Last Updated: 3 June 2025

1. What is the charity’s objective in one sentence?

To reconnect children to nature through education, improving their mental health and resilience, and to prove a working model of this that can be taken nationwide.

2. What changes are you seeing in the students and teachers?

There is noticeable improvement in enthusiasm, calmness, and confidence among pupils. Teachers express renewed joy in their work and appreciation for the space the gardens provide. Pupils are increasingly taking initiative and showing care and ownership of the gardens. Community and school feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with ripple effects seen in behaviour, teamwork, and resilience.

3. Do we have an idea of the amount and quality of evidence we need to drive change?

We cannot forcibly prescribe policy, but we can demonstrate what works and why it matters.
We are developing a body of evidence over the course of our scoping study across three schools: semi-rural, urban, and secondary, paired with control schools. This includes a PhD study by St Andrews University, attendance and attainment data, and qualitative insights such as behavioural shifts and community feedback.

Government structures are inherently complex, so isolating specific costs and figures to compare against is difficult, though we continue to explore metrics and options with the Highland Council and St Andrews University, School of Psychology and Neuroscience, to strengthen our measured outcomes.

4. What motivates the team at Go Flourish day to day?

The team shares a deep belief in the healing and transformative power of nature, but also of our responsibility to restore nature.
Personal experiences with farming, teaching, and community work have shown us the profound impact of connecting children with the land.
We are motivated by the urgent need for systemic change in education and to help develop resilience which will in turn improve mental health. We see Go Flourish as a means to restore purpose, community, and environmental responsibility.

5. How do you picture Go Flourish in ten years time?

In ten years, we envision:

• Proven success in our pilot schools.

• An affordable, community-integrated garden model.

• Regulatory changes around community use of council-owned land.

• Councils collaborating with local businesses to fund garden rollouts.

• Councils funding liaison teachers.

• Go Flourish training integrated into teacher education.

• Go Flourish gardens becoming community hubs.

• Expansion across the Highlands, then Scotland and the UK.

6. When do you envisage the charity expanding to the rest of the UK?

Post-2029, following the scoping study, and once we have demonstrable evidence, a practical rollout template, and local council backing. Initial expansion will be across the Highlands, then throughout Scotland, and finally the rest of the UK, subject to adapting to differing educational structures.

7. How many schools need to be included in the study before you have robust data?

Three schools. North Kessock (semi-rural), Dalneigh (urban), and a yet-to-be-confirmed secondary, along with matched control schools. This provides enough diversity to test and validate the model.

8. What is greater priority to us, expanding our operations into the Highlands or testing our model in urban schools?

It is our duty to show the path, it is not for us to walk it. To see our model scale regionally, we must first prove its robustness across semi-rural (North Kessock) and urban (Dalneigh) settings.

9. Are we clear about the transition from delivering projects on the ground to being a lobbying charity, i.e. when does expansion of our operation become a threat to our mission to drive wider change? Can the two objectives co-exist?

Yes, after the third school, we will pause to consolidate findings and rebalance focus towards advocacy. We foresee then two parallel pathways: one continuing direct project delivery where appropriate (e.g. our commitment to Kirkhill Primary), and another concentrating on lobbying and policy influence. These streams can coexist if resourced properly.

Have questions of your own?

Please contact us at info@goflourishcharity.org