Growing Together is a Breathe Creative collaboration with Ty Canna Mental Health Outreach Service and is based at the community allotment Growing Green on Bessemer Road in Cardiff. The project is funded by the Arts Council of Wales, The National Community Lottery Fund and the Cardiff and Vale Health Charity and we have been exploring the theme of ‘connecting people to nature’ with the aim of facilitating a creative wellbeing journey through the seasons with nature-based activities to support therapeutic outcomes.
The allotment was created 12 years ago as a community space for groups of people to gather and work in nature. It truly is an oasis in the city. Despite being in the middle of a busy industrial estate, once inside the gates there is a sense of calm and quietness. Each week participants can take home some of the produce grown here. If you don’t have a garden, it presents a chance to engage with the cycles and processes of growing food and to share recipe ideas.
Arts for Wellbeing and particularly engaging with nature and the natural environment has a range of psycho-social outcomes: supporting mental health recovery, combatting social isolation for people with mild to moderate anxiety and depression, as well as increased levels of empowerment and improved quality of life.
After taking a few minutes to observe the birdsong and other sense related phenomena, participants take inspiration from their surroundings to begin creative writing and drawing. We’ve also been working collaboratively on a table that will be a gathering place in the new summerhouse that has been recently erected on the land opposite.
Since the project began, it is gaining impetus and word of mouth means that people drop in from other mental health centres such as Four Winds in Cardiff and Oasis Refugee Centre. There are other health charities operating on the Leckwith Droves allotment site: the mental health organization Platfform has set up a beekeeping project as part of their Effro branch that offers support to individuals living with dementia; they have opened the beekeeping up to Growing Together and participants have been given a tour of the hives. Community apiaries used in therapy practice have existed in the UK for some time and are very effective in helping with post-traumatic stress and anxiety. Participants learnt about the bee community with queen and drones, listened to the contented hum of the hive, and to handle a piece of the raw honeycomb, admiring the structure. Other benefits include learning about beneficial pollinating plants growing around the allotments. There is also the opportunity to suit up and look inside the hives.
It has been proven that whether walking, spending time in the garden or watching bees, the likelihood of reporting good health or high wellbeing from spending time in natural environments becomes significantly greater with contact of over two hours per week.
The Growing Green allotments site is an ecological, environmentally friendly and enjoyable way to tackle food insecurity and inequality of access to green space. Participants of the project have reported lower anxiety levels, improved short term health outcomes, and social connections. People say that after attending they feel increased connection to nature, reduced isolation and loneliness and boosted wellbeing and confidence.
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Participant quotes:
“I like sitting and relaxing in the moment away from the traffic.”
“It’s great to combine art and gardening skills. I find it therapeutic being outside.”
“Just being here helps me with the thinking. I like the social aspect – meeting people, talking. I love to be outdoors.”
“It’s nice to feel the breeze and see everything growing. I made lovely soup fro the vegetables I had from here last week.”
Thomson LJ, Morse N, Elsden E and Chatterjee HJ. Art, Nature and Mental Health: Assessing the biopsychosocial effects of a ‘creative green prescription’ museum programme involving horticulture, artmaking and collections
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0005772X.2021.1988233
White, M. P., Alcock, I., Grellier, J., Wheeler, B. W., Hartig, T., Warber, S. L., Bone, A., Depledge, M. H., & Fleming, L. E. (2019).
