Sunflower Challenge

Get involved with the Recovery College Sunflower Challenge

Grow a sunflower this summer and make a pledge for mental health/wellbeing. Your sunflower will grow and evolve to be a reminder of the pledge you have made for your mental health/wellbeing whilst brightening up the place you live/work. You can collect seeds from our in-person courses and events.

What is a pledge?

A small, positive commitment for over the summer. This could be something that supports your wellbeing and/or mental health.

Pledge ideas

Connect with a friend or family member once a week
Take a short wellbeing walk during the week
Try one new skill or hobby (and persevering with it)
Spend 10 minutes outside each day
Build one helpful routine (sleep, hydration, meals, movement)
Do one small act of kindness each week

Why sunflowers?

Sunflowers represent warmth, hope and optimism. Planting, tending and watching them grow can be calming. It’s a simple way to add colour to where you live or work.

How to take part

Pick up a seed pack and decide where you’ll grow your sunflower (garden, pot, balcony, windowsill).
Make your wellbeing pledge
Plant your seeds anytime now. Over the next few months keep watering, noticing the progress, and checking in on your pledge.
Share your progress with us! Photos, updates, or a quick note about how your pledge is going.

Open to everyone (including staff)

Individuals, families, teams, wards and community groups are all welcome. It’s low-cost and flexible: start seeds in re-used yoghurt/fruit pots, then plant it outside, or keep growing in a bucket or container if you have limited space. Dwarf seeds are better for containers and bucket growing.

We’d love to see how you get on

Share a photo of your sunflower at any stage. Seed, sprout, or full bloom, and tell us one thing you’ve noticed from keeping your pledge. You can email these to us at recovery.college@nsft.nhs.uk or post them on our Facebook NSFT Recovery College.