Feedback from group participants:

‘Thought it was absolutely brilliant. I was so grateful to you for making me feel welcome as I was a little nervous about what to expect or who I was going to meet but I needn't have worried as you were all so lovely. I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of it - the hot chocolate, the mindfulness sessions and the writing down what we wanted to realise over the coming months. I particularly enjoyed throwing the bit of paper into the fire to release the energies. I can honestly say it was one of the best bits of any course I've done in a very long time’

‘Sessions were enjoyable, relaxed and playful with a sense of togetherness and gentle exploration in the space. The structure of each session was grounding and the surrounding allotment is peaceful. It’s very good to be around trees!’

There has been an explosion of evidence over the last 10 years that shows how both creativity and nature respectively can serve as foundations for positive mental and emotional wellbeing. The group sessions will aim to enable people the time and space outdoors to connect with both gardening/nature and their creativity . One of the advantages of being outside is that we can incorporate nature into our art projects by growing and using some of the plants and resources found in the garden. This both teaches gardening (growing certain flowers for dyeing for example) and creativity, by allowing people to work with materials they aren't familiar with and explore found objects as part of the creative process. It also encourages curiosity and awareness of the natural world and build skills in gardening and creativity all of which can support mental wellbeing.

These varied from week to week depending on the plants/resources found in the garden at the time of year. If regular people came to the group they were able to suggest ideas of what they might like to try.

Examples of activities:

1) Making clay leaf/flower prints

2) Cyanotype printing 

3) Flower pounding to dye cloth

4) Photography 

5) Using sticks to paint/ exploring pattern and shape in the garden

6) Pressing flowers to make memory notes

7) Creating poems using words chosen from nature and selecting them at random to create a piece