According to a recent report1, gardening should be prescribed on the NHS to ease the symptoms of dementia and keep at bay the risk of heart disease.
Us Brits are being advised to make more use of our ‘love affair with gardening’ for a healthier lifestyle. We all know the benefits of being in the fresh air but it’s far more than that – it’s the perfect antidote to the rather stressful and fast-paced world we live in today. An hour or two spent tending to our outdoor living space keeps us busy and boosts our mental wellbeing, not to mention increases our physical wellbeing as a form of exercise. The Royal Horticultural Society calculates that half an hour of digging burns 150 calories, raking a lawn burns 120 and pushing a lawn mower burns 165. Gardening is also used to bring about positive changes to the lives of people who live with disabilities or ill health.
So as summer is fast approaching, now is the ideal time to remind customers that not only can planting bulbs, digging trenches and pruning roses vastly improve their physical health, but it can also improve mental health too.
Here are a few tips to get you started:
- Identifying a team member to be responsible for championing the health benefits of gardening
- Using imagery to reinforce gardening as pivotal to a healthy lifestyle
- Display all the health benefits of gardening on your web site
- Producing POS cards with simple health benefit messages and positioning these around specific areas
Why not give us a call today on 01858 681122 or drop us an email at kimberley@hornbywhitefootpr.co.uk to discuss how we can help you devise a simple, effective PR plan focusing on customer health benefits of gardening to boost sales? It is on doctor’s orders, after all!
1 Source: The King’s Fund think-tank, 2016