Thrive News February 2013

Page 1

Introducing our new Chief Executive

Volunteering for Thrive

Dig It! & Gardening Together

February 2013

February 2013Page 2

to this edition of Thrive NewsWelcomeI’ve just been out into the Thrive garden to take the last photo for this edition of Thrive News, it’s freezing out there, but our gardeners and volunteers don’t seem to be noticing – they’re well wrapped up and completely absorbed in their gardening. There’s a sense of anticipation too, there are promises of a productive year ahead

– so long as we get some sunshine.

2013 will be busy for Thrive – we have a new Chief Executive, Kathryn Rossiter, she introduces herself and

her thoughts about Thrive’s potential on page 6. We have plans to support armed forces veterans with programmes in the Midlands and the North East, we’ll report in the next edition of Thrive News, in the meantime check our progress in our monthly e-bulletin – our Communications Manager tells you how to sign up for that, on page 4.

In this issue we’re launching some new fundraising ideas for 2013 – embark on an adventure with our challenge event partners, play a round of golf at Thrive’s Golf Day in September, or have a Thrive Garden Party and raise funds to support us.

Raising funds is as challenging as it have ever been, we are so grateful to everyone who donates to Thrive, thank you. We hope what you read here will encourage you to keep supporting us and persuade your friends to support us too.

Thank you

Sue Tiplady Individual Giving Manager

Summer is coming (we hope!) and with it a new fundraising idea. We know that Thrive supporters love gardens and many of you have gardens of your own, so what better way to enjoy the weather and the company of friends by having a Garden Party for Thrive.

Invite friends, family and neighbours to enjoy your garden and support Thrive at the same time.

Let us know if you’d like to hold a garden party and we’ll provide you with a fundraising pack full of advice and bits and pieces to make your party a success, call us on 0118 988 5688 to register your interest or email us on [email protected].

Thrive’s Great

Garden Party

Thrive will be holding its own garden parties too, so if you don’t have a garden of your own you can always come to ours – see the Thrive website or look out for news on our monthly e-bulletin for more details.

Fundraising pack

Thrive is a national charity, founded in 1978, that makes use of gardening to change the lives of disabled people.

ThriveThe Geoffrey Udall CentreBeech HillReading RG7 2AT

T: 0118 988 5688F: 0118 988 5677E: [email protected]: www.thrive.org.uk www.carryongardening.org.uk

© Thrive 2013 Thrive is registered in the UK as the Society for Horticultural Therapy.Thrive is a registered charity (number 277570) and limited company (number 1415700).

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07/02/2013 15:12

Fundraising in aid of

Please come to our garden party...

Date:

Time:

Place:

Together we can help

Thrive is a national charity, that makes use of gardening to change the lives of disabled people.

Thrive is registered in the UK as the Society for Horticultural Therapy.Thrive is a registered charity (number 277570) and limited company (number 1415700).

© Thrive 2013

I can‘t come to your garden party, but I would

like to support Thrive

Here is my Cheque/CAF charity voucher/Postal Order for

£ (please insert amount) made payable to Thrive.

Gift Aid – an extra 25p for every £1 donation

I want Thrive to treat all donations I make from the date of this

declaration until I notify you otherwise, as Gift Aid donations.

I understand the requirement is that I must pay an amount of

income tax or capital gains tax at least equal to the tax deemed

to have been deducted from this donation.

Signature:

Date:

My details are:

Name: Mr/Mrs/Ms/( )

Address:

Post Code:

Telephone Number:

Email:











Signature:

Date:

My details are:

Name: Mr/Mrs/Ms/( )

Address:

Post Code:

Telephone Number:

Email:











Signature:

Date:

My details are:

Name: Mr/Mrs/Ms/( )

Address:

Post Code:

Telephone Number:

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Signature:

Date:

My details are:

Name: Mr/Mrs/Ms/( )

Address:

Post Code:

Telephone Number:

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Thrive is a national charity, that makes use of gardening

to change the lives of disabled people.

Thrive is registered in the UK as the Society for Horticultural Therapy.

Thrive is a registered charity (number 277570) and limited company (number 1415700).

© Thrive 2013

Dear:


Date:

Time:

Place:







© Thrive 2013

Dear:


Date:

Time:

Place:







© Thrive 2013

Dear:


Date:

Time:

Place:







© Thrive 2013

Dear:


Date:

Time:

Place:


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Hellloooo! My name is Sam Ward and I’m a

newbie to Thrive. I have come in as maternity cover for Helen Crichton. My role is to run Thrive’s Training for Life After

Stroke project which is a three year project, funded by the Dunhill Medical

Trust and finishes at the end of August.

Training for Life After Stroke was born out of the success of two previous stroke specific projects and aims to provide free, yes that’s FREE gardening sessions to stroke clubs and also free training for professionals working with stroke survivors who want to run their own gardening-based activities as part of the rehabilitation process. As you can imagine there is a huge interest and demand for these sessions and the project is now fully booked with a waiting list.

Social and therapeutic horticulture provides a host of benefits for life following a stroke and I am frequently told gardening is the hobby most stroke survivors miss the most. Well, with the right tools and a re-think on the approach to tasks, gardening can be enjoyed for years to come.

Most outdoor garden projects can happily be adapted to container or indoor gardening and stroke clubs have been getting involved in a whole range of projects from herb

Life after stroke with Samplanters, celebration table decorations, seed sowing, bulbs, seasonal containers, cuttings and succulents and alpines displays. I’m particularly looking forward to going for it with hanging baskets later in the year with strawberries, tomatoes, herbs and salad mixes.

Stuck for inspiration? Have a look at www.carryongardening.co.uk, Thrive’s sister website, for ideas as well as tips for adapting jobs around the garden to make them work for you. The site also has specific information for gardeners who have had a stroke. Trusty Gardeners’ World via their website or magazine has a range of projects for all budgets, space, experience and tastes. Why not have a go? Perhaps you could organise a Thrive fundraising garden party this summer – it will be just perfect for showing off your green fingers and perhaps inspiring others to have a go too!

I look forward to meeting some of you at Thrive’s open days and flower show. Happy gardening.

SamCome to our Thrive Golf DayOn Thursday, 26 September at Pine Ridge Golf Club in Camberley

A fantastic day out for all levels of golfers. Start with a tasty breakfast in the club house, play 18 holes of golf on a picturesque parkland course, and be treated

to a delicious two course lunch followed by a prize presentation.

The entry fee is £240 for a team of four or £60 per person.

There are sponsorship opportunities available for this event – packages suiting every businesses budget and requirement. Each sponsor will be given full recognition and maximum brand exposure, both in the lead up to and during the golf day itself.

Sign up on the Thrive website or email [email protected] for a booking form.

February 2013Page 4

Newspapers, magazines, e-bulletins, tweets, posts, websites – so many choices... Alyson our communications expert tells you how to keep up with Thrive between editions of Thrive News...

Give Thrive the thumbs upAre you ‘on’ Facebook or Twitter, have you found Thrive? You can ‘like’ our Facebook page by using the

button or follow us on Twitter @ThriveCharity. Our Facebook page is kept updated by our tweets and we usually say something (in less than 140 characters) every day! Our tweets often have links to our website or other interesting stories that we’ve found.

Another way of keeping up-to-date with our activity is by signing up to our e-newsletter which we send out in the first few days of every month. To join, visit our website and click on ‘Keep in Touch’.

Have you noticed our new look website? We have spent the last six months working on a new design, adding and editing content and generally making it easier to navigate. This has all been completed by staff with the help from our web hosts Matrix Create at very little cost to the charity. We hope you like it.

Traditional methods work too, especially when Thrive wants to reach people who may not have heard of us before. We use the regional press in London, Berkshire, Hampshire and South Oxfordshire; local newspapers are a great way to let people know what we are doing. You may also have heard us on the radio; one of our gardeners Kenny spoke to Anne Diamond on BBC Radio Berkshire in January we also featured on BBC Radio 4 Gardener’s Question Time postbag edition.

Last summer Thrive appeared in a range of high profile publications Elle magazine, Conde Nast Traveller, Tatler, Vanity Fair, Harpers Bazaar thanks to our relationship with Jo Malone Limited. The partnership also led to stories in some of the national newspapers – The Times and Telegraph – with the latter also featuring case studies of some Thrive gardeners via its Gardening Against the Odds Awards.

Communications at Thrive

Thrive has lots of exciting plans in 2013, help me spread the word about our work via Facebook or Twitter. I’m always happy to hear what you think about Thrive, just get in touch I’d be delighted to hear from you.

Alyson Chorley, Communications and PR Manager [email protected]

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Challenge

FundraisingHelp us raise funds and take on your own exciting journey.

If you would like further information or a different challenge please get in touch at [email protected] or by calling on 0118 988 5688.

www.discoveradventure.com/About_Open_Challenges.aspx www.charitychallenge.com

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to trek across the Sahara Desert experiencing the remarkable feeling of space and solitude? Or how about completing the ‘Ride of Champions’ cycling 90 miles around London on the same route as Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish in the 2012 London Olympic Games?

Our fundraising partner ‘Discover Adventure’ specialises in treks and cycling challenges all over the world. In their own words, their experienced and professional team are all ‘trained in first aid, mechanics, haggling, cocktail making and bad joke-telling!’ Thrive supporters have the opportunity to take part in one of the following amazing challenges and help us by raising lots of money at the same time.

• South Downs Trekathon• London Ride of Champions• Venice to Genoa Cycle Challenge• Sahara Desert Trek• Barcelona Trekathon

We are also working with ‘Charity Challenge’ to provide fundraising challenges exclusively for the over 50’s. You can take part in a similar inspiring challenge by joining the ‘Over the Hill Club’ alongside others who also remember seeing the first man of the moon!

Individually or as part of a team we can support you in putting together a successful fundraising campaign and keep you motivated with your training.

February 2013Page 6

Thrive’s new Chief Executive, Kathryn Rossiter, asks

Just how good is Thrive?

© S

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Thrive therapists are at the leading edge of social and therapeutic horticulture (STH) and we continue to provide training for people wanting to develop their knowledge and skills...

“

”

When I applied for the role of Chief Executive at Thrive last summer I found myself asking the kind of questions anyone would ask before they make a commitment to a charity. I had read about the great work that Thrive says it has done – but wondered what was behind the public face of Thrive? How well do their programmes and activities really work? Is it really possible to help disabled people using gardening? How can Thrive continue to operate in this financial climate?

Having arrived at Thrive in November I have spent my first couple of months here talking to as many people as possible to try and find the answers to those questions.

What I have found has already made me very proud to work for Thrive. At both Battersea and Trunkwell, our established sites, we have teams of very dedicated horticultural therapists working with groups of gardeners of all ages and with varying degrees of ability – sessions are planned and tailored to suit the gardeners’ individual goals and where appropriate the gardeners are supported in gaining a qualification in work-based horticulture. Thrive therapists are at the leading edge of social and therapeutic horticulture (STH) and we continue to provide training for people wanting

to develop their knowledge and skills in STH from entry level right up to professional diploma. Our in-house monitoring and evaluation procedures place Thrive at the forefront of developing STH activities.

Page 7

Thrive’s new Chief Executive, Kathryn Rossiter, asks

Just how good is Thrive?

© Helen Jermyn

Our new programmes have had some great results in 2012. Building employability skills into the gardening programmes, providing work shadowing and placement opportunities, combined with assistance with preparing a CV and interview skills, is making a real difference to a number of our gardeners’ lives. Programmes that take food growing into communities are helping disabled people to improve their health and well-being and to become active members of their community; plus enabling the wider community to participate in affordable food growing and promoting community cohesion through shared activities.

We are also looking to expand our geographic reach in 2013 so that more people are able to benefit from our programmes – we will be working in parks, gardens and community centres around London, Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Hampshire and developing programmes in the Midlands and the North East.

Thrive is supported by a fantastic team of volunteers who give freely of their time to support our work and we are always striving to ensure Thrive is run as efficiently as possible. We are also looking at new ways that our gardening work can generate income. But at the end of the day, the financial support that individuals can give us will always be vital to our success, and a measure of their confidence in our ability to help disabled people.

As Chief Executive, I will work hard to make sure that your donations are used well and I look forward to bringing you more information on how we are doing in future editions of Thrive News.

Sim

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emp

February 2013Page 8

Veolia has been operating in the UK for over twenty years. Veolia Environmental Services is the leading recycling and waste management company in the UK. There are around 12,000 people employed by Veolia Environmental Services in the UK and staff are encouraged to spend a paid half day a year giving something back to their local community. Veolia’s staff from Padworth near Reading came to Thrive in 2012 and have committed to support Thrive in 2013.

The team that came to Trunkwell Garden in January arrived when we were ankle deep in snow – but they cheerfully cleared our paths and put down salt to make the site safe for the volunteers and Thrive gardeners before putting in several hours hard graft in the garden. They stripped ivy from trees (ivy kills trees), took down a rotten fence and trimmed a willow arbour. This kind of horticultural work is too physically demanding for our disabled gardeners and it keeps the garden in good shape. It’s work that is absolutely essential – we need safe gardens as places to provide horticultural therapy and the gardens themselves are the best advertisement for the skills and abilities of our gardeners that we could wish for. A visit to our gardens encourages people to support our work, it’s a simple as that – if you haven’t yet visited us at Trunkwell or Battersea, dates of our open days are listed on page 9 and on our website.

Last month Veolia brought us a lorry load of compost and we’re welcoming Veolia staff back regularly this year to help us with a wealth of tasks including painting the woodwork, trimming hedges and maintaining paths – we have four acres of garden at Trunkwell and as anyone who has a garden will know – there’s always plenty to be done.

Keely Gallagher, communications manager for Veolia Environmental Services said “All our employees really

Year round support from Veolia volunteers provides great benefit for Thrive

All our employees really enjoy volunteering with Thrive and seeing how they can make a difference in a short amount of time.

“

”

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provides great benefit for Thrive

enjoy volunteering with Thrive and seeing how they can make a difference in a short amount of time. We’ve now asked our colleagues in London to get involved at the Dig It! programme at Larkhall Park, because we’ve loved helping you here in West Berkshire.”

Trunkwell, BeeCH HIll (for details call 0118 988 5688 or email [email protected])

4 May – Open Day, 11 am – 4 pm Garden tours, plant sales, home-made goodies, refreshments, activities for children and stalls.7 July – Afternoon tea and a stroll, 2 pm – 4.30 pm28 July – Afternoon tea and a stroll, 2 pm – 4.30 pm More gentle, relaxing afternoons with scones, jam, cream, tea and bunting! 14 September – Open Day, 11 am – 4 pm Garden tours, plant sales, home-made goodies, refreshments, activities for children and stalls.

BaTTersea, lOnDOn (for details call 020 7720 2212 or email [email protected])

18 May – Summer in the square, 11 am – 4 pm Thrive will be at Battersea Square. Music dance children’s play zone, farmers market, food & drink, plants and garden related gifts.8–9 June – Open Garden, 11 am – 5 pm The Herb Garden Battersea Park as part of London Open Squares weekend. Fete, raffle, tombola, plants and herbs for sale, refreshments and children’s activities. This year will include tours of the Old English Garden.

Thrive Events 2013

We would like to thank our Christmas wreath-making volunteers from Berkeley Homes; Virgin Media; The Environment Agency; Thames Water; Dell; Foster Wheeler; Quintiles; Veolia; Visa Inc. for their hard work. We are very grateful to Visa Inc for making a donation of $1,500 to cover the cost of the materials. Thanks also to Thrive volunteers who helped on our wreath-making days and gave their time on two of the coldest days in December to sell our wreaths at Winchester Christmas Fayre.

February 2013Page 10

Dig It!Thrive’s highly successful Working it Out programme has secured a new lease of life thanks to funding from the Lottery’s Local Food programme. The funding was secured following the successful outcomes achieved by disabled people who’ve been on Working it Out which aims to tackle horrendously high unemployment rates among disabled Londoners.

Launched in 2009 (two years before the Government’s Work Programme) Working it Out has helped over 150 disabled Londoners: 77 have achieved a City & Guilds horticulture qualification, over 80 have gone on to take higher qualifications, many now volunteer in their communities and over 30 per cent have secured paid work.

Working it Out works because it offers accessible and flexible training to unemployed Londoners whose disability or mental ill health acts as a barrier to employment. It is a work

shadowing programme designed for people who really want to enter paid employment but who find it hard to access training and employment opportunities and who need support to develop the necessary skills. People work in small groups, they get 1 on 1 support when they need it and can train for their qualification as they work. A key feature is being able to work at their own pace.

Thrive has launched a new project called Dig It! – a community food growing programme in Larkhall and Ruskin Parks in Lambeth and Southwark, two boroughs which service some of London’s most deprived and disadvantaged areas.

Dig It! combines Working it Out with a community food growing project which will bring together disabled

people and the local community to create community food growing garden and a volunteer gardening group which will take on the garden when the Dig It! funding ceases in 2014. Just like Working it Out, Dig It! focuses on enabling disabled people living in Southwark, Lambeth and Wandsworth, to gain vocational and volunteering skills boosting their employment prospects improving their health and well-being and helping them to become active members of the community.

P ROJECT UPDATEin the city...

Transformation opportunity, Larkhall Park, site for shed and green house

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Gardening TogetherThrive have recently started a new project called Gardening Together. The project has received funding through the Neighbourhood Learning in Deprived Communities Fund. The aim of this initiative is to support older people living in sheltered housing and care home accommodation to engage in, learn about, enjoy and benefit from gardening activity.

Thrive will deliver two hour gardening sessions at care homes or sheltered housing locations, over five weeks and participants will be shown practical ways they can keep gardening as they get older. We hope the project will also encourage older people who have not gardened before to participate by showing them the social and health benefits of gardening.

The Gardening Together project will be delivered free across the West Berkshire area and runs for 12 months.

For further information please contact either Sue Tabor or Carl Harney on 0118 988 4844.

But Dig It! also aims to get the whole community involved. At Thrive we are especially excited at the prospect of a project which brings the wider community together with disabled people to take part in affordable food growing and understand the benefits this brings, as well as organising shared activities that celebrate the cultural diversity of food. We really hope that this will help to increase disability awareness and cut across the barriers which sadly can still exist between the disabled and non-disabled communities.

“People following the Dig It! programme will have the chance to gain qualifications in work based horticulture,” says project manager Isla Ferns.

“We can help with CV writing and assist people in looking for work or other places to volunteer when they’ve completed the programme.

“Something completely new to us will be writing a recipe book which are all very excited about. It means that people who come on Dig It! will leave a lasting legacy and can be proud of the part they’ve played.

“It will also be a fantastic resource for people living in the community and local schools.

“At the end of the project, Thrive will leave the community with all the tools, equipment and other resources, and will also provide free seeds and seedlings for the next season’s growing.”

Transformation opportunity, Larkhall Park, site for shed and green house

P ROJECT UPDATEin the country...

Hel

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F O C U S O N : VolunteersRetired teacher Jane Hampson from London is Thrive’s Volunteer of the Year 2012

What an amazing place! I got a very warm welcome and agreed to help out on Wednesdays

I started in the Information Department, driving a computer, stuffing envelopes and answering the phone, I was soon involved in giving talks about Thrive to local groups – Women’s Institutes, Gardening Clubs and Rotary Clubs; spreading the word, encouraging new volunteers, raising funds and

Volunteering is simply brilliant by Simon Johnson

Rain or shine Jane, a keen gardener, works at Battersea two days a week. As well as supporting

around 10 clients each day, she is also an ambassador for Thrive outside of these hours and is a familiar figure at volunteer days, helping at fundraising events, open days and plant sales.

Jane, who has been volunteering at Thrive for two and half years, says it suits her perfectly:

“I love to be outside and to work with people and it’s also an opportunity to learn – I’ve learned so much from the therapists – the time goes quickly and unlike when I was a teacher I don’t have to do any paperwork at the end of the day!”

And she has some very definite advice for anyone thinking of volunteering at Thrive: “Sign up today!”

S ix months into retirement I had had enough of playing golf, and watching sport on the TV... I had heard of Thrive in nearby Beech Hill but knew little about them; so I checked out the website and arranged to visit to discuss volunteering.

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generally improving awareness about Thrive.

Soon afterwards I helped out at an open day at Frogmore in Windsor Great Park – the gardens belong to the Royal Palaces and only open to the public a couple of days a year. I help at Thrive’s Open Days too – generally supporting the fundraising team to raise money to help more disabled gardeners.

A year on I have moved into the garden and volunteer supporting the therapists and the gardeners. It has given me amazing insight into the difficulties of autism, stroke and depression, and I can only admire the fortitude of the gardeners as I watch them blossom and take joy in the gardens here at Trunkwell.

Volunteering has given me great insight into a local charity, I have met some great people dedicated to improving the lives of others, I have witnessed at first hand, in the most gorgeous of surroundings, how people can overcome their disabilities, develop and grow in a safe and supportive environment.

I would recommend that anyone who has a bit of spare time on their hands and a desire to help others to consider volunteering for Thrive. There are so many opportunities and areas in which to contribute, the people are great, the goals of the charity outstanding, and of course the gardens themselves are beautiful.

Volunteering is simply brilliant by Simon Johnson

Individual volunteers have donated 11,500 hours of their time since April 2012. Their average hours over one year equate to 11 full time posts, saving us more than £250,000. If you would like to volunteer for Thrive just give call or send an email to [email protected]

February 2013Page 14 ✁

for work, health and safety, and – of course – horticulture. Attaining this qualification will give clients a greater understanding of work based practises, improve confidence and provide a platform to move onto a higher qualification.

At present five Thrive gardeners are working towards a level one qualification in Work Based Horticulture and the nine working on level two this year will cover such topics as the principles of propagation of plants from seed, assisting with the maintenance of grass surfaces and the principles of identifying the presence of, and controlling pests and diseases.

Achieving qualifications provides both an incentive and a reward for Thrive gardeners and helps to build skills and confidence. The process of learning provides them with the opportunity to develop

skills like initiative, co-operation, patience, concentration, numeracy and literacy.

When our gardeners move on from Thrive, which we hope they will do, the

qualifications they attain with us can lead to rewarding employment or volunteering opportunities elsewhere.

W hilst teaching gardening techniques and horticultural practices as part of Thrive’s charitable aims. Thrive also builds qualifications into our gardening programmes so that our disabled gardeners can provide evidence of their knowledge and personal progression.

In January, 31 Thrive gardeners were registered for vocational courses, and will spend the next 18–24 months working towards attaining City and Guilds qualifications. 17 more will be undertaking Entry Level qualifications in Skills for Working Life and will be studying topics such as Personal and Social development, preparing

Thrive helps disabled gardeners achieve qualifications

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I would like to support Thrive with a gift.Here is my Cheque/CAF charity voucher/Postal Order for

£. . . . . . . . . . . . . (please insert amount) made payable to Thrive.

Financial SecurityIf you prefer to make a donation by credit or debit card; please do not send card details through the post – please call us on 0118 988 5688 and ask to speak to a member our finance team. Or donate via our website: www.thrive.org.uk/donate-to-thrive.aspxDonate using your mobile phone: text THRI02 and the amount of your gift to 70070

Gift Aid – make your gift larger at no personal cost: Using Gift Aid means that for every pound you give, Thrive will receive an extra 25p from the Inland Revenue. Just sign the statement below.

Gift Aid Statement I want Thrive to treat all donations I make from the date of this declaration until I notify you

otherwise, as Gift Aid donations. I understand the requirement is that I must pay an amount of income tax or capital gains tax at least equal to the tax deemed to have been deducted from this donation.

Signature ......................................................................................... Date ............................

Your details(We need your full address to process your donation for Gift Aid successfully and to acknowledge your donation)

Name: Mr / Mrs / Ms (please delete) .......................................................................................................

Address: ...............................................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................... Postcode :................................

Telephone Number:...................................................................................................................

Email:.....................................................................................................................................

Please send a thank you by email (please provide your email address above).

I do not require a thank you letter this time.

The law around charities communicating with their supporters has changed and we need to have your permission to contact you again. Your support is very important to us, and we would like to keep you updated about Thrive.

If you are happy to hear from us until further notice please tick here: (Any personal information we collect from you will be handled under the terms of the Data Protection Act (1998). We will not pass on your personal details to any third party.)

Please return this form to: Thrive, FREEPOST (SCE 6522) The Geoffrey Udall Centre, Beech Hill, Reading RG7 2AT. OR Thrive, The Geoffrey Udall Centre, Beech Hill, Reading RG7 2AT.

Thank youThrive is a small national charity whose vision is to enable those touched by a disability to transform their lives using gardening.Registered in the UK as The Society for Horticultural Therapy Charity No 277570 Company No 1415700Source: FRNEWS022013

Sim

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Thrive

When you have finished with this newsletter, please pass it on to a friend or recycle it. Thrive News is printed on recycled paper. Thrive is registered in the UK as the Society for Horticultural Therapy. Thrive is a registered charity (number 277570) and a limited company (number 1415700).© Thrive 2013

Contact ThriveThrive, The Geoffrey Udall CentreBeech Hill, Reading RG7 2ATT: 0118 988 5688E: [email protected]: www.thrive.org.uk

You can help Thrive help more people:

Telephone: 0118 988 5688

Text: THrI02 and the amount of your gift to 70070

Online: www.thrive.org.uk

By post: Fill in the form overleaf and return it to Thrive

Gary Hollis wasn’t really interested in gardening when he first came to Thrive. After attending three times a week for five and a half years Thrive has become an important part of Gary’s life and, although he would deny it vigorously, he contributes a great deal to life at Thrive’s garden project at Battersea Park in return. Gary is 27 with autistic spectrum disorder.

Thrive provides Gary with a routine and puts structure into his life, something which is very important for people with autism. Gary particularly enjoys watering, raking leaves, seed sowing; tasks which are methodical and repetitive and so are calming and restorative. Autism is a recognised developmental disability but it is no barrier to intellect; Gary is very intelligent and a keen learner; he possesses good literacy skills and easily follows instructions; working things out for himself, he has learnt a lot about health and safety during his time with Thrive.

Gary’s biggest challenge is social interaction; working at Thrive amongst therapists, volunteers and gardeners has helped him manage those difficulties. At first he was unsure and wary of new people; he has gradually learned to be more accepting of different people and new environments. Gary‘s personality now shines through and he has shown us a kind and thoughtful side; he remembers people’s names and he looks out for other gardeners, providing encouragement for less confident colleagues whilst being mindful of their disabilities, though he is a stickler for time keeping! – Recently there was a large puddle near the Herb Garden entrance and he took it upon himself to sweep away the water; just to help out.

As Richard, a horticultural therapist explains – Thrive begins with gardening, but it is about much more – it’s

about acceptance, patience, learning and understanding,

it’s a place where everyone is working to a common cause,

developing skills, taking responsibility , making choices for themselves and improving their lives. Gary’s experience at Thrive shows that it’s an approach that works well.

It costs us more than £50 every time someone comes to a garden programme at Thrive, and we rely heavily on charitable donations to support our work with disabled people. Please make a donation to Thrive today and help more people like Gary using the power of gardening to improve his life.

About AutismAround 500,000 people in the UK are diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder1. ‘Autism’ is a lifelong developmental disability, it causes difficulty in: social understanding, social communication and social imagination. 1 National Autistic Society website. www.autism.org.uk

Documents

Thrive News February 2013