Story: Diana Tottle
It’s been 10 years since Burngreave New Deal for Communities provided the capital for SAGE Greenfingers to landscape 3 allotments in Grimesthorpe into a therapeutic space for adults struggling with mental health issues.
SAGE is running several celebrations this year but 19th August was a highlight. Over 70 people came to our annual Open Day to see our oasis of colour and tranquillity in the heart of Burngreave.
Local MP, David Blunkett, was the headline act. He spoke of his appreciation of gardening as a mental, physical and social activity. He shared the space with local comedienne, Madame Zucchini, who performed a spoof of Star Wars, ably assisted by a SAGE volunteer and several rather tired looking vegetables!
Via Look North and Radio Sheffield, it was a chance for some SAGE members to share with a much wider audience how valuable the project is to them. Tara talked of how the incentive of getting from home to the SAGE site has given her confidence to travel by bus more widely and to get stuck into her own garden. Kal spoke movingly of how a day's exercise, digging or hedgecutting, stills the voices in his head more effectively than any medication and helps him get a good night’s sleep.
If Burngreave residents want to meet SAGE members and staff, we are running an event for World Mental Health Day in the Winter Gardens on Friday 10th October. Pop down to press apples, weave willow and find out more about them.
Here’s to another 10 years!
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