I am the Founder and Managing Director of Get Out More CIC, a social enterprise that seeks to connect communities with nature so we can all grow healthier together. My Fellowship will seek to understand how we can enable older people, particularly those living with dementia, to access nature. All the evidence shows that spending time in nature is good for our health and wellbeing, but in our society older people are too often enclosed indoors, disconnected from the benefits that nature can bring. As some family members get older, I have seen their lives shrink from being active nature lovers to being inactive and indoors all day, and their mental and physical health deteriorating as a result.

I will be visiting Norway to learn from their concept of friluftsliv � love of the outdoors � and their green care models. I hope to develop a model for supporting nature-based activities for older people to promote wellbeing and gain a better understanding of how to remove barriers that prevent people living with dementia and people in care from accessing nature. As a forest school trainer, I propose that developing a replicable training programme may be a good way to disseminate learning.