Cultivating Good Mental Health - Lincoln-based Charity Helps People Leave Their Mental Health Condit.
Green Synergy, a Lincoln-based community gardening and horticultural therapy charity is helping people to battle their mental health conditions, overcome personal challenges and help their volunteers make valuable changes to their lives.
Funded by Peoples Health Trust, using money raised by Health Lottery East, the charity uses gardening to build skills for life and work, improve mental and physical health, and educate people about the environment, food and farming.
A great medicine for the mind, Green Synergy is an all-inclusive group that assists all volunteers no matter what their condition.
“Being autistic, I find it very hard to get on with people” explained Tim Gogan, Green Synergy volunteer. “I’m always on the outside, but I find a lot of people here have similar problems to myself which helps me socialise and help others.”
Previously struggling with anxiety and depression, Green Synergy Community Gardener, Lizzie McFarlane said: “I joined Green Synergy two years ago as a volunteer, which was a big step for me – at the time my depression and anxiety were so bad I could barely leave the house.
I have found the group and gardening has helped with my mental health conditions. It has also helped to build new skills to receive gainful employment with the charity. Being able to give back to the people who need it most has been really rewarding.”
Mary Hollis. Founder and Chief Executive of Green Synergy said: “Green Synergy uses gardening and city farming to help bring people together to socialise, learn and thrive – we hope to help to make both individuals and the local community happier, healthier and stronger.”
Held in a space, that was once a disused wasteland, Green Synergy is cultivating good mental health to help more people leave their worries at the garden gate.
Health Lottery East Midlands is benefitting from Health Lottery tickets sold for all draws being held between 2 October to 31 October 2018. You can buy Health Lottery tickets in advance for these draws online at www.healthlottery.co.uk or from more than 32,000 local retailers including the Post Office, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, ASDA, Morrisons and WH Smith. For all draws from 29 July, for every £1 entry into a weekly lottery draw the player automatically gets an entry into one of our monthly mega raffles with a guaranteed prize of £250,000.
