A-Z of mental health
Information and advice on a huge range of mental health topics
Eastern England
Scroll down to read all about our Ecominds-funded projects in this region or click on the project you are interested in.
| Name | Area |
| Clinks Care Farm | Beccles |
| Eco Route project | Ipswich |
| ESCAPE | Swaffham |
| Gardening-4-Health | King’s Lynn |
| Golden Wood Ecominds |
Bury St Edmunds |
| Growing Clearer Minds | Stevenage and Hitchin |
| Growing Ourselves Through a Plot of Land | Sudbury, Suffolk |
| Whoops a Daisy! | Great Yarmouth |
| Wildlife Ambassadors | Peterborough |
Clinks Care Farm
Run by: Clinks Care Farm Ltd.
Area: Waveney Valley, Norfolk
Ecominds award amount: £59,391
Clinks Care Farm is a 143 acre mixed farm in Toft Monks, South Norfolk. As a care farm we combine the care of the land with the care of people.
We offer the opportunity for disadvantaged people to work on the farm. People with mental health problems can use the work and farm environment to aid their recovery by improving confidence, self-esteem and motivation.
The farm offers the opportunity to do meaningful work in a supportive, therapeutic environment, helping people to prepare for the world of real work and picking up a lot of new skills along the way.
Interested in joining?
Contact them on 01502 679134, or email: admin@clinkscarefarm.org
The Eco Route Project
Run by: Community Service Volunteers, Family Action and the Greenways Countryside Project.
Area: Ipswich, IP1 1RS
Ecominds award amount: £59,391
Please note: This project has completed its Ecominds-funded work. However, it may still be offering similar opportunitues for volunteers. Please contact this project directly for further information.
Eco Routes meets for weekly conservation sessions. This includes path cutting, wildflower grass mowing and raking, hedge cutting, coppicing and woodland management, heath land scrub clearance, and installing wildlife habitat features such as stag beetle piles.
Our sessions are a chance to learn more about local wildlife, countryside and wider environmental issues. Group size varies from 5-12 and gets even bigger at our monthly parties where we bring together everyone on the project, new and old.
Initially I was very anxious about joining the group, but everyone made me feel welcome and at home. After my first session I came away feeling very optimistic about the future. I returned home and many people commented on how happy and bubbly I was. I always felt good after all the sessions and made many friends. Service user
Interested in joining?
To find out more please call 01473 418036 or email sboycott@csv.org.uk
ESCAPE: Enjoy Swaffham Community Allotment Project Enterprise
Run by: Family Action
Area: Swaffham
Ecominds award amount: £47,478
ESCAPE is a community allotment project based at Tumbler Hill allotments in Swaffham. The project aims to promote mental and physical wellbeing, reduce the stigma surrounding mental health and help people to discover a sense of purpose whilst learning new skills.
Our service users are supported by ESCAPE’s staff and volunteers to participate in gardening and maintenance activities, either on communal plots or by taking on their own area of the allotment if they wish to. We also have monthly 'Meet and Eat' sessions to encourage those involved in the project to cook and enjoy the vegetables that they have grown.
The allotment is a safe and peaceful place with a friendly atmosphere where everyone involved works together to contribute ideas and help to achieve the project’s goals. We are developing numerous growing areas to provide something of interest for everyone, including fruit and vegetable plots, a herb bed and wildlife areas. The allotment design caters for a wide range of needs, abilities and interests and aims to be as inclusive as possible.
The project is led by Family Action in partnership with West Norfolk Mind and the Garden Science Trust.
Interested in joining?
For more information, please contact Katy Fullilove on 01760 720302 or by email.
Gardening-4-Health
Run by: West Norfolk Mind
Area: King’s Lynn, Norfolk PE30 2LU
Ecominds award amount: £18,900
Gardening-4-Health is a community based allotment programme based in the North Lynn, part of King’s Lynn. A large part of our project work is practical, working outdoors in the fresh air, using a variety of tools to create a successful working allotment.
Participants are encouraged to adopt a piece of the allotment and take responsibility for it with full support and help from our therapeutic allotment workers and a fabulous band of volunteers.
Everyone involved is part of a team, helping with all aspects of planning and management of the allotment, helping to create a positive atmosphere for all.
What a great improvement from the last time I was here. Local member of the community
I got involved at a time when life was a mess. I was experiencing depression, anxiety, and OCD. I had worked as a postman for 30 years but had to give it up. I didn’t go out, was nervous about meeting people – I just sat with my own four walls.
The first night after going down to the allotment, my muscles ached. But it broke a cycle. Whereas usually, I would have depressive thoughts going round and round in my head, now I was focussing on how I felt physically instead.
I got a good night’s sleep for the first time in ages… After a few weeks I felt so much fitter and healthier. I also felt better about going out and seeing people… I went from thinking I was alone to realising that other people have the same kinds of problems. And it’s a real community down there – people from other allotments are always coming over for a chat and to share tips. Volunteer
Interested in joining?
If you would like more information please call our Head office on 01553 776966. Alternatively you can visit our website. Please note you may require a GP referral.
Golden Wood Suffolk
Run by: Green Light Trust – Woodland and Countryside Skills Course
Area: Lawshall, Nr Bury St Edmunds IP29 4PJ
Ecominds award amount: £19,902
Please note: This project has completed its Ecominds-funded work. However, it may still be offering similar opportunitues for volunteers. Please contact the project directly for further information.
Golden Wood provided volunteers with mental health problems access tp informal education and training in woodland and wildlife skills in the natural woodland settings. They also got the chance to contribute to it, planting new trees and managing existing woodland.
These activities provided volunteers with an opportunity to reduce their isolation and help improve their social skills.
Our Ecominds funding allowed us to run two 12 week programmes, as well as provide transport to the woods for our user group and their supporters. We've had 24 service users take part in activities alongside members of the community woodland group, here’s what they think:
I feel that I am doing something worthwhile that makes me feel really good about myself. Other people have noticed the difference in me since I’ve been coming here too; it’s great. It’s just what I need.
The rest of the week drags but when I come here time seems to fly by. I am no sooner here then it’s time to go.
Interested in joining?
Regular monthly work in the wood will continue after the Ecominds project is finished. For more information please contact the Green Light office on 01284 830829 or alternatively visit our website and go to the Community and Cohesion page and click Forest for Our Children.
Growing Clearer Minds
Run by: Mind in Mid Herts and Triangle Community Garden
Area: Stevenage and Hitchin, SG1 1PX
Ecominds award amount: £20,000
Please note: This project has completed its Ecominds-funded work. However, it may still be offering similar opportunitues for volunteers. Please contact this project directly for further information.
Growing Clearer Minds received funding from Ecominds to run three 12- week projects. Each project encouraged service users to enjoy and benefit from nature and green spaces within the local community.
Varied projects featured guest speakers, workshops, demonstrations, visits, research, and the opportunity to get involved in environmental projects and local societies.
Participants on the first course choose buying and looking after plants in the Mind in Mid Herts Stevenage Wellbeing Centre. Here is what a member staff said:
The plants have really cheered up the centre it’s great to see a flash of colour on the stairs.
Our second set of participants made mosaic panels and a willow sculptures in the Triangle Community Garden, and our third group learnt how to grow fruit and vegetables.
Interested in joining?
If you would like further information please contact Rosie at The Stevenage Wellbeing Centre on 01438 369216 or email growingclearerminds@hotmail.com
Growing Ourselves Through a Plot of Land
Run by: Eastfeast
Area: Sudbury, Suffolk.
Ecominds award amount: £18,500
Growing Ourselves Through A Plot of Land has used its Ecominds grant to work with Workwise, a social enterprise providing work-based rehabilitation to people with mental health problems, and Babergh District Council Housing Association.
Participants and volunteers learn how to prepare and grow vegetables, and design and add artistic features to land in need of regeneration.
We develop a structured and personalised learning programme to ensure volunteers' enjoyment and success at the project. We also help them with progression into further employment, further education or voluntary work. All learning is based on life skills, confidence building and employment skills.
A celebratory feast takes place at the end of each growing season to celebrate our volunteers' achievements and success.
Interested in joining?
For further information on Eastfeast and Workwise, please visit www.eastfeast.co.uk or www.workwisesuffolk.org.uk. Or you can call Eastfeast on 01728 454532 and Workwise on 01284 755261.
Whoops a Daisy!
Run by: Great Yarmouth Community Trust
Area: Great Yarmouth NR30 1NW
Ecominds award amount: £20,000
Please note: This project has completed its Ecominds-funded work. However, it may still be offering similar opportunitues for volunteers. Please contact this project directly for further information.
Whoops a Daisy works with young and older volunteers, teaching them the practicalities and benefits of indoor gardening in a fun environment.
Our newly-trained volunteers visit local residential homes and sheltered housing, to share their new knowledge and skills with residents - helping create a little piece of heaven in the corner of their rooms. In addition, our volunteers teach the residents how to care for, maintain and nurture their little gardens.
Through these activities we attempt to overcome stereotypical views both groups have of each other. We encourage them to share knowledge and experiences to improve awareness of each others needs. This can make them feel valued and improve confidence levels.
Our aim is to improve mental wellbeing for both young and old, and to provide new skills to assist employability.
Interested in joining?
If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, or if you work in residential or sheltered housing and think it would be a great idea for volunteers to come to work with your residents, or you feel you are able to participate in any way then please call us on 01493 743014.
Or write to us at:
Whoops a Daisy
Priory Centre, Priory Plain
Great Yarmouth NR30 1NW.
Wildlife Ambassadors
Run by: The Froglife Trust
Area: Peterborough PE1 5TX
Ecominds award amount: £19,799
Wildlife Ambassadors provide individuals not in employment, education and training with opportunities to gain wildlife conservation experience with a view to increasing their employability within the nature conservation sector. Individuals attend a six week course and obtain skills in habitat management, species identification, surveying and monitoring.
Interested in joining?
Participants will need to be referred to the project in order to join. You can join through a range of referral agencies operating in Peterborough including: NACRO, Youth Offending Service, DrinkSense, YMCA and Mind. Alternatively you can be referred from other existing Froglife projects.
For more information please call 01733 558844 or visit our website.