Green Health Tadley is a horticultural project providing people with free opportunities to come together, connect and enjoy the many health benefits of gardening.
It’s based at the Rowan Road allotment site in Tadley and its centrepiece is a 20m long poly tunnel which offers a versatile virtually year-round growing space.
Outside there are flower and vegetable beds, a wildlife pond with benches to sit and enjoy nature, sheds and a greenhouse.
A short walk away are two other allotment plots that Green Health Tadley looks after. With money being tight, recycling is very much to the fore. All manner of material that would have otherwise ended up in landfill is now being put to good use to grow plants.
“There’s a lot going on,” admits Green Health Tadley co-founder Mark Macdonald. “When we took on this site, it was a just a grassed area that got very boggy when it was wet.
“We got a contractor in to lay drainage pipes which has made the site usable and enabled us to build the poly tunnel which gives us the ability to garden whatever the British weather throws at us. Since then, we haven’t looked back.”
Steadily, the project has attracted volunteers from across Tadley who attend on Friday afternoons to enjoy nurturing plants, working alongside others in a friendly, welcoming environment.
Horticultural knowledge or experience isn’t required to come along to Green Health Tadley, just a desire to give gardening a try.
David Lupton, fellow founder of the project, said: “We aim to create a place where people can come and enjoy the social side as much as the gardening activities themselves.
“Gardening has so many benefits for health and wellbeing. It’s a good form of exercise and can do wonders for boosting mood.
“We see how nurturing plants from seed right through to harvest provides a sense of purpose and pleasure that boosts confidence and self-esteem.
“It’s so satisfying to see people develop as well as the plants they grow.”
Mark and David have made conscious efforts to embed themselves within the Tadley community, connecting with other local organisations. For example, the group provides produce for the town’s food bank and hosts a weekly women’s art and crafts group.
The project is now attracting the attention of social prescribers who are referring people they think might benefit from what it offers.