The Old Moat Garden Centre in Epsom offers a helping hand to people dealing with mental health issues. Amanda Hodges finds out more about this vital centre for the community
David Coyle
American botanist Luther Burbank was right when he said: “Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul.” An organisation putting this principle firmly into practice is the Old Moat Garden Centre in Epsom, which, since 2008, has been offering local people with mental health issues the opportunity to gain valuable employment and training opportunities in a warm and friendly setting.
The Old Moat comes under the umbrella of mental health charity Richmond Fellowship – an organisation responsible for many community-based services across Surrey, such as Sparky’s Café at Farnham Road Hospital in Guildford. “We support local adults who are experiencing some form of mental health problem,” explains Debbie Dibble, team leader at the Old Moat. “Our centre users are integral to our service, working either in the garden centre or the café once or twice a week.”
Horticultural trainers and café supervisors work with small groups covering a whole range of tasks and activities. “A person may spend time restoring our walled garden, taking care of our vegetable patches or potting plants in the potting shed,” Debbie says. “There is an opportunity to work towards a qualification in horticulture at Level Two and in the café people learn key skills required to work in catering or hospitality including health and safety, food preparation and customer service.”
The whole service is backed up by a team of 30 dedicated volunteers who are on hand to deliver one-to-one support to those who need it. Helping people to regain control of their lives is the centre’s principal aim. “The main focus in all areas is to offer a stress-free environment, where people learn at their own pace,” Debbie asserts. “Support planning sessions allow people to set their own goals personal to their own recovery journey and identify what support may be needed to help them meet their aspirations. At the end of a two-year placement, it’s our hope that people will have gained the skills and confidence needed to move on either to paid employment, volunteering or education.”
Participants speak warmly of the many benefits working at the Old Moat can bring with one telling me of the new possibilities the centre had opened up for them. “Because it operates as a business, I feel that I’m contributing to society and I also benefit from the routine it provides. The lovely bonus is working so closely with nature and this is very beneficial indeed.”
Another talks poignantly of the vital lifeline the centre offers: “If the Old Moat wasn’t offering this opportunity I’d be so isolated. They’re so supportive and if we have any issues, they’re available to talk to. They also offer the opportunity to learn valuable new skills. Without them I’d be lost.”
And the figures speak for themselves. Over the past year the centre has helped more than 150 people. Of these 14 have moved on to paid employment, 16 into volunteering, and 65 have attended courses at the centre run by adult education charity the WEA (Workers’ Educational Association) in such subjects as confidence building, assertiveness and goal setting.
Facts and figures
- One in four people in the UK will experience a mental health problem in any given year*
- In the UK, 70million work days are lost each year to mental health problems*
- Mixed anxiety and depression are the most common causes of mental health issues in the UK*
- Figures from 2014 found that 26% of UK adults have been diagnosed with at least one mental health problem**
*Source Mental Health Foundation ** Source Mental Health Network
And as well as offering development opportunities for those who use it, the Old Moat itself has been growing steadily as a commercial operation. In 2012 it opened a café which as well as creating an additional area for participants to gain work experience, also provided a welcome revenue stream.
Yet as is often the case, funding – or rather the lack of it – is a very big issue. And while the organisation is clearly providing crucial resources for the community and is the only one of its kind in the area, it’s current NHS funding is due to end in March and as we go to press, the centre is still waiting to hear whether it has succeeded in securing further monies. But for a centre that breathes positivity, the Old Moat has embraced this challenge in a typically optimistic fashion.
“We’ve been working with our NHS funders over the past few years to look at options to make the scheme more self-sufficient,” says Debbie. “As a result, we’ve got exciting plans to expand the garden centre commercially in order to ensure we can keep the mental health service running.” Planning permission has now been granted for a bigger café, a larger retail area, an expanded car park and the conversion of the barn into a community farm shop. There’s also an embryonic idea to use the site as a venue for community events.
“The expansion will enable us to offer a wider variety of work placements and employment opportunities to people in the local area who are living with a mental health problem,” Debbie reflects. “And in order to fund this exciting new phase, Richmond Fellowship is currently in the process of applying for funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund.”
The last word should surely go to one of the many people whose lives have been transformed by their time in such a nurturing horticultural environment: “I’m hoping to go to college in order to train as a nurse and am greatly indebted to all the staff here. Their kindness, compassion and dedication have been invaluable, and I have so many wonderful and precious memories. And all this would in no way be possible without the Old Moat Garden Centre. What more could I ask for from a mental health service?”
- The Old Moat Garden Centre, Horton Lane Epsom Surrey KT19 8PQ, 01372 731970. www.theoldmoatgardencentre.org.uk
- Richmond Fellowship, www.richmondfellowship.org.uk
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