Our manifesto
We at LCH recognise that health is a part of the whole. We are taught as herbalists that treating illness needs the active participation of the patient and that the health of the individual is inextricably linked to their surroundings and quality of life. Therefore true holism needs to view people in the context of their environment.
Increasing awareness of plants and sustainability, both in a communal sense and as an environmental necessity provides a link that can reconnect people to themselves and to the planet. LCH members believe that herbal medicine as an art and science is well placed to bridge the gap between the individual and the whole, the orthodox and the traditional.
Our main areas of work are listed below and further elaborated over the page. It is intended that, following further consultation and refinements, these will form the basis of the work of LCH over the coming years.
- To bring herbal medicine back into the heart of the community
- To provide access to plant knowledge and herbal medicine within our communities
- To operate within an ethical framework
- To increase understanding and promote the use of herbal medicine as part of primary healthcare within the statutory sector
1. To bring herbal medicine back into the heart of the community
- Encourage schoolchildren working on projects to access their own traditions and to value the input of their own cultures
- Invite the local community to contribute knowledge and practical skills that our projects are engaged with the community and vice versa
- Provide translations of letters and leaflets used in school and community projects so that non-indigenous cultures can be informed and participate
- Grow indigenous plants as well as herbs from around the world which can act as a starting point and learning tool, to foster a spirit of exchange and respect with other cultures represented in the community
2. To provide access to plant knowledge and herbal medicine within our communities
- As accessibility is often obstructed by economic factors we intend to operate within established user groups, such as elderly day care and mental health centres, offering subsidised consultations and herbal medicine
- Build herb gardens in schools with the help of children, staff and parents
- Organise garden clubs within schools where children are encouraged to participate hands on
- Run workshops in schools tailored to the National Curriculum that explore the importance of plants to people past, present and future
- Offer herb walks tailored to various groups including the elderly and children; an opportunity to learn about the uses of weeds, trees and garden specimens in their everyday environment
- Build sustainable community gardens in public spaces that the community can use and maintain
3. To operate within an ethical framework
- Adhere to the ethics and moral framework of herbal medicine practice and build strong identifiable ethics as herbalists
- To work within the equal opportunity framework
- Hold our banking accounts with an ethical bank
- Operate a green housekeeping policy
- Commit to using sustainable and organic seeds and growing mediums
- To incorporate alternative power, rain harvesting and water conservation in projects
- Promote continuing professional development within LCH, organising seminars to update clinical skills and therapeutic knowledge and to encourage LCH members to train in other fields
4. To increase understanding and promote the use of herbal medicine as part of primary healthcare within the statutory sector
- Offer talks to healthcare workers designed to inform about the ethics, history and practice of herbal medicine
- To work with other professional healthcare workers to evaluate honestly the respective strengths and weaknesses and potential for collaboration between orthodox and traditional medicines
- Explore the concept and practicalities of herbal medicine as an interface between orthodox and traditional medicines