Trellis supports therapeutic gardening projects across Scotland

A therapeutic gardening scheme for people with dementia was launched at HMP Dumfries last August. An innovative joint venture between the Scottish Prison Service and Dumfries and Galloway Health and Social Care Partnership, it was also supported by Trellis.

A Scottish charity which uses gardening to help people across Scotland will celebrate its 13th birthday in September.

Trellis promotes the therapeutic benefits of gardening by supporting more than 460 projects across the country.

This year alone, it will support more than 11,000 disabled, disadvantaged and marginalised people.

They include veterans returning from war zones who benefit from being involved in horticulture projects, people working in prison gardens, older people in care homes who get an uplift from time spent in the garden and younger, disadvantaged people who can develop confidence and employment skills through horticulture.

A work in progress...demo videos currently being filmed for YouTube audiences will help Trellis branch out even further.

And thanks to a recent £5000 grant from Scotland’s Gardens Scheme, it will be able to branch out to help even more people.

For Trellis plans to use the grant to provide inspirational demonstration sessions to help care home staff and residents begin growing plants, as well as advisory visits to help groups make the most of their site.

As the small staff team can’t always visit projects, they are also currently producing short videos for online tutorials, to help people get started with simple garden activities.

Work has already started with some filming completed and video editing underway.

Fiona Thackeray, head of operations and development, hopes it will inspire even more projects.

She said: “We have five part time members of staff and nine freelancers who do site visits across the country.

“That means we are limited to the number of site visits we can make.

“Therefore, we’re hoping the videos will help establish even more therapeutic gardening projects.

“They’ll be easy to follow tutorials for staff in the likes of nursing homes and hospitals, who may not be experienced horticulturists but want to help patients benefit from gardening.

“We already have a wealth of information resources, available free on our website.

“However, YouTube is really where it’s at for anyone looking for how-to videos and tutorials.

“So we’re delighted that some of the funding will help us reach that audience.”

Founded in 2006 to promote the benefits of gardening to help people help themselves, Trellis is Scotland’s national charity for therapeutic gardening.

It supports community projects the length and breadth of the country.

Fiona said: “We really want to raise our profile and that of the many projects we support all over Scotland.