What our volunteers say about us:
I can actually say ‘I’ve done something today’ which I don’t feel very often. It felt constructive' (Millview resident, 2016)
'I felt alive today, the focus was on what I can do and what I want to do which is important to me.' (Millview resident, 2016)
'The reason why I come to the Centre for Ecotherapy is that I enjoy gardening. Unfortunately I don’t have my own garden, so coming here fills that little space for me. The work is very varied, from breaking down pallets, cutting them to the right size and joining them together to put them around this dug area, caring for, and harvesting, fruit and veg and weeding. Sometimes I mow the top plot which is quite a job to do, I get quite knackered, but what I do get out of this is actually being outside with greenery, meeting new people. It’s a lovely group of people and it’s just a pleasure. … I was in my old flat with a mental breakdown and no contact at all with the outside world and just in a very scary place. … It’s good to get up out of bed and coming here, getting involved and good well-being. I feel contented and happy with myself most of the time which is good.' CH, 2015
'As well as growing fruits and vegetables, I think coming to the Centre has grown me into a person who is much more confident and peaceful. It’s given me a whole group of lovely friends and I really look forward to Fridays even if it is cold and raining - it doesn’t matter about the weather! Every week when I go I don’t always feel like doing great big gardening tasks or anything like that and it doesn’t matter you can do as little or as much as you want. You can stay for four hours or just an hour or two. If you can’t do one or two weeks that doesn’t matter, it’s free for everybody to just pop in you don’t need any skill level although having said that I have learned a lot of new things and am very grateful for that! We share things together which is great. … When I went to the garden for the first time, I wasn’t really doing anything; I wasn’t really able to do anything. I’ve since found out about some other volunteering opportunities and I was able to feel that I would give something else a try. One thing led to another and I’ve been doing other volunteering work and I feel more confident and able to take on other things. I’ve been encouraged to do that by the group. It’s opened my mind and made me able to see what I can do rather than being, I don’t know, at home not doing anything.' MT, 2015
'I’ve found (coming to the Monday group) really peaceful. It’s really cleared my head. I haven’t had a really good month and it’s really made me think that there are really nice people around and nice groups to go to. Being out here it’s so relaxing. This morning I was really anxious about coming and now I feel calm. I feel like the rest of my week can be nice now because I’ve done something good to start it off.' (Anonymous, 2015)
'I wanted to come for the experience but it’s totally different to what I imagined. It’s so big and there’s so much outside space and to be totally honest I could stay up here until tomorrow and have a sleep. I really don’t want to go home as it’s just so peaceful. There is no traffic, no noise, and no pollution.' (Anonymous, 2015)
'During my weeks (working on the wilderness site) I developed numerous skills both personal and physical, including digging out tree roots, developing confidence and building self worth, cutting back and clearing bramble bushes, realizing personal potential, making kindling with an axe out of logs down to the knots and building fires. I valued this time spent in the outdoors with Jess and the team and will be sure to think of it in years to come. Many thanks for the support.' (MVW, 2015. MVW went on to be offered an interview, after 6 months unemployment, and got the job!)
'I felt alive today, the focus was on what I can do and what I want to do which is important to me.' (Millview resident, 2016)
'The reason why I come to the Centre for Ecotherapy is that I enjoy gardening. Unfortunately I don’t have my own garden, so coming here fills that little space for me. The work is very varied, from breaking down pallets, cutting them to the right size and joining them together to put them around this dug area, caring for, and harvesting, fruit and veg and weeding. Sometimes I mow the top plot which is quite a job to do, I get quite knackered, but what I do get out of this is actually being outside with greenery, meeting new people. It’s a lovely group of people and it’s just a pleasure. … I was in my old flat with a mental breakdown and no contact at all with the outside world and just in a very scary place. … It’s good to get up out of bed and coming here, getting involved and good well-being. I feel contented and happy with myself most of the time which is good.' CH, 2015
'As well as growing fruits and vegetables, I think coming to the Centre has grown me into a person who is much more confident and peaceful. It’s given me a whole group of lovely friends and I really look forward to Fridays even if it is cold and raining - it doesn’t matter about the weather! Every week when I go I don’t always feel like doing great big gardening tasks or anything like that and it doesn’t matter you can do as little or as much as you want. You can stay for four hours or just an hour or two. If you can’t do one or two weeks that doesn’t matter, it’s free for everybody to just pop in you don’t need any skill level although having said that I have learned a lot of new things and am very grateful for that! We share things together which is great. … When I went to the garden for the first time, I wasn’t really doing anything; I wasn’t really able to do anything. I’ve since found out about some other volunteering opportunities and I was able to feel that I would give something else a try. One thing led to another and I’ve been doing other volunteering work and I feel more confident and able to take on other things. I’ve been encouraged to do that by the group. It’s opened my mind and made me able to see what I can do rather than being, I don’t know, at home not doing anything.' MT, 2015
'I’ve found (coming to the Monday group) really peaceful. It’s really cleared my head. I haven’t had a really good month and it’s really made me think that there are really nice people around and nice groups to go to. Being out here it’s so relaxing. This morning I was really anxious about coming and now I feel calm. I feel like the rest of my week can be nice now because I’ve done something good to start it off.' (Anonymous, 2015)
'I wanted to come for the experience but it’s totally different to what I imagined. It’s so big and there’s so much outside space and to be totally honest I could stay up here until tomorrow and have a sleep. I really don’t want to go home as it’s just so peaceful. There is no traffic, no noise, and no pollution.' (Anonymous, 2015)
'During my weeks (working on the wilderness site) I developed numerous skills both personal and physical, including digging out tree roots, developing confidence and building self worth, cutting back and clearing bramble bushes, realizing personal potential, making kindling with an axe out of logs down to the knots and building fires. I valued this time spent in the outdoors with Jess and the team and will be sure to think of it in years to come. Many thanks for the support.' (MVW, 2015. MVW went on to be offered an interview, after 6 months unemployment, and got the job!)