Charity, Health & Lifestyle | Posted on July 20th, 2026 | return to news

Dorset charity says it has saved NHS millions of pounds

The son of the founder of Plants and Minds, which runs Cherry Tree Nursery at Northbourne, was speaking at a local event.

A Dorset-based mental health charity has saved the NHS millions of pounds during its 36-year existence, according to the son of the charity’s founder.

Plants and Minds patron Norman Aish, whose late father Rev Canon Roslyn Aish co-founded the charity in 1990, revealed the incredible impact that the organisation has had on mental health support while speaking at a special event to thank donors and supporters. It took place on 6 July at Cherry Tree Nursery in Bournemouth.

Cherry Tree Nursery supports around 80 adults with life-impacting mental health conditions (known as team members) every week. It provides meaningful work via horticultural therapy in a supportive and pressure-free environment.

Addressing almost 75 guests and the Mayor of Bournemouth Roberto Rocca, Norman Aish said that his late father had been a pastor at St Ann’s Hospital in Poole in the 1980s – a time when the government closed some large mental health hospitals in favour of a policy of Care in the Community.

The approach, however, was widely blamed for increasing isolation and exclusion in adults experiencing mental health issues.

Norman said: “My late father saw many of the same people being readmitted to hospital on a regular basis and thought there must be a better way forward. With a good friend, Cyril Speller, they dreamed up an idea of a horticultural venue where people could come together in mutual support, to grow and sell plants under careful guidance.”

Their seedling idea became Cherry Tree Nursery – a derelict site in 1990 but now a “highly productive nursery which we claim is one of the finest for many miles around, with heartfelt thanks to our splendid donors” according to Norman.

He said: “Plants and Minds has saved many lives and enriched the lives of team members. It now costs £500 a day to keep a patient in St Ann’s, so this organisation has saved millions of pounds for the hard-pressed NHS.”

Norman added that happy people enjoying the therapeutic advantages of growing plants in a friendly atmosphere had resulted in a vast reduction in re-admissions to St Ann’s.

The event also saw the ribbon cut to officially open a new polytunnel at Cherry Tree Nursery. It will be used by team members to ramp-up plant production and meet demand from the site’s expanding customer base.

The polytunnel, which has been dedicated to the memory of late Cherry Tree plant propagator Trevor Randall, became reality thanks to the generosity of Moose International, Ferndown and Parley Rotary and Ringwood Women’s Institute.

Propagation expert Trevor started as a team member at Cherry Tree in 1992 and remained loyal to the nursery until his retirement in 2019. He passed away in 2023. Trevor’s son Shawn Randall, who became a team member at Cherry Tree in 2024, took part in the ribbon cutting ceremony to honour the achievements of his late father.

Plants and Minds community liaison officer Maria Tidy told guests: “Last year, customers were asking us to grow more vegetable and herb plants, but we didn’t have enough room in an existing polytunnel.

“Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, we now have a fantastic new polytunnel and we have dedicated it to Trevor, in honour of his work developing the propagation unit; to celebrate his life and to ensure that his legacy lives on.”

The ribbon-cutting ceremony was performed by Bournemouth Mayor Roberto Rocca. Speaking on his first visit to Cherry Tree, the Mayor said: “It’s amazing, especially the support that Cherry Tree has, not just in Bournemouth but across Dorset. The nursery has beautiful plants, some of which I don’t often see in Bournemouth. The charity is doing a great job, not just for its team members but for the whole community. I’m really impressed.”