Publish date: 29 July 2026
Tameside Hospital’s gardens, lawns, wooded areas and other green spaces are ready to be spruced up with the appointment of a new specialist nature support role.
Nature recovery ranger Matt Ross is now working two days a week on the site helping to create more nature friendly green spaces, and supporting staff, patients and visitors to access them to support their physical and mental wellbeing.
Matt is one of nine rangers based in 10 NHS Trusts around the country working as part of the NHS Forest / Healthy by Nature project, spearheaded by The Centre for Sustainable Healthcare (CSH) and funded by the National Lottery. The project is led by CSH’s Green Space for Health team who also manage the NHS Forest project, which has planted more than 160,000 trees across hundreds of NHS sites.
The rangers aim to inspire and support healthcare sites to transform their green spaces for health, wellbeing and biodiversity. It’s hoped the project will benefit over 86,000 community members across the ten areas by connecting people with nature at NHS sites.
Matt will also be spending two days a week at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport, as he works with both Stockport NHS Foundation Trust and Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust.
Time spent in nature has the power to reduce stress and anxiety and has been proven to benefit many physical and mental health conditions. The initiative also supports the NHS's commitment to tackling climate change and improving biodiversity, as well as demonstrating how healthcare settings can lead the way in preventative and community-based care as outlined in the 10 Year Health Plan for England.
"Nature is more than just a nice to have, our pilot project showed that bringing nature and healthcare together creates incredible benefits for everyone involved," said Sarah Jordan, Green Space Director at the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare. "Over 90% of pilot participants reported improved wellbeing and told us that the programme made their area a better place to live.”
So far, Matt has been getting to know the sites and working with the estates and facilities teams to identify areas where the Trust can increase biodiversity and review hedge trimming and mowing plans to create more nature areas on site. He has run some drop-in events and seed giveaways and is working to improve some courtyard garden areas. The site is also set to look a lot more colourful soon thanks to wildflowers Matt has planted around a new seating area funded by Tameside & Glossop NHS Charity.
Matt has long experience in the area, having previously spent nine years running an educational and community centre for the Peak District National Park Rangers, and also running his own health walk business. These initiatives included a social prescription ‘woodland wellbeing’ group, and running a programme of Nature Prescriptions for Derbyshire.
Matt said “I’ve loved nature my whole life and have been fortunate to spend most of my career connecting people with it. Time and time again, I have seen the health wellbeing benefits that can be unlocked with people spending time in nature, and it’s great to be bringing that to people in the hospital services in Tameside and Stockport, whether that’s patients, visitors or staff. I’m really looking forward to working with colleagues and making real and lasting improvements soon.”
