Community Garden

I joined my small local community garden in 2011 (Bramford Community Garden), as a way to meet new people who didn't know I'd been ill.  I've always enjoyed pottering in the garden and found that growing seeds and vegetables in the garden was an absorbing pastime. Volunteering had been quite a theme on Coping With Cancer Stress Course - finding something you enjoy and creating a purpose and feeling of accomplishment has been shown to help many people suffering after serious illness.

Photo Credit: Ollie Smallwood (http://www.olliesmallwoodphotography.co.uk/)


At first, I enjoyed just digging and planting on a Sunday, getting some fresh air and meeting some new people.  I genuinely forgot about what I couldn't do physically and concentrated on things I could do. I began to notice small things changing each week; the weather, a bud opening, different insects.  Taking photos of these became an interesting focus and then we started a weekly newsletter, so I began to look for more arty shots, inspired and generously encouraged by Ollie, a fellow volunteer who is a professional photographer. 

It has opened up many other opportunities.  We encourage local corporate volunteers to come and help out, so that is a great way to meet people I wouldn't normally and we arrange activities to help improve the garden and also fun things to do for the younger visitors.  One photo competition for the girl guides provided our banner photo on the Facebook page.   We visited Hampton Court Palace Flower Show as a community group and were kindly allowed to go on a preview day before it was open to the public in exchange for some media promotion (Hampton Court visit).

I now look forward to our gardening sessions, knowing that the local people appreciate what we do and finding something new every week to enjoy.