Changes within our team and our first farm shop of the year.

March 31, 2023

There have been a lot of changes in the HighGround team during this month. It is with great sadness that I announce that my colleague Andy Wright has left. Andy has been instrumental in his role as therapeutic gardens manager and technical instructor in setting up and delivering the Horticultural Therapy service at DMRC Stanford Hall and will be greatly missed by everyone including all the staff and patients. It’s the end of an era and things just won’t be the same without him. We also have a new chairman, Simon Caraffi, who will be replacing Ian Elliott and came to visit earlier this week. Our two Gardening Volunteers have also started back and offered extra hours of their time to support the service which is always greatly appreciated. The staff on the Unit have also been very supportive offering extra help with tasks such as watering – every little helps.

Farm Shop

We had the first Farm Shop of the season which was a busy day, well attended by staff on the Unit, and really good fun. The tomatoes and chillies proved to be very popular which has created some short lived space in the greenhouse. Some of our patients were also involved helping to set up the Farm Shop, serving customers and seeing the end results of plants they have helped to grow.

Producing signage for the produce was a useful therapeutic activity for one of our patients. Researching information about the growing and maintenance of some of the plants to create clear information with appealing visual images enabled a range of cognitive processes to be utilised. It was also a way of learning more about an existing area of interest and the signs can be re-used for the next Farm Shop.

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Jane

HG adheres to the latest government and unit policy in preventing the spread of COVID-19.

Greenhouse full of seedlings.

Farm Shop garden volunteers.

Farm shop signs.

Farm Shop ready to open.

Farm Shop customers.

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