a jolly day out
A group of space2grow regulars enjoyed a truly inspirational private tour of Tilford Cottage Garden on a balmy summer day. The beautiful planting and imaginative topiary and sculpture gave us so many ideas! Huge thanks to Rod for sharing his beautiful garden with us.
in our garden
Our Transform Housing & Support veg club regulars are working wonders on their veg patches.
There were a wide range of activities in the garden this week from sharpening tools and clearing nettles from pathways to creating a wooden walkway to the pond decking.
and yoga with dogs!
baby birds found in the salvage yard
We discovered a nest of new babies in a plant pot in our salvage yard. Please be very quiet and careful around the area while these fledglings grow.
friday fun
Summer is here (despite the rain!) and it's barbecue weather so from next week we'll be holding regular cook ups at the acre every Friday from 3pm. Everybody is welcome to pop in and enjoy something tasty from the grill.
weekly wishlist
At space2grow we love to recycle and reuse and save money. Our various groups have created a wishlist of items that would make a real difference on the acre. If you can help by donating any of these items please email us:
wheelbarrows
water butts or suitable containers
workbench
seeds and plants
old clothes (these will be used for scarecrow making when a group of school children from Hackney join us for a school trip)
We've been gifted two water butts this week which we're very grateful for and they are now installed, ready to capture the rain.
reflections from the acre
Adam was referred to space2grow by Transform Housing & Support and shares what makes the acre a special place for him........
"I moved to Farnham as I was about to become a victim of modern day slavery. I was involved in a lot of criminal activity with gangs and I became quite a bad alcoholic and nearly died multiple times as a result of drinking. After detox I didn’t really have any life. Then I got encouraged by support workers at Transform Housing & Support to come to space2grow to do a cooking club course. I really didn’t want to do it but agreed and, surprisingly, loved it. It really got me interested in cooking and now I even cook at home.
Next, I was offered a place on a veg growing course. Again, I wasn’t sure and frankly my former self would have laughed if I had been told I would be learning about growing veg in a community garden. It’s brought me out of my shell a lot. I have more of a life and I’m more social. I have never been a social person, until I came to space2grow and now I know people from all different walks of life, people I would never have socialised with before. To be honest, I think that if I wasn’t coming to space2grow I wouldn’t really have a life. I would have probably relapsed already and would either be in prison or dead.
For me, space2grow is an escape. Even though I now live in a nice place, it’s somewhere I can go where nobody judges me on what I’ve done or who I am. It’s made a lot of difference. It’s been a life changing thing for me. When I moved here I was very unwell, weighed 9 stone and am now 15 stone, I go to the gym and spend time relaxing and socialising at space2grow.
At first, I really only came to space2grow to keep the staff at Transform Housing & Support happy but it quickly got the point where I really enjoyed coming and looked forward to it. It now feels really out of place for me not to come as it’s part of my structure, part of what I do. I’ve built friendships with people I would never have been friends with before. People who give you the chance to be yourself. I seem to be reacting to a lot of things differently. I used to lose my temper a lot and it would just be chaos but now I seem to be looking at things clearly and acting in a more adult way. I thought I would just come and do a couple of courses but now I’m nagging the staff at Transform to put on more courses, because it’s given me a life that I didn’t have before.
Before I suffered from night terrors and now I come to space2grow and I forget everything that’s going on. It’s shown me a different way of being and it’s a safe haven. I know I can come here and help out or I can just sit and be. I’ve never been to a place like this before, it’s very rare. I’ve reached the point where I’ve come to terms with my past and I deal with it in a lot healthier way. Before I was angry and abused my body but since I started coming here none of that’s happened. I have attempted to take my own life in the past but not since I’ve been here. It’s brought out the true person that I am, the one that was hidden away."
If you would like to share what the acre means to you please email info@space2grow.space - we love hearing everyones reflections.
As always, we are working hard to ensure that space2grow remains a Covid safe site so please email info@space2grow.space prior to your visits, bring your own food and drink, take any rubbish home and please adhere to social distancing.
Thank you and see you soon!
