Children’s mental health is a pressing concern, with recent data suggesting 18 per cent of children aged 7–16 years in England have been diagnosed as having a probable mental health disorder (Newlove-Delgado et al., 2022). Despite this, 70 per cent of those who experience mental health problems have not received appropriate support at a sufficiently early age (National Health Service [NHS] Digital, 2022) and schools in England are increasingly expected to support mental health and wellbeing but receive few resources to do so. One approach to supporting children’s mental health and wellbeing in school settings is through arts-in-nature practice (Moula et al., 2022).

Mobilising existing cultural and community assets is central to asset-based approaches that are gaining credence in UK public health policymaking, and schools have been identified as key institutional community assets that can promote wellbeing. However, individuals within the school community are often the driving force, and schools with strong support from parents/carers are more likely to be motivated to develop and maintain such interventions (Herlitz et al., 2020). As such, one way of building capacity for schools to implement public health interventions, including arts-in-nature practice, is to mobilise community assets such as parents/carers as volunteers.

‘Mobilising existing cultural and community assets is central to asset-based approaches that are gaining credence in UK public health policymaking, and schools have been identified as key institutional community assets that can promote wellbeing.’

Within this context, the Branching Out project set out to investigate how an established arts-in-nature programme, Eco-Capabilities, could be scaled up from time-limited projects involving small numbers of children, to a sustainable intervention involving whole-school communities. Eco-Capabilities was originally developed to explore the impact of the arts-in-nature practice (Artscaping) of charity Cambridge Curiosity and Imagination on children’s mental health and wellbeing, finding that Artscaping enhanced the emotional wellbeing of children (Walshe et al., 2022). Artscaping goes beyond traditional forms of art (such as drawing) towards an experiential connection with nature; activities include foliage-inspired collages, observational drawing, sculpting, music and stories, and artmaking happens alongside conversations that help children feel part of nature. However, extending its reach to more children and ensuring its sustainability remains a challenge. Accordingly, the Branching Out model was co-produced with teachers and arts organisations with the intention of extending the reach of Artscaping by mobilising community assets, including school staff and volunteers, to support its delivery and promote the mental health and wellbeing of children in primary schools (Bungay et al., 2023).

The Branching Out model was piloted in six primary schools in areas of high disadvantage in England. The initial intention was for schools to recruit local volunteers to be supported by school staff, but some schools found volunteer recruitment challenging and/or felt that including staff would lead to greater sustainability. The process of selecting children to participate varied between schools, but usually involved consultation between the senior leadership, teachers and pastoral leads. In the pilot, volunteers delivered weekly Artscaping sessions with children outdoors for eight weeks. 

Through semi-structured interviews with school staff and volunteers we explored the process of mobilising community assets, and the impact of the Artscaping sessions on both children and volunteers.  Findings identified that children benefited from the freedom of creativity and being outside; increased personal development, particularly confidence to participate in activities; improved social connection with each other and adults; and improved emotional wellbeing and mental health. Tangible impacts also emerged for adults, including improved confidence in Artscaping as practice which makes a difference to children, and improvements in their own emotional wellbeing.

As such, findings indicate that the Branching Out model represents an innovative way of extending the reach of Artscaping by mobilising community assets, with tangible impacts on both children and adults. In this way, we suggest that Artscaping delivered by volunteers could serve as another layer of support for emerging mental health concerns before the point of being eligible for other provisions, thereby demonstrating potential as a public health intervention to support the mental health and wellbeing of children in primary schools.

Figure 1: Fantastical Forest 2023, Cambridge Curiosity and Imagination, www.cambridgecandi.org.uk. Photo by Gerry Weatherhead, www.creativeeye.me.uk.

This blog post relates to a paper presented by Nicola Walshe at the BERA Conference 2024 and WERA Focal Meeting: ‘Branching Out: Mobilising community assets to support the mental health and wellbeing of children in primary schools’.