Latest News
Therapeutic Gardening - Summer 2024
It's been a difficult year for weather in the garden, but all our veg crops have finally caught up and are keeping us busy harvesting weekly. It is always a satisfying job to see just how much produce our plot can produce and everyone can get involved in this, whatever their needs and preferences. The bulk of our crop goes to our friends at the Angel Inn, Corbridge who do a great job at using seasonal ingredients with creativity and flair and the income from this contributes to keeping the project running. We also offer veg boxes with recipe suggestions at a subsidised rate for anyone involved with the project and these are really appreciated by the recipients for their freshness and value for money.
As a reward for all our hard work in the garden, we recently took a trip down the road to Wheelbirks and treated ourselves to ice cream in the sunshine, which proved very popular with everyone!
Mad Hatter's Tea Party - 25 June 2024
Tuesday 25 June saw us in party mode, having a good laugh as we celebrated two birthdays (Matthew's 40th and Katrina's 60th - 100 years between them!) We had a tasty BBQ in the garden at lunchtime with delicious salads prepared from home grown produce. In the afternoon we invited friends and families to join us for some light entertainment, including mandala-making, singing, comic sketches and community games. Hats were welcomed, the sillier the better!
Sponsored Bike Ride - Land's End to John O' Groats
In June/July 2023, Ruth Briel, trustee and gardening therapy volunteer with Let's Get Growing cycled from Land's End to John O'Groats to raise money for our bursary fund. This raised in excess of £2,000 for our project. We are in awe of Ruth's achievement in completing the ride and hugely grateful to all who sponsored her.
Our wonderful Sanctuary building is still available for hire by third parties as an alternative workshop space or away day venue-please see photos below. The building has a newly-fitted kitchen, wood burner and the poshest compost loo you have ever come across! It's simple, cosy and the setting is truly idyllic. Cost £50/half day or £100/full day. All proceeds go towards maintaining the building to support our gardening therapy work. For more information on hiring the building or to check dates, do contact us
Sanctuary Hire
Valentine's Day Panto 2023
Work on our annual panto was curtailed before Christmas due to a variety of colds and flu, so we made the decision to delay our long-awaited performance of Cinderella to Tuesday 14 February. This took place in the ballroom at Minsteracres Retreat Centre. There was much hilarity amongst participants as they prepared costumes, rehearsed lines and practised dance moves. We were impressed with the dramatic talent which emerged! Sincere thanks to volunteer, Dianne Keetch, who has very skill fully taken on the role of masterminding this event. To watch a video of our performance, please click here
We now have a JustGiving donations page, which makes it easy to support the work that we do with people living with mental health and learning difficulties, some of whom may be unable to work and may not be eligible for statutory funding to cover their attendance at gardening therapy sessions. Every little makes a difference and we are very grateful for every contribution we receive.
To make a donation now, please click here
Funding update
As a registered charity, Let's Get Growing is committed to keeping its therapeutic horticulture service available to all, regardless of financial circumstances. The majority of participants attending our gardening therapy days are able to access a personal budget or direct payment. Those who are not supported through the NHS can apply to our bursary fund, as we have a clear policy of welcoming all, irrespective of personal means. The nature of the beneficiary groups with whom we work means that some charitable funding is therefore needed to support our work. We would like to express our sincere thanks to the National Lottery Community Fund and the Boundary Lane Windfarm Community Benefits Fund for generously supporting us in 2024.
Photographic Diary
One of our long-standing participants, Andrew da Costa used his considerable skills as a photographer to produce a fantastic photographic record of the group’s activities through the seasons of the gardening year, with support from volunteer, Veronica Bell. Other participants have enjoyed coming up with humorous captions for the pictures. He hope to have a link to this in the very near future.