Eighty five people like Anna (not her real name), who have experienced mental distress, have been helped by Thrive in the past year.
Before joining Thrive’s Working it Out project, Anna had been housebound and depressed.
Her debilitating mental health issues had resulted from an extremely difficult 10-year period in which she had faced several close family bereavements and had endured horrendous domestic abuse.
But since May 2010, Anna has turned her life around. Through Working it Out she has been striving to learn valuable skills that will make her employable and reduce her dependency on benefits.
"Anna has worked outdoors in all weathers renovating lawns, pruning and
maintaining plants. She has never missed a session and even set to work the day after an operation!
"She expects to complete her stay with us in the summer of 2011 when she will hopefully leave with her level 2 Diploma in Work Based Horticulture – the highest qualification at level 2," explains Sue Stuart, Thrive’s Battersea Garden Project Manager.
Through her involvement with Thrive, Anna has also learned to use a computer to support her diploma studies.
She has even gained enough confidence to start sharing her knowledge with three other clients through informal study workshops she has organised at the local library each weekend. In doing this she has discovered a gift for teaching and is hoping to gain a pre-teaching qualification.
"The chance to socialise and get out just one day a week has helped me get back into society. Learning about gardening gives a good sense of achievement and has made me want to learn more. Gardening is a good healer, this course has given me a reason to want to live life again," says Anna.