Region - Yorkshire and The Humber
Scroll down to read all about the projects in this region or click on the project you are interested in.
| Name | Area |
Award amount |
| Workcraft Community based volunteering | Northallerton, North Yorkshire, |
£9,529 |
| Countryside Champions | Harrogate District | £18,914 |
| Create to Grow | Hull | £19,512 |
| Nature and Natterers | Harrogate District, especially Ripon, HG1 5LT | £19,794 |
| Refugee and Asylum Seeker Project | Sheffield | £19,937 |
| Nurture by Nature | South Yorkshire | £19,975 |
| Meersbrook Park Walled Garden | Sheffield |
£19,963 |
| Gardening Project | York | £19,900 |
| Bearing Fruit | York |
£19,990 |
| Orb Green (Orb Community Garden) | Knaresborough |
£20,000 |
| Feel Good Fruits | Great Hatfield/Hornsea, HU11 |
£20,000 |
| Green Steps to Well-being | Malton | £35,563 |
| Nurturing Natural Talents | Bradford | £41,847 |
| Out There | Bradford and Aire Valley |
£71,871 |
| Enterprise and Outreach | South Yorkshire | £93,558 |
| Breathing Space Project | Bradford |
£147,790 |
Workcrafts Community Based Volunteering Project
Run by: The Workcrafts Company
Area: Northallerton, North Yorkshire DL7 0SJ
Workcrafts community based volunteering project enables service users to participate in community volunteering with various not for profit organisations.
We volunteer weekly at the Wensleydale Railway helping to renovate one of the stations, and every three/ four weeks for the North Yorkshire Moors National Park helping with footpath repairs, tree planting and right of way clearing. We also volunteer with the North Yorkshire County Council Countryside Volunteers and have worked on local footpaths and clearing non native vegetation.
Our approach is to enable service users to do something they would not have tried without support. We aim to help service users mix with the wider community, further develop their social and working skills, and boost confidence. We also hope that this activity will be useful in a preventative capacity as well as helping support people through the recovery process.
Interested in joining?
Service users can attend if they have a spot contract from the Hambleton and Richmondshire community mental health team. People can also attend if they are funded and referred from GP’s or through personal budgets. You can get more details from the staff on 01609 773696.
Countryside Champions
Run by: North of England Activities and Training (NEAT)
Area: Bradford and the surrounding countryside
NEAT is a small charity supporting Out of School Hours activities for young people. It has a long tradition of introducing young people to the countryside and enabling them to experience the health benefits, both physical and mental.
This project is creating opportunities for those feeling depressed, anxious or unhappy with themselves to undertake therapeutic activities in the countryside. Activities range from simple walks to orienteering and multi-day camping trips, with opportunities for creativity and for learning relaxation and stress management techniques.
Separate funding will enable young people with better levels of mental health and wellbeing to take part as role models, mentors or new friends. For progression, there will be opportunities for service users to train for leadership roles and thereby build the capacity for a sustainable Ecotherapy service.
I didn't know you could have this much fun. Young woman participating in countryside residential event.
Interested in joining?
NEAT has always operated on an open-access basis and welcomes new participants and leaders at any time. Just e-mail neactivitiesandtraining@hotmail.co.uk or text 07821 757717.
Create to Grow
Run by: Artlink Centre for Community Arts
Area: Hull, HU5 3QP
Create to Grow was set up in East Yorkshire thanks to an Ecominds grant. The project was based at a secure mental health unit in Hull and provided art and horticulture workshops for residents.
Led by professional artists and horticulturalists, participants transformed their courtyards from concrete to green oasis. To celebrate the end of the project an exhibition was held at Artlink.
The legacy element of the project is not only be improved surroundings, but also stronger relationships between residents, unity of purpose in continued garden maintenance and greater public awareness of the unit as a whole.
Interested in joining?
This project concluded its Ecominds-funded work in September 2011. If you would like to find out more about the project please contact Sarah Fisher on 01482 345104 or by post:
Sarah Fisher, Arts Development Worker, ARTLINK, Centre for Community Arts, 87 Princes Avenue, Hull HU5 3QP
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Nature & Natterers
Run by: Open Country
Area: Harrogate District, especially Ripon, HG1 5LT
We aim to help people with mental health issues to develop their interest in nature study and nature conservation projects. We are providing fully accessible transport, as well as our field skills and resources, to enable more service users to participate in a wider range of weekly environmental education and conservation activities.
So far the group has learnt such skills as dry stone walling and pond construction, and held field trips to learn birdwatching and aspects of hill farm management. Participants are already telling us how much they value the therapeutic qualities of the great outdoors and that they relish the chance to undertake physical conservation tasks.
As part of our field trips, we will soon undertake disability access audits in Wharfedale. With this information we will produce an 'access for all' guide for the area - provisionally entitled 'Wild about Wharfedale'. This will provide a strong focus for activities and be a way of contributing to the wider community.
Interested in joining?
If you are interested in joining Nature & Natterers or in receiving further information, please call us on (01423) 507227 or visit our website www.opencountry.org.uk
You might also want to visit: www.facebook.com/pages/Open-Country/289317127186 or www.opencountry.org.uk/blog
Refugee and asylum seeker project
Run by: SAGE Greenfingers
Area: Sheffield, S3 9AZ
SAGE Greenfingers promotes the mental and physical well-being of adults experiencing mental health problems via the provision of creative therapeutic activities. With the aid of this Ecominds grant, we will be able to reach out to and support many more refugees and asylum seekers in the area.
Our project will support approximately 12 refugees and asylum seekers per week. We plan to work with a total of 20 individuals over the 12 months of this project. Our support includes gardening activities, cook and eat sessions, and support to move on and get involved in wider community activities. We offer one women-only session per week and three mixed groups.
The Burngreave area of Sheffield has a high proportion of refugees and asylum seekers, who are relatively likely to have mental health problems but are unlikely to receive support or treatment from mainstream services.
The project will build links with Refugee Community Organisations to raise awareness of mental health issues and develop referrals to our service for people who are unable to access mainstream mental health services. It will provide support to overcome the language, cultural and other barriers that may prevent people from deriving the full benefit of SAGE. We will develop a model of good practice for future service delivery and roll this out locally & nationally.
The feeling of solidarity and peer support is unique, and the gentle encouragement and insightful presence of the workers, without being over-invasive, has a magical effect in helping these traumatised people open up and move on from the terrible situations they have been through. I cannot recommend this project’s work enough and would like to be able to refer more clients to it. GP working for the Asylum Seeker Health Team
It feels like I have a small family now. I am so grateful for the help and support given to me. Although my future is uncertain I know I have people around me who I trust and that is something special. Current group member.
Interested in joining?
Please ring us on 0114 274 3651 or see our website www.sagesheffield.org.uk
Adults are usually referred to us by a health or social services professional such as a GP, Community Psychiatric Nurse, Counsellor, Social worker etc. We also take self-referrals but will ask for a referral form to be completed by such a professional to ensure we offer appropriate complementary support.
Nurture by Nature
Run by: Young Women’s Housing Project
Area: Sheffield
The Nurture by Nature project is based in Sheffield and provides an opportunity for young women and their children to take part in individual and group activities, which aim to reduce the stigma of mental health, empower service users and improve physical and mental wellbeing.
Activities are focused on improving independent living skills and take place both on an allotment and indoor spaces. Activities range from gardening, creative and art based activities (e.g. scarecrow making) and cook and eat sessions. All activities are therapeutic, creative, educational and fun!
The grant from Ecominds has helped to pay for a Project Coordinator to help support service users. The grant also pays for an Allotment Maintenance worker to help develop the allotment site to ensure it is safe and is a space to host a range of different activities.
Me and my boys loved being at the allotment and really enjoyed making the sandpit. I felt great being out in the sunshine and it was so peaceful and relaxing. Service user reflecting on their time being involved in the Nurture by Nature project.
The allotment is a place to meet people and in particular people who I would normally not get chance to mix with...use existing skills and develop new skills. Volunteer
Interested in joining?
Please contact Katie Stanford for further information: YWHP, PO Box 303, Sheffield, S1 1YD, 0114 268 0580, ywhp@ywhp.org.uk, www.ywhp.org.uk
Meersbrook Park Walled Garden, Meersbrook, Sheffield
Run by: Heeley City Farm
Area: Sheffield, S8 9FL
Meersbrook Park Walled Garden is a walled garden situated on the edge of Meersbrook Park, Sheffield. It was originally the kitchen garden for Ruskin House, a large mansion now the headquarters of Sheffield City Council Parks and Countryside.
Within the walled garden is a calm oasis of green. It contains a variety of gardens (herb, organic vegetable, and Japanese), four glasshouses, a composting area, and an orchard with many varieties of apples and pears and soft fruits.
With the help of Ecominds funding we’re employing a Mental Health Worker to involve people with mental health conditions and other volunteers in environmental activities, especially local food growing, that take place within the Walled Garden and the surrounding areas.
Interested in knowing more?
Please contact Rachel Sanchez:
0114 258 0482
07847 076 239
rachel.sanchez@heeleyfarm.org.uk
www.heeleyfarm.org.uk
Gardening Project
Run by: Our Celebration
Area: York Y030 6BP
Our Celebration is an independent provider of recovery-focussed mental health services in York and its surrounding areas. With the help of the Ecominds grant we are now able to add gardening to our range of services.
Our project provides adults recovering from mental distress the opportunity to take part in gardening activities with the help and guidance of a trained professional. Together they’re developing a plot within a community allotment, growing vegetables, herbs, and fruit.
We also help to maintain a plot set up by a local charity that works with children who have hearing impairments. We help maintain their pond, fruit trees, and vegetable patches – which the children enjoy very much. This activity is extremely beneficial to our service users, it makes them feel that they are helping the community and it also helps keep them motivated.
Currently, up to 16 people are involved and we will be training them to be volunteers, who will support new joiners.
I had no idea there were so many things to do in the autumn in a garden. I have learnt a lot about pruning and staking raspberry canes. The allotment is a lovely place to spend time.Service user
Interested in joining?
We have a referral policy for all our activities - this is available from our website. Referrals can come from CPNs and GPs. For more information please call 01904 643364. Alternatively visit our Facebook page.
Bearing Fruit
Run by: Friends of St Nicholas Fields
Area: York, YO10 3ST
Bearing Fruit is a new project all about growth. Growth in confidence, teamwork, social inclusion and of course… fruit!
From January 2011, our Ecominds grant will enable the establishment of a community orchard. This will be part of a local nature reserve that is being developed on site which was was once York’s landfill site. It will let volunteers with experience of mental health distress and volunteers from the wider community come together, have fun, learn, laugh, and make the most of being out in and improving a much valued green space.
In time, our project will also provide an abundance of free local fruit, not to mention the benefits of greater biodiversity.
There will be opportunities for project involvement at different levels: from one-off workdays to orchard planning and preparation, project documentation and promotional activity, through involvement in the Core Group. Educational opportunities will be tailor-made to individuals taking part and will include recognition of both horticultural and life skills elements.
I think the work they do at the Environment Centre is marvellous. It’s just great to have the nature reserve on our doorstep. Miss Lee, local resident
My son has got such a lot out of volunteering here, he's got a lot more confidence now. Local resident.
Interested in joining?
If you are interested in joining please visit www.stnicksfields.org.uk or call 01904 411821, ask for Jonathan (Volunteer Coordinator).
Orb Green Garden
Run by: Orb Community Enterprise
Area: Knaresborough, HG5 0EQ
We aim to improve our local environment by creating a natural oasis within an urban space. Transforming a piece of waste ground into a usable community garden our aspiration is to provide a place where vulnerable people, especially those experiencing mental distress, are able to connect with nature, learn about their environment and develop new skills in conservation and horticulture.
Orb Green Garden will feature a green meeting space where individuals can hold meetings, socialise or just relax. Plus it will feature space for growing vegetables and other plants in which to foster and promote therapeutic horticultural activity, and a native wildlife habitat and conservation area.
Through the involvement of service users and volunteers from the local community, and promotion of our successes, we aim to effect a positive change both in the mental and physical wellbeing of those involved and in the perception of mental health in the wider world.
Things die off in nature and sometimes look a bit lifeless, but then they come back, it puts life into perspective. Mick, service user.
I find work in the garden at Orb very therapeutic. The benefit of gardening is it gets me out of my house. It’s good to have people to talk to…. I really enjoy the wildlife and hope to encourage more by planting species to attract more wildlife… Gardening has helped me in so many ways. I love to see new life, be it from seeds, cuttings or when plants come to life after a period of being dormant. Service User.
Interested in joining?
Telephone 01423 202028 or e-mail admin@orb-arts.org and speak to Mark Flood. For more information visit http://www.facebook.com/orbcommunityarts and http://orb-arts.org/blog/
Feel Good Fruits
Run by: Densholme Community Care Farm
Area: Great Hatfield/Hornsea, HU11 4UX
We are a social enterprise helping to rehabilitate and train people recovering from mental distress, with learning difficulties or other problems in the East Riding of Yorkshire. Here volunteers can take on a wide variety of roles: growing vegetables, animal husbandry, tractor driving, compost-making, and tree planting.
We have a very relaxed and friendly atmosphere and our volunteers can take part in as many activities as they wish. We also help participants work towards gaining qualifications in horticulture through the Open College network.
The Ecominds grant is enabling us to add a Fruit and Nut orchard consisting of 300 apple, pear, plum, cherry, hazel and walnut trees. This will help us provide a wide range of quality organic food to our local community, as well as providing participants with valuable experience of all aspects of fruit production.
Hornsea District Lions Club are pleased to support the valuable work that you are doing in the community. Peter, Secretary
Densholme Farm is an excellent example of how organic farmers can not only care for the environment and animal welfare, but also for people who can benefit from visiting and helping out with farm activities. Rupert Aker, Soil Association
I really love coming to this farm. James, service user
Interested in joining?
Anyone is welcome to come along on weekdays from 10.00am till 4.30pm and see what is happening or join in. For more information visit our website www.densholmefarm-action.co.uk or telephone 01964 535315 or 07974440706
Green Steps to Wellbeing
Run by: Next Steps Mental Health Resource Centre
Area: YO17 9HP
The Green Steps project covers a variety of environmental activities and aims to increase members’ levels of activity and improve their mental well being.
There is a regular walking group taking in long and short walks around Ryedale – all levels of ability are catered for and extra support is provided by Walk Buddies. You can also take in some bird watching in the local Castel Gardens.
A weekly group meets at Helmsley Walled Garden, a beautiful community garden where you can take part in horticultural activities and meet others socially.
Next Steps also has an allotment where a wide variety of vegetables are grown for use in our community café.
Next Steps provides support for any adult with mental health issues, carers of those and those with addictions.
Interested in joining?
For more information call Mike on 01653 690854, visit our website or you are welcome to drop into our community café in Norton, Malton between 8am and 3pm Monday to Friday. Next Steps are happy to take referrals from CMHT, GPs and other professionals.
Nurturing Natural Talents
Run by: Bradford Environmental Action Trust Forest of Bradford
Area: Bradford, but working at different sites across the district, BD9 4JZ
Nurturing Natural Talents is a weekly conservation group working with mental health service users and other volunteers across Bradford districts woodland and green spaces.
We run practical conservation and some art-based activities. Including tree planting, coppicing, dry stone walling, pond construction and green woodwork such as charcoal making, cleft fencing, wattle hurdles etc.
We hope to reduce the stigma associated with mental health issues by integrating individuals experiencing mental distress with other volunteers at the project.
Our Ecominds grant has enabled us to employ a Client Support Worker who provides emotional support as well as assessing individual needs and progress. This ensures that the clients have a positive experience.
Interested in joining?
Please visit www.beat.org.uk or contact Ian Butterfield or Janet Bruce on 01274 487270, ian.forestofbradford@beat.org.uk jan@beat.org.uk We can meet with potential volunteers as self referrals or from GP/ other health service providers to discuss.
Out There
Run by: Kirkgate Studios and Workshops Forest of Bradford
Area: Bradford and Aire Valley area, BD18 4EH
Out There helps people with experience of mental distress become involved in community public art projects that improve mental and physical health, as well as community spaces.
The project works with 12 community/mental health groups to deliver creative sessions and create artwork. Artwork will be produced through collaboration between those who have, and those who have not experienced mental health distress. The artwork is created in the most sustainable way possible, using recycled and repurposed materials, and with dye produced from plants that we grow.
The Ecominds funding has allowed Kirkgate Studios and Workshops to employ a Project Coordinator to engage local mental health groups and individuals in the project.
In our first seven months we’ve created a woven sculpture using naturally dyed materials from locally grown plants, begun a mosaic project using recycled materials, formed supportive networks within our groups for participants.
Going back to basics regarding working/living with nature, brilliant. Service user
Activities all very varied and interesting and I enjoyed it very much. Service user
Without this course I would have sat in the house depressed and not going out even if it is a sunny day. Service user
Interested in joining?
Previous creative skills are not required of the participants. If you are interested telephone Claire Wellesley-Smith (Project Coordinator) on 01274 598928 or visit http://www.ecooutthere.wordpress.org or http://ecooutthere.wordpress.com
Enterprise and Outreach
Run by: Second Nature Life Support (Winthrop Park)
Area: South Yorkshire
Enterprise and Outreach based in a derelict sewage treatment works is developing a therapeutic and sensory garden.
Winthrop Park is open to the public but is specifically aimed at providing a therapeutic space for elderly and disabled residents from the community, encouraging them to get involved in community activities or simply to relax.
Note: This project concluded its Ecominds-funded work in October 2011.
Visit the Second Nature Life Support website to find out more about Winthorp Park.
The Breathing Spaces Project
Run by: Prism Youth Project Breathing Spaces at Prism City farm
Area: Bradford, BD8 9EZ
The Breathing Spaces project is based on a city farm in the heart of Bradford. Aimed at young people aged 14 to 24 years who could benefit from the healing and calming qualities that our farm can provide, we offer opportunities to engage in green exercise, horticulture and a variety of tasks which will benefit our animals and the community.
We don’t place any pressure on volunteers to undertake any hard work, if someone just wants to spend a few hours talking to the goats and cuddling the rabbits then that is ok too.
Our Ecominds grant has enabled us to employ a Volunteer Coordinator and a specialist Mental Health Worker. Between them they are able to offer one-to-one support, regular supervision and feedback sessions, group work activities, and training opportunities.
In our first year our volunteers have; built a chicken run; planned and built a duck pond in the style of a village green; put up lots of fences; cared for and mucked out sheep, cows, horses and goats; grown lots of fruit and veg in our beds and poly-tunnels; oh and they’ve cuddled plenty of those rabbits as well.
That first day I came I couldn’t even face getting out of the car. Now look at me, I’ve done a qualification and been offered a job. Service user
This is a lovely place for the kids. You are right in the middle of the city but it’s just so peaceful. Local member of the community
I’ve always found it really hard to be in crowds of people. It’s still not easy here at the farm but I think I can cope with it now. Service user
Interested in joining?
Volunteers are always welcome at Prism Youth Project, at Prism City Farm and on the Breathing Spaces Project. You can find out more and join up by:
- Ringing 01274 543500
- Looking at our website; www.prismyouthproject.org
- Calling in at the farm between 9am and 4.30pm Monday to Friday
- Visiting the volunteer shops in Keighley or Bradford
- Asking your key worker to refer you to Breathing Spaces (Staff at CAMHS, YOT and many voluntary organisations working with young people have our referral forms)