On World Mental Health Day which is being observed today, Malta’s first ecotherapy project – Blooming Minds – is calling for support from the public through a newly launched crowdfunding campaign in order to support the continuation and growth of the programme to help more people improve their mental well-being.

Blooming Minds is a collaborative project, designed and run by BirdLife Malta and the Richmond Foundation, which supports people living with mental health conditions in Malta through outdoor sessions in nature.

BirdLife Malta said that the project creates opportunities in nature through a programme of inclusive activities including nature arts and crafts, gardening and conservation work that help to improve mental health and inspire an appreciation for the environment.

Launched in January 2019 thanks to a grant of €17,000 from the Malta Social Impact Awards, the project has already began running a series of ecotherapy sessions for Richmond Foundation service users at BirdLife Malta’s nature reserves and in the community gardens where the participants reside such as Villa Chelsea – a residential property run by the Richmond Foundation.

BLM explained that initial results that evaluated how participants were feeling before and after sessions shows a decrease in anxiety by 38%, an increase of 24% in comfort and 15% in happiness, with these set to improve further following regular engagement with the programme, demonstrating a promising future for the project’s long-term impact.

With project funding due to end in December 2019, Blooming Minds is seeking €5,000 in financial support to enable its continuation and development so more people with mental health problems in Malta can benefit from ecotherapy.

As part of the fundraising campaign, BirdLife Malta and the Richmond Foundation will also be organising a Walk for Well-being which will be held on Sunday, the 17th of November.

The event will include guided ecotherapy practices and it will raise more funds for the programme. More details will be announced at a later date.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) one in four adults experiences mental illness every year, whilst one in 17 lives with a serious mental illness.

It noted that cities are associated with higher rates of mental health problems compared to rural areas: almost 40% higher risk of depression, over 20% more anxiety, and double the risk of schizophrenia, in addition to more loneliness, isolation and stress.

BLM said that in Malta, 96.2% of the population is urban. Despite the simplicity of the method, ecotherapy more often becomes an actual doctors’ prescription.

It is practised in many support groups and mental health centres, mostly in the UK and USA. Different researches show evidence for the role of ecotherapy for the general medical recovery and other disorders.

Blooming Minds ecotherapy session at Simar Nature Reserve – Photo by Kristina Govorukha and video of BirdLife Malta-Richmond Foundation’s Blooming Minds project (Footage by BirdLife Malta, editing by Jose Luque)

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