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A gardening scheme run in North Tyneside with the focus of improving beneficiaries’ mental and physical health, has transformed an outdoor space into a beautiful garden.
LD:NorthEast received a grant from the P&G Fund and Prime Fund at the Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland to offer two gardening groups a week and provide health workshops for beneficiaries. The sessions particularly targeted men with learning disabilities and autism.
At the official spring garden opening, members of the gardening groups were able to show the results of all their hard work – a space now open for all its members to enjoy.
Su Legg, Senior Philanthropy Advisor at the Community Foundation was at the opening:
“It was wonderful to see the garden and hear how impactful these gardening sessions and workshops have been. It’s clear this scheme has brought about so many benefits. For members, it has offered an opportunity for them to connect with other people and help reduce loneliness”.
Danielle Falcus, Development and Projects Manager at LD:NorthEast explained more:
“The P&G grant has helped us massively to bring about our men’s gardening project. The men that attend the group benefit from being amongst peers and feeling valued as part of a team. We have delivered health workshops in the gardening sessions on the theme of time to talk and prostate cancer awareness as we find the informal setting helps the men to open up and discuss otherwise difficult subjects.
“We’ve also been able to build a summer house and a working garden where we are growing herbs, fruit and vegetables that can be used in our healthy cooking sessions”.
Cara Bowman from P&G Fund Advisory Panel added:
“I was delighted to attend the opening of the LD:NorthEast Community Garden. They have created a fantastic garden which is welcoming and accessible to all, from young children to adults, where they can take part in the garden workshops or simply enjoy making the most of the outdoor space. Already it was evident from the planting that has taken place and the enthusiasm of the users that this will be a well-loved area”.
The gardening group has followed on from the success of walking group through the Covid pandemic that helped people to meet others safely as part of their daily exercise. The community garden offers another healthy outlet and is particularly important for those that maintain an interest in gardening but don’t have their own garden.