Growing Well has unveiled its team who will be delivering a new community mental health service for Eden and North Cumbria from its new site at Tebay Services.
The Kendal-based charity’s project moved a step closer earlier this month after Eden Council planners approved plans by owners The Westmorland Family for a change of use of an unused part of the Tebay Services Northbound caravan park to horticultural and educational use.
This week the site’s first buildings were winched into place in the secluded spot at the southern edge of the services. The modular accommodation will provide a meeting, office, welfare and social space for staff and volunteer beneficiaries. Polytunnels and raised beds will be installed and built next.
Growing Well’s kitchen garden, opening in January 2023, will provide supported volunteering opportunities to help 100 people a year recover from mental health difficulties. The charity’s income from selling £40,000 a year of fresh salad and other vegetables directly to the services’ farmshops and kitchens just a few hundred metres away will help support Growing Well’s continued work.
The project has created four new jobs, supported by the National Lottery Community Fund. The new team has now been appointed and after induction at Growing Well’s Low Sizergh farm headquarters will soon be based at the new Tebay site.
The new team are manager Cate Bentley, from Kendal, whose previous role was library space and services manager at Lancaster University; Kate Lund, office co-ordinator, from Kendal, who joined Growing Well from her role as creative learning manager at Brewery Arts; Therapeutic grower Mark Hurrell, from Kendal, who transfers from Low Sizergh to lead the growing operation at Tebay; and volunteer support co-ordinator Fay Haslam, a nurse and horticulturist from Kirkby Lonsdale, whose role is to support beneficiaries’ set and achieve their goals during their time at Growing Well.
Cate said: “I’m absolutely delighted not only to have joined Growing Well, but to be involved in this exciting, and much-needed, project.
“We have a fantastic team in place ready to support those in the Eden area to achieve positive mental health.
“With the site development now well and truly underway we’re getting ready to open and welcome our first beneficiaries in January. Please get in touch to find out how to get involved, or how to refer into our service.”
Growing Well at Tebay Services aims to help 100 people a year in Eden and North Cumbria recover from mental health difficulties by volunteering there one day a week for up to a year.
Under the supervision of experienced therapeutic growers and mental health support staff, Volunteers, who can be referred by GPs and other health services, or apply to join the project themselves, can rebuild confidence, learn new skills, benefit from peer support and be helped to achieve their goals, such as returning to employment or education.
Tebay Services owners The Westmorland Family are funding the £150,000 capital cost of creating the kitchen garden, providing a rent-free site, and buying £40,000 a year of produce. The National Lottery Community Fund has granted Growing Well £180,000 over two years but the charity will still need the fundraising support of the local community and businesses to cover all the costs of its specialist service.
Growing Well will also be recruiting Support Volunteers, who support the staff working with its beneficiaries, volunteer community ambassadors and fundraisers. There will also be a Wednesday community field day where people not in need of mental health support can get involved with growing salad and veg – supporting the charity’s income, and learning new skills.
The charity would also welcome local businesses who wish to support mental health in their community, and anyone who can donate materials to finish off the site or to fit out the offices and volunteer space with flooring, equipment, and other items.
To find out more about referring yourself or someone else to Growing Well at Tebay Services, or getting involved in any way, please email tebay@growingwell.co.uk or go to www.growingwell.co.uk/tebay
