Place Category: Registered charityPlace Tags: Arts activities, Befriending, Children's activities, Community preparation / welcoming activities, Health and well-being activities, Language Café / language practice, Mentoring, Reducing prejudice / informing people about refugees, Social and cultural activities, Sports activities and Supporting people into employment
Residents in the Belville area of Greenock campaigned for years to prevent an area of derelict land they live near becoming an unwelcoming place and eyesore despite the stunning location with views across the Clyde. They formed an action group to source funding in order to transform the derelict area, previously congested with high flats to turn it into a community garden.
Belville Community Garden grows a wide range of fruits and vegetables for use in our cookery classes, commercial preserves and community distribution. Our large beds are used for vegetable growing and are named after the high flats which once stood on the site, taking in the breathtaking views of the Clyde and serving as a tribute to the community of old. Potatoes, onions, brussel sprouts, leeks and fruit bushes are harvested regularly to help ameliorate the issue of food miles within Inverclyde.
We are a community garden bringing people together to learn about helping the environment through growing, cooking, healthy eating and making. We are a caring “family” helping people to flourish, building confidence and resilience and improving mental and physical health.
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Trauma Informed Group
After running successful family cycling sessions involving New Scots, we at Belville Community Garden Trust wanted to ensure that participants would continue to see us as a safe, welcoming and nurturing place.
Our group understood that the New Scots were suffering from trauma and found it difficult to engage with local health services and often to manage everyday life.
Our staff undertook trauma-informed training and we piloted sessions that would help New Scots learn about the day-to-day physical effects of trauma on the body.
As the weekly sessions progressed across eight weeks, we increased the involvement between the group and our volunteers and staff in ways suggested by the New Scots. This included creating a herb garden, learning about tying headscarves, basic Arabic, etc.
Inverclyde Council provided an interpreter the families knew and transport where needed so that the sessions - led by a trauma counsellor from Mind Mosaic - ran smoothly. We provided lunch each week and often participants would bring in dishes for us to try too. Following the pilot, we asked for feedback and we were amazed by the powerful stories, such as people were engaging with NHS services for the first time now that they could recognise and control their trauma symptoms:
“The environment felt relaxed… I enjoyed getting ready to go there”
“Every class I arrived early because I enjoyed it so much! Lessons have learned me to manage my trauma when I feel overwhelmed……..Trauma has happened in my past but can manage symptoms now in the here and now."
“Meditation has helped me day-to-day. When my trauma makes me angry I can calm myself. I only watch the news on TV once a week so I’m not re-traumatised as I was watching every night longing to know about my family but feeling overwhelmed by emotion.”
We are now working with the group to find out how they want to continue their link with Belville and meeting with the Council and Mind Mosaic to extend the pilot across more of the New Scot community. We feel that we have hit upon an exciting combination therapy type.
This project was achieved through funding from the Bank of Scotland Mental Health Fund and collaboration with Mind Mosaic counselling services and Inverclyde Council HSCP.