Elemental Occupational Therapy (EOT) provides nature-based Occupational Therapy to both adults and children who have lost a close family member. It was set up by therapist Cath Darling, who formed a Garden for Grief group which focuses on the benefits of being outdoors in a natural environment and being able to talk to others who are going through similar experiences.
Last year, the group applied for one of the 49 National Trust Saplings grown from the illegally felled Sycamore Gap Tree. This tree was planted in front of the Visitors’ Centre at the Rising Sun Country Park on 20 February 2026. Alongside this, Cath interviewed the members of the group , who talked about the person they had lost, about the benefits of the group and what the planting of the sapling symbolises for them. It has been a privilege to work with this group and to bring out the stories from these interviews and host them on our website.
To read these stories and ones taken from an interview we did with Cath herself, click on the image below.
Header image courtesy of National Trust