Charity, Health & Lifestyle | Posted on July 8th, 2024 | return to news
Rebrand for Bournemouth and Poole mental health charity
The Sheltered Work Opportunities Project, which has two local nurseries, is now known as Plants and Minds.
The Bournemouth and Poole based charity The Sheltered Work Opportunities Project has been renamed as Plants and Minds.
Known for Cherry Tree Nursery in Northbourne, and Chestnut Nursery in Poole, the charity was set up in 1990 to offer pressure-free rehabilitation to adults with life impacting mental health illnesses.
Maria Tidy, community liaison officer said: “We provide therapeutic horticulture activities to our volunteers and although ‘The Sheltered Work Opportunities Project’ explained that to some extent it was more often used as its acronym, SWOP, which didn’t explain what we do by itself.
“And of course, for the majority of the public, we’re their local, home-grown, affordable and good quality plant nursery; they might not know about how the nursery is actually run, or what its purpose is. We felt we needed a rebrand that explained more clearly what we do here, and also included the nursery side of the organisation too.”
The rebrand coincides with the launch of an important new programme for Plants and Minds that will extend the provision of activities and services for adults across Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole. Funded by NHS Dorset and Community Action Network (CAN) via the Dorset Community Foundation (DCF), the Access To Wellbeing programme will see the NHS, local authorities and the voluntary and community sector working together to improve the mental health of people in the conurbation particularly by provision of community programmes to reduce calls on the NHS.
Maria said: “We’ll be using our two nurseries to provide a venue for horticulture therapy via social prescribing with the aim to improve people’s wellbeing and mental health
“It’s proven that early intervention services and activities that support people in community-based settings improve their wellbeing and mental health, we see this every day with our current volunteers. This is about supporting people that need it, helping them live well for longer and also reducing the need for NHS appointments and clinical intervention.”
“We hear amazing feedback from our volunteers on a daily basis, I can’t share their names but here’s what a few of them said when I asked how they feel about volunteering at the nurseries:
‘It’s a godsend, the focal point of the week and sets me up for positive thinking through the rest of the week.’
‘My happy place – it saved my life; good place to come; peer support, nice staff, no judgement, away from over-thinking and dark places.’
‘This place is my life – if I didn’t come here, I don’t know what would happen to me.’
Maria said: “Our philosophy and approach came from Cyril Speller and his key message to us remains; ‘always try to make sure that people go out of this gate feeling happier than they were when they came in’. And that is still very much our sole purpose.”
Plants and Minds has also been opening up more to local businesses and organisations, inviting them to Cherry Tree Nursery for a ‘See How We Grow’ day. Maria said: “We welcomed 17 people from 11 different organisations including Help & Care, the Wellbeing Hub, BCHA Learn, Healthwatch Dorset and Seetec to spend a ‘day in the life’ of a Plants & Minds volunteer.
“After a tour of our facilities, we set them up with tasks around the nursery from propagating to weeding and potting up. Everybody left with a much better understanding of the work we do as well as self-sown sunflower to take home and nurture.
“The aim of the day was to give potential referrers an idea as to what their clients could expect if they were referred for our support. We intend to do more of these days so if you work for an organisation that supports people with their mental health please do get in touch.”
Lucy Cribb at Health Watch Dorset said: “The ‘See How We Grow’ day was very enlightening; to hear how the ‘Plants and Minds’ project conducts, and to get our hands dirty too! This is a very enriching and rewarding charity, by improving mental health through association with nature and nurturing plants to grow.”
Maria said: “Following on from the success of ‘See How We Grow’ we intend to start a monthly ‘Let’s All Grow Together’ networking group for like-minded organisations later this year. For more details and to get you name on the invitation list please contact maria@plantsandminds.org.uk.”
Please share post:
LATEST NEWS:
CHARITY OF THE YEAR
Subscribe to the online magazine news letter
