Kate Bergquist

Kate is the Co-Founder of Connect Outdoors, driven by a long-held belief that many of the things that affect our health and wellbeing cannot be treated by doctors or medicine alone. That conviction led her to establish a charity dedicated to offering nature-based support to health outcomes.

Kate holds a degree in Public Health and a Master's degree in Sport, Leadership and Management. Her career spans over two decades across the third sector and public sector. She spent 11 years at the Children's Centre, a third sector organisation where she trained as a youth worker before specialising in therapeutic group work. She then spent 10 years in the public sector at the University College, where she developed both a health and wellbeing programme and a highly successful employability programme for students. She has also worked within the Public Health Directorate, contributing directly to the delivery of the suicide prevention strategy objectives.

Today, Kate focuses on the transformative effects of nature on people and communities. She specialises in improving wellbeing and mental health through nature immersion, and is a qualified practitioner delivering the Level 1 & 2 qualification in Nature Connection & Wellbeing. Kate has also trained as a facilitator to deliver the Adult Mental Health and Wellbeing in Nature course.

Kate completed the Developing Social Prescribing training with Wrexham University and is proud to serve as a Social Prescribing Ambassador for the National Academy for Social Prescribing (NASP).

With a keen interest in research, Kate hopes Connect Outdoors will become an active contributor to the growing evidence base on the effectiveness of blue and green prescribing on health outcomes.