AN INNOVATIVE collaboration between an award-winning artist and one of the UK’s leading specialist healthcare providers will see the creation of a series of ‘Tiny Forests’ at hospitals and care homes across England and Wales.
The pioneering collaboration between the UK’s best-selling commercial artist Lucy Pittaway and Elysium Healthcare is set to bring huge environmental and well-being benefits for people supported in services across the country.
In 2023, after the tragic felling of the iconic Sycamore Gap tree in Northumberland, Lucy was inundated with requests to paint the stricken tree. She pledged to plant a new tree for every print of the painting sold, and demand was unprecedented.
More than 4,800 prints were sold, and Lucy and her team set about finding locations to plant the new trees where they would have the most positive impact possible. Her first planting project using trees from the Sycamore Gap pledge saw her contribute 1,000 saplings at Swinton Estate to replace trees lost to larch blight.
She has now joined forces with Elysium, which has more than 100 hospitals and care homes supporting people with mental health illness, learning disabilities, autism, eating disorders, and neurological conditions, to create a series of “Tiny Forests’ in the grounds and gardens of its services.
Through her Sycamore Gap pledge, Lucy will contribute trees to plant at the services, where they can be enjoyed by patients and their families, as well as staff working at the hospitals and homes. Each ‘Tiny Forest’ will be different, depending on the location, size, and nature of the service, and will co-produced with the people who use the specific service.
To launch the collaboration, Lucy visited Level 2 Rehabilitation Services Crossley Place in Liverpool and Victoria Gardens in Huyton to learn more about the people supported at the services, and about their Tiny Forest plans.
Andy Wadley, Director of NHS Contracts and Integrated Systems and Sustainability Lead at Elysium said: “As an organisation, Elysium is absolutely committed to sustainability and protecting the environment. Alongside this, research shows just how important green spaces and being outdoors are for everyone’s mental and physical health and wellbeing.
“These Tiny Forests will help us enhance the outdoor spaces around our services and encourage people to spend time outside. They will be co-produced with the people we support, who will be involved at all stages from research to tree choice, design, planting, and on-going maintenance.
“We have plans for projects which will see us plant endangered native species and others which involve creating communal outdoor relaxation spaces. This is a truly exciting collaboration with Lucy, and we can’t wait to get started!”
Lucy added: “We are delighted that these Tiny Forests will have such a positive impact, not only on the environment, but on the lives of people who use Elysium’s services, their families, and their staff teams.
“When we made the Sycamore Gap pledge, we wanted to see something positive come out of the sadness the loss of the tree brought and to honour its legacy. This partnership with Elysium and creating these wonderful forests in all shapes and sizes certainly does that.”
