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Plant power boosts wellbeing project

by Lorraine Gibson

‘Words don’t come easy to me. I would not be alive today without the staff and volunteers who have kept me going.’

Ironically affecting words from a volunteer at Cherry Tree Nursery, a mental health project where the power of plants is used to take people from their darkest days to lighter, more hopeful futures.

The concept’s simple.

Volunteer for two days or less a week, help grow plants (or do other useful stuff) then sell them to raise funds for the scheme.

It looks like a regular plant nursery, rows of shrubs and pops of colour from plants as far as the eye can see, and cherry trees, naturally, however, within minutes of talking to its volunteer workers, it’s impossible to miss the comparison between the physical work going on and the emotional healing that’s taking place.

By taking seeds and planting and nurturing them until they’re strong and healthy, those doing the caring get to thrive, too. Plants and people, finding the sun together.

Take Sue and Anne-Marie (above). They propagate, take cuttings and protect plants from the elements. Understandably, they’re nervous when we meet – they’ve been through tough times. When we discover our mutual love of plants, though, they become animated.
We go to where the magic happens, a vast greenhouse, and stand amid sun-warmed lavender. They don’t just grow it, they wallow in it.

“It’s fragrance is so calming,” says Sue, “if a pharmaceutical company could market it, they’d be made. Rosemary’s the same,” she says, rubbing some and sharing the comforting waft.

“I keep a bit in my pocket to sniff when I’m stressed. It works.”

How did she find the scented sanctuary?

“I was suffering from extreme mental illness and my GP suggested it. I knew Cherry Tree when it was just a few huts, so I contacted them.

“I met Trish (who helps run it, with administrator/events co-ordinator, Ray and a few other permanent staff). She was so helpful, I stayed.”

Anne-Marie cups a cutting in her hand.

“This is what’s so satisfying. You start with nothing and suddenly you have this.”
Despite being off a busy roundabout, the setting is quiet and rural.

“We get frogs, toads and there’s a family of robins that we feed. Our cat’s called Magic.”
Magic is the cover star of staff birthday cards, for some, the only card they’ll get.

Anne-Marie finds another favourite.

“Bleeding Hearts – so delicate and beautiful.”

She’s been volunteering for three years.

“It’s a life saver. I was on the NHS Steps to Wellness programme so someone called regularly to chat. Realising I had a horticultural background, they recommended Cherry Tree.

“I was anxious, but I went and I’ve never looked back. The routine and sense of purpose have changed my life.”

The project was founded in 1990 by philanthropist Cyril Speller and Canon Roslyn Aish, former pastor of St. Anne’s psychiatric hospital, to address issues rising from the government’s closure of UK mental health institutions in the Eighties.

Recognising a need for emotional and practical support for those sent into the community, they created a place where vulnerable people could work with plants. What started with five people and a dog, is now a four-and-a-half-acre site producing more than 100,000 plants a year.

It’s safe and non-threatening with supportive staff and strength comes from forming friendships and sharing experiences; basically, it’s a full cycle of kindness.

The tranquillity, the meticulous lining up of specimens makes everything, including the people, seem loved. I put this to the girls and they say that’s because they are.

Friends of Cherry Tree, a group of helpers, work and raise funds essential to its success, but they need more people. If you could join them, they’d be very grateful.

To help or to find out about forthcoming fundraising events, visit cherrytreenursery.org.uk.

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