At the end of Summer Term, we donated a wide variety of plants to brain injury charity, Headway Leicester, to help with their 'Bloom After Brain Injury' initiative.
Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland Headway, who are based in Leicester City, have been helping adults with acquired or traumatic brain injuries since 1990. They offer a variety of support, including a day service which includes a range of activities such as gardening, growing from seed, and growing fruits and vegetables.
SMB College Group were thrilled to be able to help the charity out with their garden renovations by donating a wide variety of plants, which were grown in our Brooksby Campus glasshouses throughout the academic year.
Mary Goulty, Services Director of Headway Leicester said, 'Being able to access our garden and enjoy the beautiful blooms is fantastic for encouraging our members to become more active and get outdoors. Growing your own fruit and vegetables and seeing plants grow and thrive is both satisfying and therapeutic and gives people a real sense of achievement. It is a pleasure to arrive at Headway and take in the beautiful display of flowers, which are always full with bees and butterflies. We are incredibly grateful for SMB College Group and Joanne Wilkes for their generous support and huge donation of plants that have helped us to launch our new initiative ‘Bloom After Brain Injury’ which will encourage more of our members to experience the extensive benefits of gardening.'
Joanne Wilkes, Glasshouse and Horticulture Coordinator at SMB College Group, added ‘It has been a delight to be able to work with Headway Leicester again. From past connections with the charity, I knew that they may be in need of a few plants - particularly with the long closure due to Covid-19. We grow plants for our own grounds with the help of our students, and each year we sell any surplus at our Open Farm Sunday plant sale. For the past two years this hasn’t been possible - so what better way to use our surplus than to help brighten things up and encourage Headway’s service users into the gardens?’ The activities provided at Headway Leicester’s day service allow individuals to rebuild lost skills, maximise independence, and meet peers who they can relate to due to similar life experiences.
SMB College Group is a vocational college based in Leicestershire comprising three campuses: Brooksby, Melton and Stephenson. At the 850-acre Brooksby Campus, the college offers a wide range of land-based education spanning the disciplines of Horticulture, Countryside and Environmental Management, Agriculture, Floristry and more.
