“You grow beauty outside and cook love inside.”
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It’s National Allotments Week!
In the build up to our allotment open afternoon next Tuesday (18 August at 12.30pm), we’re sharing information on our Lalley community allotment, how it works and how it benefits people in our area.
Here, Cait from our Lalley team, tells us about a special course developed to support people settling in Manchester…
Last September, some Aspire ESOL students requested opportunities to volunteer their time to give back to the Lalley centre and the local community.
In response, we developed ‘Living here: A guided programme for people settling in Manchester’.
This programme aims to help people new to, and settling in, Manchester – including refugees and people seeking asylum – to help their community, make new friends, explore the local area, practice their English, improve their mental health and wellbeing, and develop practical skills.
This course is entirely co-produced, meaning it is shaped and delivered by the people completing it, so we hosted the first session in the allotment to gather feedback and ideas to plan how they would like to spend their time. The group immediately warmed to the tranquillity of the allotment space itself and decided they wanted to spend as much time out there as possible.
Throughout the course, the group helped to weed, water, rake, and harvest on the allotment. They enjoyed developing these skills and fed back to the team about how much it improved their mental health. One person said: “I have learned a lot of things from the garden, like how to relax and have good mental health and switch off.” Another person said: “…the allotment makes my brain quiet.”
As well as this, the group took part in many activities on the allotment that you might not traditionally associate with an allotment space, including drawing, painting, making pizzas in the pizza oven, playing board games, dancing, singing, and doing lots of spelling bees.
They loved being able to use the allotment for these sessions as it adds a calm, beautiful backdrop which simply can’t be replicated inside a building. One person said: “…I don’t sleep much. When I come here, we have a good time, we enjoy life with friends. It’s very, very, very good for my mental health – I can’t thank you enough.”
Our first round of the Living Here programme recently came to an end. We celebrated the final session with pizza-making on the allotment.
The group loved being on the allotment so much, that they surprised our staff the following week with an impromptu visit with cakes, food, and flowers for staff and volunteers to enjoy, as a way of showing their appreciation for the space and for the support they had received.
They said: “When we asked you to prepare volunteer work you have listened and organised it. Thanks. You grow beauty outside and cook love inside. Thank you for taking such wonderful care of us. Thank you for your delicious food and pretty garden.”
We can’t wait to have the Living Here group back up and running again in September. To register your interest in joining, please contact Cait at lalleycentre@caritassalford.org.uk or on 0161 205 2754.
You can also get involved as a volunteer and take on some responsibility for growing on the site and welcoming other visitors, if you’re interested just sign up by clicking here.
Find out more about our Lalley Centre, Community Pantry and Allotment by clicking here now.