Spring Shoots for Wellbeing

By Rhona Oughton, Community Development Worker

As part of my role I support many different groups and initiatives.  One of the areas I am most excited about is supporting community green spaces.

Imagine a garden at a doctor’s surgery that grows food and medicinal herbs, where residents take the produce home to cook, and children learn where it comes from.  A place where luscious leaves shade friends as they admire nature’s curiosities in a calm space that hosts a diversity of plants, butterflies and birds.  Imagine all this right in the centre of Southmead.

This is the reality at the Henbury and Southmead Family Practice, Bristol’s first GP Practice that has a garden open for the benefit of its patients and community.  Throughout the winter residents, doctors, staff, and creatives have been working together to develop the ‘Glencoyne Wellbeing Garden’ and to sow the seeds for a greener future.  The vision uses holistic gardening practices with people at its heart.  The working group are establishing plants that encourage wildlife and planning gardening sessions to offer inter-generational learning.

All dressed up and nowhere to grow?  With the Equinox having passed new shoots are now growing at the Glencoyne Wellbeing Garden.  We would like to invite you to come and enjoy the longer days with us. The garden is open on Thursdays 2 – 4pm for volunteers, although alternative times can be arranged if this doesn’t suit you. Growing food and plants that harbour wildlife is a priority for the Glencoyne Wellbeing Team and they hope to co-create the space with like-minded people of all abilities living in Southmead.  If this sounds good to you please contact me to find out more, visit the garden, or get stuck in.

Getting the garden into shape cannot be done without people-power or the right set of tools.  The team are in need of donations.  Forks, spades, trowels and gardening gloves would be appreciated, plants are also welcome.  Donations can be given directly to Monserrat at the Henbury and Southmead Family Practice, or to me at the Greenway Centre.

If you’d like to find out more or have ideas about how we can support your community green space we look forward to hearing from you.

Contact Rhona

tel: 0117 950 3335, email: rhonaoughton@southmead.org