Horticultural therapy looks set to bloom at regional college

And there are probably even more of us who since lockdown, have found that all the extra time on our hands has presented the opportunity to become more green fingered than we were previously, and finally get round to doing all those jobs in the garden we’ve been putting off.

However, for some, gardening is an outlet for relieving stress, nothing less than a form of therapy to help the mind and soul when life’s problems all get too much.

“We have lots of students who would say that gardening has saved them,” said Claire Dunwoody, a lecturer in horticulture at South Eastern Regional College in Holywood.

“Horticultural therapy is something that is fairly new in Northern Ireland, and wouldn’t be as common as it is elsewhere in the UK.

“However, generally the consensus is that connecting with nature, and the sound of water and all the other things you find naturally in gardens are beneficial in many ways.”

Claire took on her role at the college 10 years ago. At that stage, horticulture was on a smaller scale at the campus, and was based in Newtownards; the decision was made to move it all to the Holywood site, which is bigger and more open.

Explaining more about it she says: “We got some protective structures and started developing the campus, working on different areas of it with our students.

“In terms of the students we attract, we have a small cohort of full time B-tech students, plus lots of part-time students.

“Some do a fairly introductory qualification that’s more for enjoyment and learning, and we also get a lot of older students who are thinking about career changing, or who have a real passion for horticulture.

“The classes have all really been expanding over the last year.

“What I found, probably through teaching my part-time classes than anything else, was that many people come to us not only to learn about gardening and horticulture, but they come to us for companionship.

“They make great friends here. We’ve also heard from people with all sorts of physical and mental health issues who say the only thing they have found that has got them through it is gardening.

“And you hear that time and time again. People are quite open about it.”

Claire said that she had seen for herself the benefits which had resulted from other community schemes involving horticulture, and so “it was just a gradual progression to think about what we could do here at SERC and in Holywood that would be more than people simply attending classes”.

And she made the point that there were some individuals who were possibly interested in gardening, but couldn’t afford to pay for the classes, or were even intimidated by the thought of enrolling and learning within a classroom setting.

“For some, coming and actually looking after a garden ‘hands on’ might be a more natural thing to do.

“So that’s kind of where the idea came from, and then we were made aware of a funding opportunity with the Ulster Garden Villages Ltd Grant Fund. We were only notified that we had been successful just as we went onto the pandemic, but we were delighted regardless, because the funders have given us an extension for the deadline, which means we have the same amount of time to get the project up and running.”

Claire explained that the new horticultural therapy garden would be developed at the SERC itself, which is located on the outskirts of Holywood. It will be free for passers-by to come in and enjoy at their leisure, and in some ways, will be “almost a gateway to the whole campus itself”.

Work on developing the concept will begin when lockdown restrictions start to ease, and the college can take guidance from government.

“Never has such an idea been more needed, really,” she rightly adds, referring to the current climate and situation we’re all finding ourselves living in.

“This garden could prove really useful for people, and of course it is an outside space, so it may be that we are able to allow people to connect in a way that they can’t in a regular classroom situation.

“We want to encourage people to look after their mental health.

“And we want to get the message out to people in the local area that there will be something on their doorstep, for them to use at any time, because we are quite hidden away.”

l A total of £6,000 has been secured by SERC to develop the garden, which will serve the whole Holywood community.

SERC – which has eight colleges across the Province – has a long history and was driven by pioneers of education such as Cecil Webb. Over the last three years alone, it has progressed 14,125 people ​within the local workforce to a Level 2 qualification, and 9,423 to Levels 3 to 7, both representing 16% of the total working population in the South Eastern region.

A total of over 700 full- and part-time courses are available for prospective students to choose from.

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