How garden activities prove uplifting

Project
The Garden Classroom

Purpose
To provide outdoor learning experiences to children from deprived areas

Funding
The not-for-profit company's annual turnover was about £160,000 this year. Roughly 70 per cent of income is raised through grants and the rest from trading, including charges to schools. Two-hour sessions cost £120 per class

Background
Spending time in the natural environment can have a positive effect on children's health and wellbeing. This is among the guiding principles of The Garden Classroom, an initiative to get young people learning outdoors at a time when their lives have become sedentary and fewer children have access to their own garden. The brainchild of chief executive Marnie Rose, who helped create the award-winning King Henry's Walk Garden in Islington, the scheme has been going for five years and operates from six sites.