More than 100 guests joined staff of Growing Well and Tebay Services to mark the official opening of the mental health charity’s kitchen garden.
Cumbria High Sheriff Sam Scott cut the ribbon on one of the polytunnels now filled with growing salad leaves that will soon form the first commercial supply of fresh vegetables to Tebay’s farmshops and kitchens just a few hundred metres away.
The new community mental health support service for Eden and North Cumbria will provide supported volunteering opportunities to help 100 people a year recover from mental health difficulties, with free minibus transport provided from as far as Carlisle.
Already it is making a difference to people’s lives. Howard Bell, of Brough, is one of the first volunteers at the kitchen garden and has been going to Growing Well every week for three months.
He said: “In a former life I was a zoologist and scientist and like many other people here I have suffered from mental health issues, and I’ve gone through the usual trajectory of going through the GP, and getting lots of little pills that really didn’t do a lot for me, so I came here to do something practical and worthwhile and fulfilling.
“Those other things don’t change anything structurally, whether it’s talking or taking a little pill, it messes with your brain chemistry but it doesn’t change your life, your life’s still there.
“At Growing Well it’s giving you something with purpose, something to do. It’s a very, very pleasant and refreshing alternative approach to mental health because Growing Well is and will in the future save lives.”
High Sheriff Sam Scott told guests gathered at the event during Mental Health Awareness Week, that the partnership between the charity and Westmorland Family was an “inspiring example” of a business and charity working together to address a real community need, enabling Growing Well to fill a gap in mental health provision in an area of rural isolation and limited services.
“Growing well is an exceptional charity recognising the fundamental value of physical activity and working with nature to help those with mental health challenges lead healthier, happier lives.
“I’ve been fortunate to visit Growing Well’s organic farm at Kendal on several occasions and have always been impressed by how quickly you have developed and adapted the services over the years to fulfil the current need and the difference you make to so many lives, providing activities to suit everyone.
“To be able to adapt Growing Well’s successful model and replicate it here at Tebay Services, creating extra opportunities for so many more struggling with mental ill health in addition to growing produce for use in the Westmorland kitchens, is the result of a really impressive collaboration between the staff and teams from both sides.”
Westmorland Family chair Sarah Dunning welcomed everyone to the new site, saying: “We’re proud to be working with Growing Well – a local charity punching well above its weight and doing pioneering and important work.
“I hope this will be a fabulous location for us all – it has easy access to our local communities and very easy access to two eagerly awaiting farmshops and kitchens. We also have 4 million customers who come to Tebay Services every year – which will give us all a platform to talk about the work of Growing Well and elevate the subject of mental health to as many people as possible.
“I know that our team at Westmorland are heavily invested in making this a success, from selling the veg, to getting our colleagues involved to telling our customers about it and of course to supporting our communities – there is a huge amount of goodwill to make this work.”
Growing Well chair of trustees Jim Sharp thanked the Dunning family for their generous support, the National Lottery Community Fund, and the staff from both teams who had delivered the project on time and on budget, and which was already making a difference to people’s lives.
“Opening this second site is a major milestone for us. It is the first step of an ambitious strategy to bring our service to more communities in Cumbria. This means that we can address unmet mental health needs in more isolated rural and challenged urban communities.”
To find out more about referring yourself or someone else to Growing Well at Tebay Services, email refer.tebay@growingwell.co.uk.
To get involved in supporting the project email tebay@growingwell.co.uk. To donate to support the charity’s work go to www.growingwell.co.uk/donate
