Gardening health and wellbeing charity’s digital helping hand
If you’ve become disenchanted with gardening for whatever reason, Thrive’s new Cultivating Wellbeing app will help you reconnect with nature and growing.
Thrive has the first gardening for health and wellbeing app on the digital market. Like the charity, the new app uses gardening and time in nature to improve people’s health based on proven research. It has been validated by The Organisation for the Review of Care and Health Apps (ORCHA), ensuring it reaches the standard for inclusion in digital health libraries.
People living with health conditions or those who want to use gardening to boost their wellbeing can use the app to garden their way to better mental and physical health while helping to burn calories. Spending time outside enjoying community gardening or going on nature walks can increase life satisfaction.
Cultivating Wellbeing app’s personalised wellbeing plan
Cultivating Wellbeing helps users to:
- Create a personalised wellbeing plan tailored to their gardening space and time.
- Discover active and mindful activities with tips, guides and resources. Whether it’s fresh air, physical movement or quiet time in nature, gardening has endless benefits.
- Track progress with a reflection diary and gentle motivation to keep engaged and on track.
Thrive was participating in The Garden Press Event 2025 at the Business Design Centre London. The event is open exclusively to the gardening media. It allows brands and growers to showcase their new products for the season.
CEO Ben Thomas said: “With over 40 years’ experience in therapeutic gardening using an approach called social and therapeutic horticulture (STH), we know first-hand how gardening and time in nature brings a range of benefits to people’s health and wellbeing. Our new Cultivating Wellbeing app helps people feel the positive effects of green care and garden their way to better health in their own space guided by our expert support.”
Cultivating Wellbeing app – independently assed
The app was independently assessed by the University of Essex during its pilot phase. After using the app, 15.4 per cent more users said they knew how to incorporate gardening to benefit their wellbeing. Also, 7.7 per cent more users said gardening benefits their physical and mental wellbeing. The findings showed a 15.4 per cent increase in users saying they are passionate about gardening with a 38.5 per cent increase in gardening activities.
Pilot reviewers said:
- “The garden’s now my go-to for my mental wellbeing.”
- “It’s really good for your mental wellbeing to have that little nudge to say, ‘Oh, don’t forget’.”
- “It’s given me much more insight into how being outside can affect my mental wellbeing and how much happier I am.”
- “It just improves your mental health and wellbeing so much. You know, even a short space or a short burst of green therapy is amazing.”
Established more than 40 years ago, Thrive is a national charity that promotes gardening for health and wellbeing. It runs Social and Therapeutic Horticulture programmes at gardens in Birmingham, London and near Reading. Thrive uses gardening to bring about positive changes in the lives of people living with disabilities, ill health, or who are isolated, disadvantaged or vulnerable.
Download from Google Play and Apple app stores and subscribe for £2.49 a year at thrive.org.uk/app. Follow the app community on Instagram at @cultivatingwellbeingapp.
