Page 45 - ALG Issue 1 2022

Portable Room Donation – November 2021
Little Irchester Permanent Allotment Association (LIPAA) has received a donation of a Portable Room from Wellingborough-based BAM Site Solutions for the service users of the project “Up The Field” which is a project for service users who have had or have mental health issues. It is also for the allotment members.
The “Up The Field” project was started five years ago by Lee Henty to provide respite from isolation for people with mental health issues, to get them out of the house and into fresh air for the day.
This project boasts that none of the service users have relapsed or needed hospital care since attending this project which meets every Wednesday. The service users grow fruit, veg and flowers and have a reflective area on their plot, a place to sit peacefully to watch the wildlife. But they didn’t have anywhere to shelter in the warm other than their polytunnel.
This project has also scooped 2 awards – “The Anne McWatt award for Innovation Mental Health 2018” and the “Weetabix
Local Food Hero Award in 2019”.
It was Alan Beck who is on the Little Irchester Permanent Allotment Association Committee that approached BAM in Wellingborough
to enquire if they had a small portable room which they could maybe donate to the project. Robin Foster of BAM kindly arranged for this to happen.
NHS Volunteer Rob Stone from Rushden thanked Robin, Alan and the LIPAA committee for their support which he said brings together the allotment community.
The service users have grown flowers, fruit and veg on the
plots, and see
their produce grow which gives them a sense of achievement.
During the summer, Tracey,
This project boasts that none of the service users have relapsed or needed hospital care since attending
daughter of Rob Stone, arranged a fundraising event and raised £935 for the project, which Lee Henty thanked her for.
Mandy Woolf, Northamptonshire Healthcare Foundation Trust Voluntary Services Manager added that “People can self-refer” to the “Up The Field” project and now other services and organisations are becoming involved i.e., MIND.
The project meets every Wednesday, and anyone interested can self-refer to lee.henty@gmail.com.
Mandy also thanked all concerned
in getting this donation which will be invaluable for the service users. Mandy especially thanked Robin Foster from BAM for the donation, Alan Beck for his perseverance in finding a company that could help, and LIPAA for their continued support.
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Allotment and Leisure Gardener 45