The director and chair of Belleisle Conservatory Ltd (BCL) says he is delighted that focus of Mental Health Awareness week 2021 is nature, and he hopes it can really highlight the benefits of being outdoors.

The weekly awareness week aims to help people who are struggling with mental health issues.

Nature was chosen as this year’s focus because it is believed that it is central to our psychological and emotional health.

Jim Coubrough from BCL says he hopes that the focus on nature will offer a relief for many people who are struggling with their mental health.

He said: “It’s great that the focus is on nature for this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week. It can have such an amazing benefit for so many people.

“Obviously we’ve recognised for a long time that being outdoors and being with nature can have such an amazing impact on a person, not just on their mental health, but their general wellbeing”.

The conservatory recently reopened on April 26, and Jim could see how beneficial it was for people to return and be in the environment again.

He added: “When we reopened, it was amazing to see the lift it gave to so many people just to be in the conservatory and seeing everything again. We had people asking us all through lockdown when we’d be able to reopen because they were so desperate to get back in.

“Hopefully the focus on nature’s benefits can be continued.”