37 - Helping build a garden for a drug & alcohol-free support service - February 2021



One of our members recently told us about a project in Sheffield called ‘The Greens’, which is an accommodation and drug and alcohol-free support service that helps people to re-build their independence and move on. They support 21 people at any one time. 

The Greens’ ethos is that feeling part of the community can be a large part of sustaining a recovery. Residents in recovery also perhaps have more need than most to boost their mood, reduce feelings of stress, and find ways to feel more relaxed. 

However, The Greens currently has a very unkempt garden which can be very overwhelming and puts residents off spending time out there. Two of the residents have come up with a plan to create a garden which encourages mindfulness and activity. Through this project The Greens hope to encourage residents firstly to be involved in the project volunteering their time and hopefully learn new skills. 

Most residents are involved in the project in one way or another. For those not physically able, they are researching plants to use in the garden. Once completed the garden will provide areas to plant vegetables and herbs which they will be able to cook with, and a BBQ area where they can learn new cooking skills. Many residents will never have had a garden before or had the chance to grow their own herbs or veg. It will also provide areas of calm where they can encourage meditation and mindfulness, key skills needed to succeed in recovery. 

Spending time in green spaces, or growing food and flowers, can have positive effects on mood, reducing feelings of stress, and helping us all to feel more relaxed which is something essential to their residents' recovery journey, and increasing their ability to live independently. 

Some of the residents have already started pulling up the turf and marled out the path, and will soon move on to laying the path and digging a pond. However, they are currently making do with repaired garden furniture which is constantly falling apart, which makes it harder to enjoy and rest in a garden! 

Therefore 500 together has donated £500 to The Greens to buy a really solid, large table with built in seats that seats at least 50% of the house. That will enable them to do group events outside. They will also use a little bit of that money to purchase a filter system for the pond, meaning that they can keep it clean and have fish. 

The Greens think this really will provide the space of calm they are trying to achieve. In the long term The Greens want the garden to be there for all future residents to use. They also do open days so people are aware of their facilities and the project will continue to do this with the GP Practice/s and/or other frontline line workers. 

The new garden space will really help sell the benefits of people being referred to The Greens. Often the residents have families so they will have the perfect place to safely do family days. 






We are pleased to have been able to help support this project and look forward to hearing how the garden progresses and hope we can share more photos with you later in the year.

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