'How growing a sunflower helped me fight anorexia'

For Emily Hough, nature was too often simply something "out there", a world apart from her, a view from a hospital window.

Years spent in and out of specialist mental health units in Birmingham and London, being treated for the eating disorder she had had since the age of 12, meant she felt little connection with the countryside or interest in the everyday flora and fauna around her.

That was until five years ago, when a hospital occupational therapist gave her an unusual prescription: Grow a sunflower.

"I'll be honest I'd never planted anything in my life," Ms Hough said.

"But I planted that sunflower and, just watching it grow, from me watering it and from me protecting it from the shade, helped me feel connected for the first time and really be able to appreciate what was around me - and how I can make a difference to nature and what nature can actually do for me.

"I was in a hospital at that point, so it was very limited. Fast forward five years, here we are today."

From those early roots, Ms Hough, now 35, embraced what is formally called by the NHS "green social prescribing", where GPs and health practitioners refer patients to organisations that offer nature-based activities, whether that be hiking, birdwatching, rockpooling or looking after a city-based allotment.

It is supposed to complement other more mainstream treatments and therapies and has been a key part of the government's 10-year plan for the NHS in England.

The scheme may not work for everyone but for Ms Hough, who has now relocated from Solihull to a life in the countryside, the benefits have been profound.

She is now out of hospital and has become what the NHS calls an "Expert by Experience" (EbE) - someone who uses that experience to design and evaluate new health services.

She helped shape the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)'s flagship "nature prescription" scheme for the West Midlands, launched earlier this year.

On Friday – World Mental Health Day - the lottery-funded scheme marks the training of its 100th health professional, with enough resources to support 1,000 patients accessing nature-based activities.