Dulcie, one of our GA support workers, talks about the value of our recent Thursday produce stalls to the self esteem of our gardeners:
“Since doing a recent course with the charity “Thrive” and coming up to my first year of working on the Growing Ability project, I’ve been thinking carefully about specifically how various activities that we offer meet the criteria for Social Therapeutic Horticulture (STH). One of those criteria is that STH projects are designed with the specific needs of a group in mind and are person centred.
I wanted to look at this through the lens of our recent produce stalls. In the past, I have mentored young adults with autism through a work experience program in a café. Considering how to approach this, left me thinking about how much our sense of purpose and self-esteem is attached to the role we play in society and of how much of that in turn is based on our occupation.
Rightly or wrongly, so much of our worth is defined by our job and it’s crucial that we continue to think about how people with additional needs can benefit from the sense of purpose and integration in community that comes from employment, without the pressure and stress that comes with having a job.
This week on our stall, I watched gardeners harvesting crops they had grown, repotting seedlings to sell, using their maths skills to add up sales and record them in our produce book and engaging with passers-by in all manner of overt and subtle ways; from persuading them that they do need another succulent (of course they do), to asking their dogs name and petting them.
I was delighted to hear a conversation between a couple of our gardeners whilst the gentle hustle and bustle of prepping for the stall was going on. One of our quieter participants was listening to another talking about a recent camping trip she had been on, where she had a role looking after groups of children. Whilst chopping and washing rhubarb they had harvested, in the shade of the outdoor kitchen, with a view of the produce stall, the other responded that she would like to “get back into work too”.
Whether that was a thread of conversation we will pick up on again, or whether it was quiet sharing of the growing confidence to take a chance at something again, it sounded, and felt, full of hope.
The biggest thank you to everyone who has attended our stall so far. The income for the project and the sense of purpose it creates are immeasurable.”
Our next stall will be on Thursday 5th September. The takings will go towards funding an autumn trip for our gardeners to Jordan’s Mill. If you can’t make the stall but would like to support us please do visit our appeals page and contribute with a donation.