Ken started volunteering at Thrive Reading from 1997 until March 2020 - supporting us for an incredible 22 years. He is greatly missed by those who worked with him at the Trunkwell centre in Beech Hill.
A keen gardener since childhood, Ken found in adult life that working on his allotment was a therapeutic activity. Speaking to the Times in 2008, he said "When I finished work each day I used to take all my problems down to the allotments. I could leave my worries there, where I worked with the birds singing, the peace and quiet, and where I talked to nature. By the time I’d finished I had resolved all my problems, and returned to work the next day happy.”
This joy of gardening eventually led Ken to help at the Thrive centre in Beech Hill in the late 90s, where he found we shared the same ethos of gardening therapy.
Ken's principle role was working directly with client gardeners and supporting them with their gardening activities, although he got involved in many different aspects of running and promoting the work of the charity.
Ken Tudgay - photo by The Times and Paul Rogers
Ken was nominated for the Reading Voluntary Action Volunteer Awards in 2019 and was asked what difference he felt his volunteering makes to the client gardeners, "As I work with the clients, they start to come out of their shells, you become a person they trust. People who sometimes don’t like talking to other people find they have a voice. At the end of the day, they say they’ve had a good day, and when they say that I feel good."
It makes me happy that I’ve made someone else happy. This is what it’s all about. When we finish at the end of the day at Thrive, a little brightness comes into the clients’ faces. That makes me happy knowing I’ve helped them.
Ken, speaking in 2019
Client gardener Carly and Ken working in the gardens in Reading
Vicki Parker-Scott, STH Practitioner at the Reading centre worked alongside Ken and shared her memories of him, "Ken was an absolute rock when I started working at The Vyne walled Garden project. I was a bit of a novice at vegetable gardening back then. He kindly shared his vast knowledge of the subject with me and was always so full of encouragement.
Ken was such a lovely man and he treated everyone here at Thrive in exactly the same way, with kindness and a genuine interest in each individual person, encouraging each of us to enjoy our gardening, nature and each other’s company.
Vicki, STH Practitioner at Reading
He will be so badly missed. I feel lucky to have known and worked with him, you don’t meet many people like Ken in your lifetime."
Thrive's Training, Education and Consultancy Manager, Damien Newman, remembers Ken's contribution to those he worked with, as well as the charity, "Ken was inspirational. He dedicated so much of his time to support Thrive to create a place of belonging, that focussed on providing dignity and agency to so many who, in other situations may be denied this. His temperance left those he supported in the garden able to be at the centre of it all, and when needed, his humour and ability to keep on the sunny side made every day in the garden with Ken a good one.
I once ended up behind him in a queue at a local garage and he was telling a stranger about Thrive and how they should support our work. We are so fortunate to have many ambassadors and Ken was chief among them."
We are so grateful for all the energy, kindness and dedication that Ken gave to Thrive, and send our heartfelt condolences to his family and friends.
“You cannot beat nature [therapy]. We have a garden here, a secret garden. We sit here with the birds singing and the sun shining and think, this is heaven.”
Ken Tudgay
Volunteering at Thrive
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