Inverness Botanic Garden (IBG) trainees on the GROW (Garden-Recycle-Organics-Wildlife) project got a surprise this week when they received a delivery of ‘home garden kits’ from High Life Highland staff.
The kits include bedding plants, compost and pots to help the GROW trainees keep their green fingers busy at home while self-isolating during the Covid-19 outbreak. More kits will be delivered by HLH staff from IBG this week.
High Life Highland’s Inverness Botanic Gardens manager Ewan Mackintosh said:
“We are missing our GROW trainees during this period while the garden is closed so its been great to deliver these ‘garden kits’ to them this month. By sharing the kits, we hope that the trainees will be able to continue to do a bit of gardening and keep their horticultural interest going until we can welcome them back to the Inverness Botanic Garden again. The feedback from people taking part in the project is that the training and work experience at the garden brings benefits in lots of ways, including through improved independence and health, and we are happy to do what we can to encourage the participants to keep gardening during this current period.”
Arlene Johnstone of NHS Highland said: ““This is a fabulous and innovative idea to ensure that the trainees can continue to do the activities that they would normally be doing and will help keep them active and well during this difficult time”.
Over half of the IBG area is lovingly looked after by the GROW project, offering an opportunity for adults with a learning disability to get involved with practical horticulture. The GROW project provides a sympathetic workplace-type environment that uses horticulture therapy to deliver training and work experience which goes towards improving trainees levels of independence, social inclusion, health, and happiness. The Grow Project welcomes volunteers to support the project and its trainees. For more information, contact [email protected]
