing them as static heritage sites to be admired from afar, the North York Moors Trust argues they must become active participants in the nation's health strategy.

“I think sometimes people see national parks or national landscapes as a nice inheritance. It's a nice vase that you get from grandma and you really want to look after it and you think it's beautiful, but you don't use it in the way in every day. And actually, we want to try and change that.

We believe that we can be a lot more proactive and a lot more present in people's lives. And we think that we want people to use our landscapes a lot more for an array of health and well-being activity.

And that's really what the report says is that we are here and we are ready to play a more proactive role in in your life, in your recovery, your treatment. And when we look at the nation as a whole around prevention and that strategy around keeping people healthier for longer,”

According to the report, the evidence is now clear that the connection with nature in these specific landscapes provides a unique benefit that traditional clinical models cannot replicate.

“The release of this report fundamentally shows as the evaluators have found that this model works that protected landscapes beyond just nature beyond just the connection with nature that our protected landscapes and and having that connection with nature in the protected landscapes can have real benefits to somebody's mental health and well-being, their social connection. And so we're releasing this report today that really highlights the role that protected landscapes can play,” 

Following the success of the £100,000 pilot, a further £550,000 has been secured from the Mayor of York and North Yorkshire’s Active Travel Fund to scale the programme. This new phase aims to benefit nearly 1,500 people over the next 18 months. David Skaith, the Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, stated that the debate has moved beyond whether nature-based care works to whether the nation is ready to back it with long-term investment.

Mr Metcalfe hopes that the North Yorkshire "greenprint" will eventually be adopted by other protected landscapes across the country.

“We really appreciate the mayor for York and North Yorkshire and the Combined Authority really buying into what we're trying to do and partnering up with us with the funding to allow us to do it.

So until 2028, we're going to be able to work with hundreds if not thousands of people to really work on their health and well-being or returning back to work or their treatment or post treatment recovery. And I really see this as being something that's not just a short-term project. What we're offering can be a long-term solution to many challenges and many problems.

But more broadly, I want national parks and national landscapes to be able to do this across the country. I don't just want this to be a model that's just for North Yorkshire. I think it's fantastic that this is happening in North Yorkshire and it started here as the first UK protected landscape natural health service, but I want to be able to say in a few years time we've been able to help the South Downs or we've been able to help Fumble or others to get to this point where they can deliver something very similar,” 

David Skaith, Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, said: 

“The results from our Natural Health Service speak for themselves. People are feeling better, both mentally and physically, more connected, and less alone. And the strength of engagement from both participants and professionals shows this isn’t a niche idea; it’s something people genuinely want. 
The debate has moved on. It’s no longer about whether this works it’s about whether we are ready to back it properly. That means better referral pathways and long-term investment so it can reach more people and have greater impact. That’s why I’m investing a further £550,000 through my Active Travel Fund to take this to the next level. 

This is about seeing health differently. Not just treatment, but prevention. Not just services, but wellbeing. What we are building here in York and North Yorkshire shows what’s possible and it has the potential to be picked up and rolled out right across the country.”