More sunshine and a return visitor ‘gives back’

May 13, 2025

The sunshine and warm weather has been wonderful for outside activities and lots of plant growth. Keeping up with the watering has been high on the list of priorities this month as it’s been so dry. We have lots of stock and are in the process of planting out and potting on a good mix of perennials, annual bedding, vegetables and herbs. Steve has been holding weekly plant sales for staff and we are getting ready for our main farm shop in May. It all helps raise funds for much needed supplies to support the work that we do.

RAF Shawbury
We had a group of visitors from RAF Shawbury and with the unit hosted a community volunteering day. This was instigated by one of our ex-patients who has since returned to work after a period of rehabilitation at DMRC and wanted “to give back”. The volunteers helped with clearing an overgrown area on site and helped to stain/treat our wooden benches which needed some maintenance and has much improved our area. It’s not often we see or hear about patients once they leave DMRC, so this was a wonderful opportunity to catch up with lots of laughter and a couple of big jobs ticked off the the To-Do list.

Staff wellbeing – Wildflower seed bombs
I hosted one of our regular staff wellbeing sessions during April. We made a selection of wildflower seed bombs and painted some which had been prepared earlier with patients. Some were made with clay powder and compost and some with air dry clay. A good activity for having fun, being creative, learning to grow wildflowers as well as working on manual dexterity and just being able “to get your hands dirty.” The paint is non-toxic and bio-degradable so safe for planting and around wildlife.

Mulching
We are in the process of clearing our compost pens as we prepare for some brand new ones. We have lots of good compost which has been useful for mulching our raised beds in preparing for planting and earthing up the potatoes. This has provided a useful activity for patients who need to practice lifting, loading, twisting and turning and to learn about the additional benefits of mulching.

Plants for sale

13/05/2025

RAF Shawbury volunteers

13/05/2025

Wildflower seed bombs

13/05/2025

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