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We design therapeutic gardens and run dementia-friendly community gardens, with the help of volunteers and young people doing work experience. We design the experiences to support people's mental and physical health and we run specific programmes for people recovering from trauma, people with learning difficulties or autism and Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Young People. We encourage people to tend our gardens in small groups, working with plants or flowers or 'handy' practical tasks according to their abilities and preferences, or in some cases they simply enjoy being in safe natural surroundings. We also produce cut-flowers for sale and engage the wider public in our work, in accessing nature and in learning about wildflowers and gardening.
Why the community needs us
The need to connect with nature is deep inside everyone. It's in our DNA, because we evolved for most of human history in a green world. Nature and gardening have a special power to calm and kindly refresh body, mind and emotions. And the more help someone needs, the more nature gives.The idea of Breathing Spaces germinated when we thought about how people get cut off from this great healer. We want to help everyone get back to the garden, especially if there are reasons why that is difficult.
Our impact on the community
We want to get all sorts of people gardening together and finding three vital things that everyone needs to thrive: pleasure, purpose, companionship. We find that people feel emotionally and mentally renewed, less anxious and their confidence and self-esteem is boosted. They feel happier, less lonely and more optimistic about the future. Typically we work with around 300 people and involve 30 volunteers, although the impact of Covid 19 has reduced that this year.