In July 2022, Thrive launched Get Gardening. This free online service is designed to help even more people use gardening for health.
We know the incredible power gardening has to support health and wellbeing. We have more than 40 years of experience seeing it through our Social & Therapeutic Horticulture (STH) programmes. There is also a growing body of scientific evidence around the physical and mental health benefits of time in gardens and with nature.
By sharing our knowledge freely through Get Gardening, we want to reach as wide a number of people as possible. It is ideal for:
Visitors to Get Gardening can discover seasonal gardening ideas, ways to make gardening more accessible, inspiring stories and more. By using tags and filters, this advice can be tailored to suit a wide range of garden types, interests and health conditions.
The development of Get Gardening was made possible thanks to a funding grant from the Peter Sowerby Foundation.
It was developed over many months. This included extensive testing and feedback from individuals with a range of health needs and gardening experience.
Following the launch of Get Gardening, we have retired our Carry on Gardening website. This had been running since 2003 as a place to share our expertise around gardening with a disability or barrier.
We are proud of all that Get Gardening has achieved since launch.
At the end of the first year, there are:
We also have a rolling survey in place, so we can keep taking feedback and improving the service as needed.
Respondents tell us:
Within Get Gardening, we have a number of guides offering advice for individuals with specific disabilities and health conditions. We have worked together with a number of other charities and individuals to create and share these.
These collaborations have been invaluable to help ensure the advice is accurate, suitable and accessible for those who need it and to help spread awareness.
Also, thank you to the Stroke Association for sharing ideas on stroke recovery.
Of the many guides on Get Gardening, there have been some stand-out favourites. These are your top 5 most read in the last year.
1. Chitting potatoes
Our aim in creating Get Gardening is to support and improve the health and wellbeing of as many people as possible. So, there is nothing better than hearing your positive feedback and stories after using it.
Here are some of the things you have shared with us:
“I'm currently suffering from severe mental health and off sick … after reading your post I took up gardening to help my condition. Gardening has changed my life.”
Survey respondent
“I have found a wealth of information about tools and methods of working to help people with specific disabilities. As someone with mobility issues I could not recommend it more highly. It is easy to use and offers loads of really good advice.”
Thrive programme participant
“I joined a local community allotment group after visiting your site. This has helped with my mental health ... I can also recommend to our group the information and advice you give on your site for things to do through the seasons in the garden.”
Survey respondent
In June 2023, we were also proud to be selected as a finalist in the AbilityNet Tech4Good Awards, in the category of ‘Inclusive Health.’
It has been a great first year for Get Gardening. There is still plenty more we hope to do, though. We are looking to expand the advice available, hopefully working with more partners, so we can support people with an even wider range of health conditions.
We are also continually reviewing the ways we share information, to help bring you advice in the format you would most like it.
Thank you to everyone who has supported Get Gardening in its first year.
Have you made use of Get Gardening? Share your feedback with us! Whether it’s something you enjoyed or an idea for how we can make it better, we’d love to hear from you.
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