The need for projects like ours is now greater than ever, which means we need to continue to improve both the services we offer to our volunteers with severe and enduring mental illness, and the quality of the plants we grow. Fundraising will always remain a priority for us, as our trustees have recognised that we will never be able to cover our running costs through plant sales alone.

The nursery celebrated its twentieth birthday on 15th April 2010, and has some very exciting plans for the next twenty years and into the future. So far, we have been based in donated, second-hand portacabins, which are now decrepit, leaking and crumbling, and will not be habitable for much longer. The volunteers’ tearoom in particular is in a terrible state; the water pours in when it is raining and the smell of damp is very unpleasant. Our greatest wish would be to provide all our workers with comfortable, practical and welcoming buildings to work and relax in whatever the weather.

Sustainable building replacement programme
We are working with Rob Buckley and Adam Slatter from the Dorset Centre for Rural Skills, who have put together a wonderful plan to replace our current structures with low-cost, low-energy, low impact buildings, built from locally sourced and benign materials, in order to meet our needs in the most appropriate way possible. We believe these living and breathing buildings would promote mental well-being and recovery for all who use them, through the healing value of the natural world.

These exciting plans would provide buildings unique to the area, would encourage people to think about more sustainable ways of living and to learn more about eco-building techniques, and would tie in beautifully with Bournemouth University’s research project, ‘the Horticultural Nursery as a Restorative Environment’.

The major fund-raising project for this building programme was launched on our twentieth birthday. The programme is designed in three independent phases, starting with the volunteers’ tearoom. Each phase can be fundraised for and completed separately.

To complete this great long-term project we need your help. Even the smallest gift can make a real difference to a project like this. Please call in the nursery to see the model of the new buildings and the plans and materials. There is more information to download below. If you are able to make a donation, please see our ‘Support Us’ page.