Caring Volunteer to assist staff at our Growing Ability Project

Growing Ability is our social therapeutic horticulture project for adults with learning disabilities. Our trained staff work with up to six adults with support needs (we call them our 'gardeners'), in structured sessions focusing on the personal goals of the each individual.

Having a volunteer join our sessions allows us to give that little bit of extra care and attention to gardener, which they really benefit from, to help them access tasks effectively and work towards their goals. The outcomes of this work are incredibly rewarding both for our gardeners and for our staff and volunteers.

We asked one of our volunteers to share their experience of assisting regularly at Growing Ability:

What expectations did you have? 'I thought I would be able to encourage and enable the gardeners to develop their skills and confidence.'

How have you found being a volunteer? 'Very enjoyable, worthwhile and fulfilling for me. You can be a volunteer and be treated as a dogsbody, but at this project volunteering is quality volunteering.'

What do you do as a volunteer? 'I work with and support two of the gardeners; I encourage them to be independent. If they make a decision of what they want to grow, or do on the allotment, whatever their decision is, I help them to facilitate it. Decision making is so important. And whatever the gardeners’ decisions are, they are the right choices for them. If they are able to make these decisions, their confidence grows.'

How would you sum up your experience: 'It’s a very worthwhile, happy project. I feel the gardeners benefit from coming to us as well as the volunteers. Everyone who helps at the project has something different to bring to it, including personality and skills.'

Full training and induction will be provided.