Centre for Outdoor Activity and Leisure research (COAL)

This research explored the experience of engaging in ‘green exercise’ via a short course, aimed at introducing individuals to the benefits of cycling.  The target audience were those who would not usually cycle or exercise, and specifically focused on the following groups: women from black minority backgrounds; those with mental health issues people, with long-term health conditions and older people.  Many of the barriers to cycling such as cost, access to bicycles and a lack experience, are addressed by the project in the hope of encouraging participants to make a longer-term commitment to improving their health and wellbeing.  The evaluation consisted of interviews with participants about their experiences of the intervention and the benefits and challenges of being involved. Click here for a summary of the project.

This evaluation was a service for older people which incorporated expertise in mental health and horticulture to produce an innovative way of delivering befriending services. Volunteers typically visited individuals in their homes and helped them with gardening-related tasks. The project also took place in residential care home settings. It provided opportunities for participants and volunteers alike to be involved in horticultural activities together, and aimed to improve well-being and reduce social isolation amongst older people in Cardiff. We conducted research which captured the experiences of both volunteers working on the project and the beneficiaries of the service. Measures were also used to ascertain the benefits of volunteering in this context. Click here for a poster summary or download our Evaluation Summary.

This project comes under the auspices of 'Green Care', specifically within a Care Farm setting (Care Farming is defined by Care Farming UK as the "therapeutics use of farming practices". They provide health, social or educational care services for individuals from one or a range of vulnerable groups). This research took place in three different care farms and sought to measure the functions of volunteering in this setting, the differences in motivations for volunteers who chose to work inside or outside this setting, university students' perceptions of working on an organic farming project with vulnerable adults and how individuals talked about their experiences of being volunteers on care farms. Click here for  a printable flyer that explains the benefits of Care Farms.

This research considered the role that an outdoor activity can play in healthy ageing through a three month mixed methods evaluation study. Older allotment gardeners and community gardeners completed psychological and physiological health measures. Improvements in participants' body mass index, hand-grip strength, perceived stress levels and self-esteem were found when compared with a wait-list control.

Participants also kept diaries which informed follow-up interviews exploring experiences of being a newcomer to allotment gardening. Findings indicated that even during the first couple of years of having an allotment, this leisure pursuit can have significant benefits. For example, participants discussed the importance of regular social interaction at the site, and the sense of achievement and satisfaction that arises from their activity. For more information, click to see our summary report and poster.

In this project, we working collaboratively with a Care Farm to raise public awareness of the work done. Young people who had been excluded from mainstream education used flip cameras to capture their accounts of the alternative curriculum they were following on the farm. The project also culminated in the first All Wales Cre Farm Conference, which brought together academics and practitioners to discuss the challenges and outcomes of providing robust evidence for this sector.

Our group has a track record in evaluating the cardiovascular benefits accruing from different exercise programmes using a range of biochemical tests and physical measures of cardiovascular health. Our research has shown that green exercise in previously sedentary individuals improved biomarkers of cardiovascular risk, vascular haemodynamics, arterial stiffness and mental health. Evaluation of different community-based exercise programmes (including Wales National Exercise Referral Scheme-delivered and Valleys Regional Park-facilitated outdoor exercise programmes) demonstrated numerous beneficial effects of exercise on cardiovascular health. We have also shown that circulating levels of the soluble interleukin-6 receptor (sIL-6R) are linked to vascular ageing, high levels of stress, depressed mood and a pre-disposition to symptoms of upper respiratory tract illness in endurance athletes (collaborative research with Sport Wales, tracking squads of elite endurance athletes over 4 month training periods).