I honestly don't know how I would have dealt with it
Anyone with an allotment, or who has read our spring newsletter (available to download below if you haven't), will already be aware of the positive benefits of tending a plot can have on promoting good mental health.
The BBC news website has just run a story on the growth of allotment-keeping in the UK. It gives figures for how many more people have applied for their own plot since the start of the pandemic (for example, 20% of councils have more than 1,000 people on their waiting lists, up from 8% in 2019), and also has some interesting case studies.
For Sandra Culham, quoted above, having an allotment made a huge difference for her as she dealt with the terminal illness and death of a close friend. And Ian Barbrook is open about his breakdown, and how having an allotment helped his recovery.
You can read the full article here.
And details about Richmond Fellowship's allotment project, and a range of other community growing activities, can be found by downloading our Spring newsletter below.
