I worked as a community volunteer for Grounded ecotherapy for several years in London back in 2015 and they are still going strong!

Grounded Ecotherapy was started by one of the housing associations residents, Paul Pulford. The group helps people with issues around substance misuse, poor mental health or homelessness, to improve their life and well-being through horticulture. They are primarily based in Tower Hamlets but work London wide and specialise in turning neglected or unused spaces into beautiful gardens.

Grounded built and maintains the Queen Elizabeth Hall Roof Garden on London’s South Bank. Together with the team’s volunteers they also designed and built a Victorian Fernery, located in the Queen Elizabeth Hall Atrium and the Container Staircase Garden, located near the Royal Festival Hall.

Working with Paul and the team was a pleasure and the about of plant knowledge I gained was out of this world! To garden for nature not design was a really new way of thinking at the time and is clearly something many people are now starting to adopt.