We’re excited to introduce the speakers at this year’s conference. This year’s theme is ‘Healthy Spaces: Integrating trees and green space into the NHS‘ and we’re delighted to have so many knowledgeable and highly experienced speakers. The free conference is on 4 October and will be taking place online and in person at Glenfield Hospital, Leicester.
Keynote speaker – Flo Headlam
Flo spent more than 20 years working in the charity sector before beginning a journey into horticulture. Flo is a TV presenter and a regular contributor to Gardeners’ World online magazine. She is currently involved in several community gardening initiatives in the London area and is patron at Green Hub Project for Teens and trustee at Vital Beats charity. She is an Equity Ambassador for British Association of Landscape Industries (BALI). Flo will be joining the conference virtually.
Chair – Professor Baroness Kathy Willis
Kathy is Professor of Biodiversity in the Department of Biology and the Principal of St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford. She is also a Crossbench Peer in the House of Lords. Previous roles include Director of Science at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and a member of the UK Government’s Natural Capital Committee.
Julie Hogg, Chief Nurse, University Hospitals Leicester
A registered nurse and midwife, Julie joined Univeristy Hospitals Leicester as Chief Nurse in 2022. She was previously Chief Nurse at Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Dave Bell, Principal Adviser: Health and the Environment, Natural England
Dave leads Natural England’s Health and the Environment work. Dave’s work aims to join up nature recovery and health strategies to increase the quality and quantity of nature across England whilst also improving the physical and mental health of people and communities and reducing pressures across health and social care services. He is focused on increasing the role nature plays in decision making across all sectors and developing new partnerships, strategies and tools to deliver thriving nature for people and the planet.
Dave has always been drawn to blue spaces and enjoys spending time walking along riverbanks, kayaking on top of the water and swimming in the water. Dave will provide an overview of his work to align nature recovery and health policies across government departments. He will reflect on emerging priorities following the general election and what opportunities this provides us with the create significant change for the benefit of people and nature. He will outline the important role of joint metrics and how the newly produced Standard Evaluation Framework for examining the health impacts of outdoor interventions will help us deliver greater join up across multiple sectors.
Alex Watkins, Occupational Therapist Technician at Langdon Hospital
Alex studied sculpture in Exeter before undertaking a PGCE and then deciding to change direction to become a carpenter. He specialised in building treehouses, playhouses and all kinds of adventurous garden play structures and had his own business based in Devon. Another change led to a career and life as an Occupational Therapy Technician with the NHS at Langdon Medium Secure Forensic Hospital.
He has had a life-long interest in trees and the natural environment which has led to him establishing the hedgerow and orchard project where he works. Alex will be speaking about how trees are good for our health and the work he does at Langdon Hospital to use them to help individuals with complex mental health needs.
Dr Mark Hayden, Consultant in Cardiac Intensive Care at Great Ormond St Hospital
Mark is a Consultant in Cardiac Intensive Care at Great Ormond St Hospital, London. He believes that Children should have an environment worth living in and so advocates for clean air and access to nature.
He will be speaking about linking environmental determinants of health into the Electronic Medical Record.
Professor Gurch Randhawa, Professor of Diversity in Public Health & Director of the Institute for Health Research at University of Bedfordshire
Gurch is a Professor of Diversity in Public Health and Director of the Institute for Health Research at the University of Bedfordshire. He has an international track-record spanning 30 years of utilising inter-faith and inter-cultural approaches to improving health and wellbeing. His research is focused on the development of patient-centred care pathways across the life-course from pre-conception to end of life care. Gurch’s work is internationally recognised specifically in relation to his work in achieving equity in long-term conditions, such as diabetes, kidney disease, transplantation, and end-of-life care amongst diverse communities – underpinned with his Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) approach of working with community and faith-based organisations to improve health and wellbeing.
Gurch works with a range of countries – UK, European Union, Qatar, Abu Dhabi, Pakistan, and India. Gurch has extensive research expertise in social prescribing and is interested in the mental health and physical health benefits of outdoor activities. He currently serves as a Patron of Bedfordshire Rural Communities Charity, and as a Non Executive Director of Forestry England, supporting them with their Forests for Everyone programme utilising an Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) approach of working with community and faith-based organisations to reclaim their interest in environmental matters, tree planting, volunteering, recreation and career development. He is also part of a research team that was commissioned by Chilterns Natural Landscape to examine access to greenspaces for minority ethnic communities.
Gurch will be presenting research findings from the UK’s largest study examining access to greenspaces and countryside among minority ethnic communities.
Elliot Watson, Project Co-ordinator for the Get Yourself Active programme, Disability Rights UK
Elliot has been working with Disability Rights UK since joining as a volunteer in January 2020. He has since joined the Get Yourself Active Programme where he helped deliver the Together Fund before moving into his co-ordinator role. He now works on several projects supporting Disabled people to become more physically active.
Elliot is a Disabled person himself and has 19 years of lived experience. He has had four spinal operations to remove a tumour and drain a cyst from inside his spinal cord, affecting how he walks. He had his first operation when he was 11 back in 2005, and his most recent one in 2013, and he needed stoma surgery in 2017. As a result of his own experiences and the barriers he has faced, he was inspired to move into the charity sector to help support Disabled people.
He is a lover of the sea and graduated from the University of Plymouth with a BSc (Hons) Oceanography and Coastal Processes degree. He enjoys going sailing in his free time.
Will Beasley, Director Cae Felin CSA CIC and Consultant UGI Surgeon at Swansea Bay University Health Board
Will is a consultant upper gastrointestinal surgeon at Swansea Bay University Health Board. I am also a director and grower at Cae Felin CSA CIC, which is based at Morriston Hospital, Swansea.
He will be describing what Cae Felin CSA CIC is, how it came about, what they are doing and what their plans are. He also hopes to be able to present research into the impacts of the project that is being conducted by the students at the Swansea School of Psychology Sustainable Wellbeing Group.