Last week I was delighted to be at the launch of the community garden at St Martin’s. This modest and joyful project was conceived between The Connection, The Church business, The Congregation, The Trust and James Fox Architects. By working together, we have created a glorious green space which also has the odd courgette and runner bean.
Everyone involved in the project has been enthused by having a garden. Whether it’s an interest in growing things, an opportunity to be outside, a commitment to improving air quality or an enthusiasm to spend time with others, a lot of people have helped. We have appreciated this as a new way to link congregation members with the work of the Connection and we plan to build on this for the future.
The therapeutic benefits of gardening and plants are well known. You may wonder what gardens have to do with homelessness. Obviously people sleeping rough spend an awful lot of time outside and one of the consequences of that is that they are very comfortable with the natural environment.
One client I used to know had successfully completed a course in gardening and he knew all the Latin names of all the plants. I have come across many people who have experienced homelessness who have worked in landscaping and labouring and really enjoy the purpose that gardening brings.
There are many reasons why The Connection has been keen to be involved in the garden. Alongside the horticultural therapy aspect, the project reflects our increasing emphasis on the importance of relationships. When someone comes into our centre, we want to build trust and understanding. It’s hard to do this if the only interactions we offer are assessments, support planning and referrals to services. We are interested in the whole person.
We have been rebuilding our activity programme subsequent to the pandemic for just this reason. There’s art therapy, opera workshops, a spiritual space, table tennis and gardening, and we plan to introduce cooking. The result is rich, more rounded and deeper relationships with our clients, where it is possible to see beyond their immediate situation of rough sleeping towards their strengths, skills and potential for the future.
Pam Orchard
