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Gardening therapy 'life-changing' for stroke victim

Georgia Stone
BBC News, West of England
Reporting fromNewton St Loe
BBC A women and a man are looking directly at the camera and smiling. The women is on the left and has blonde wavy hair, she is wearing a bright pink scarf and red sunglasses. She has a hot chocolate in her hand. The man is wearing a bright orange jacket over a grey zip up hoodie. He has black sunglasses and grey hair. BBC
Marcie and Doug Walker said being in the fresh air and reintroducing gardening to their lives has helped their confidence

A man who suffered two strokes five years ago says therapeutic gardening made him realise he was "not alone".

Doug Walker was left struggling with aphasia, which affected his ability to speak and led to him becoming isolated.

After moving to Bath with his wife Marcia in 2023, he discovered Grow for Life, a social and therapeutic gardening charity which recently received a £5,000 grant from Comic Relief to help with running costs.

Mr Walker said the charity allowed him to "meet people and communicate, and showed me I am not alone".

Since doing the 12-week herb and nature course with the charity, the couple now come to the garden in Newton St Loe regularly.

Mrs Walker has noticed a huge difference in Doug.

"He is a man who biked to work every day and then the whole world just changed," she said.

"His movement has improved a lot. But the fact that he is motivated has changed everything.

"He gets fed up of only getting up to go to the hospital so it's just given him another reason to get up for."

A women is looking at the camera and smiling. She has a pair of sunglasses on her head. She is wearing a khaki green top with a black zip-up fleece over the top. She has brown hair with a nose ring and silver hanging earings. She is standing in a polytunnel and there are plants behind her.
Eleanor Carr is the lead horticultural therapist at Grow for Life

Traditionally people were referred for the therapy through their GP but in the past year the charity has seen a huge rise in self-referrals through word of mouth.

In the past year, more than 90 gardeners have been supported by the charity.

Lead horticultural therapist Eleanor Carr said social interaction has the biggest impact.

She said: "The gardening and the outdoors all have their benefits, but being able to come here and work alongside someone and talk to them can take them away from their everyday worries."

A group of people are all smiling at the camera. They are sitting on some steps in a walled garden. They are all wearing warm clothing and boots for gardening.
Grow for Life is run by a small team and dedicated volunteers

Alex Eldridge, director of the charity and a GP, said building a community has been really important.

She said: "Encouraging people who might be experiencing mental health problems, isolation, loneliness out into community and giving them the skills and opportunity to connect with other people.

"Gardens are really lovely places to do that."

As a charity, it is heavily reliant on grants and donations.

Ms Eldridge said receiving £5,000 from Comic Relief "makes a huge impact".

"It allows us to budget for the future and we are hoping to employ another member of staff to set up another location," she added.

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