Once homeless Warwickshire Derventio Housing Trust residents given free plants and gardening tips after finding peace in growing their own

Warwickshire housing trust residents finding healing through gardening after being homeless have been helped grow greener fingers by a highly valued local horticultural project.

Derventio Housing Trust, which is providing accommodation to more than 60 people in Warwick and Leamington Spa who would otherwise be homeless, has this year seen a big increase in residents enjoying gardening and growing their own.

Now residents have been learning more about how to get the most out of their veg patch from experts at Guy’s Cliffe Walled Garden, a volunteer project on Coventry Road in Warwick.

Originally part of the kitchen garden at Guy’s Cliffe House from the late eighteenth century to the 1940s, the walled garden now operates as a volunteer project, providing valuable work experience for people with special needs, as well as supporting those who have lost loved ones or struggle to mix with others.

Penny Wiltshire, Warwick area manager for Derventio Housing Trust, took residents on a visit to the beautiful walled garden where head gardener Loraine Towey showed them its wide range of abundant produce and provided tips on how to maximise the growing seasons.

One resident, Martin, said he enjoyed growing everything from plants to vegetables having been given a starting boost with the donation of a hanging basket from neighbours.

A resident of Derventio Housing Trust for two years, Martin’s period of homelessness included sleeping in a tent and in his car.

He said gardening was hugely beneficial for his mental health.

It’s just nice to see things grow. It’s creating life.  I’d never gardened before. I started with growing herbs and cooking with them. I started getting cuttings given from neighbours’ houses. They gave me a couple of pots.

Now Martin is growing a range of produce including tomatoes, potatoes, spring onions and chillis, and upcycling household items such as an upside down metal lampshade to create a pot. He said:

I like the peace and quiet. It helps me mentally and it helps me not want to drink – because I have had a drinking problem.

I love it. I’m really enjoying it. It’s lovely to see something growing from seed as well. Derventio Housing Trust is fantastic, they have all been amazing. I don’t know what I would have done without them.

Another resident said:

Derventio took me off the streets when I was in a right mess with a brain injury. I was living in a garage. Derventio found me a room, and changed my life. I’ve put some slabs down in the garden and I’m growing tomatoes, potatoes, broccoli and spring onions. It’s relaxing. It doesn’t cost anything. If I wake up in a bit of a bad mood I can go and start gardening outside.

Loraine Towey, lead gardener at Guy’s Cliffe Walled Garden, said:

It was a pleasure to welcome Derventio Housing Trust residents to see what we do here at the walled garden. We have all sorts of voluntary groups coming down to help out here and we see first hand what a huge difference being out in nature and helping grow things has on their mental health. I hope the residents of Derventio Housing Trust found their visit helpful and have even more success with growing their own after seeing how we do it here.

They asked lots of questions including how high they should be expecting various different types of vegetables to grow, and I’m glad to have been able to help out.

Guy’s Cliffe Walled Garden Project is managed on the same site as Hintons Nursery which treated residents at the end of their visit to a wide range of plants including strawberries, runner beans and squashes to help them in their new-found love of gardening.

Penny Wiltshire from Derventio Housing Trust said:

It’s been remarkable how many residents we have seen enjoying getting out in the garden – it’s something there has been a real rise in this year. Derventio Housing Trust residents come to us with a range of issues. They have endured significant trauma and many are struggling a lot with their mental health.

Through gardening, residents have been able to bond with their children again. They relax. I’ve even been sent photographs of their Sunday dinner with veg on the plate that they’ve grown themselves!

I’d like to thank the wonderful Guy’s Cliffe Walled Garden volunteers for showing us round this lovely project, and Hinton’s for donating plants to residents. We were also able to buy some more plants using Derventio Housing Trust’s own ‘Sylvester’s Fund’, a charitable fund which pays for one-off items for residents. Gardening is good for the soul and it’s wonderful to see so many residents spending time outdoors and giving themselves mental and physical nourishment through growing their own vegetables.