Welcome

Welcome to the 'Digging for Health' blog, a record of the development of a social enterprise project supported by Engage UnLtd and Age Concern, Dorchester, UK. We have been allocated a community allotment (thanks to the Volunteer Centre, Dorset), which is very overgrown and run down. This blog will provide a history of the development of the allotment, as we return it to a fully functioning and productive resource that aims to not only produce vegetables but also raise social capital (what's social capital?...read the blog!). This blog belongs to Fran Biley. This views expressed here are his, and he takes full responsibility for them. They may not represent the views of the organisations that are mentioned here.

Monday, March 7, 2011

New ideas...

I had a useful and constructive chat today with Gwynne James, an occupational therapist (OT) and lecturer at Bournemouth University, who has agreed to become our informal 'Consultant' to the project. She brings with her a wealth of experience and knowledge with working on horticultural therapy projects. We talked about many things, including the possibility of 'Digging for Health' being the focus of undergraduate OT placement and the subject of research studies. We also talked about an existing horticultural therapy project (clicky link), and noticed that it had been awarded a Green Gym licence (another clicky link) and had obtained funding from EcoMinds (yet another clicky link) who have produced a report on the values of ecotherapy (that's the last clicky link for now). I've contacted the BTCV (who run the Green Gym licence scheme) to see if there might be any scope in us pursuing the idea of a licence.

ecotherapy report
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3 comments:

  1. Anne QuinneyMarch 13, 2011 at 12:02 AM

    here's a link to some fantastic work that the Eden Project have been co-ordinating, working on gardening projects with homeless people
    http://www.edenproject.com/media/poc-chelsea-silver-pr.php

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anne QuinneyMarch 13, 2011 at 12:10 AM

    ...and some information about a Bournemouth project..
    http://www.homeless.org.uk/news/bcha-shortlisted-national-2010-housing-heroes-awards

    ReplyDelete
  3. Francis BileyMarch 13, 2011 at 10:24 AM

    Ah, very excellent! Good for Henry!

    ReplyDelete

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