Cumbria mental health charity Growing Well has celebrated the official launch of its third site in West Cumbria.
Around 80 supporters and guests including key funders from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, the National Lottery Community Fund, the Copeland Community Fund, and Cumberland Council, which made the redevelopment possible, joined the charity’s team to cut the ribbon at the new site in Egremont on Tuesday.
The ex-council nursery site in Egremont’s town centre will support people from Millom to Maryport with its therapeutic model that champions recovery through structured horticultural activity.
Growing Well was set up in Kendal 20 years ago and has helped thousands of people in the South and Central Lakes to recover from mental ill health and move forward with their lives.
The award-winning charity opened a second site at Tebay Services in 2023 to serve the Carlisle and Eden areas, and the launch of the Egremont site means another significant geographical area in Cumbria will now be covered by the service, which is governed by clinical psychologists and delivered by specialist staff.
Growing Well West Cumbria will offer a day service on five days of the week, offering its beneficiaries a holistic package of structured, supervised activity, goal setting, skills development and supported signposting and transitions.
This will all take place in the context of a sustainable, pesticide-free horticultural enterprise and beneficiaries will all learn how to grow, nurture, harvest, and sell hundreds of fruits and vegetables that will be sold within the local area.
To find out how it operates, Cumbria Crack visited the Egremont site – find out what Growing Well can do for you here
Mary Smith, CEO of Growing Well, said: “We are absolutely delighted to be launching Growing Well West Cumbria and supporting this amazing part of the county that we know and love. We guarantee swift referral into our service and can offer a safe and professional environment to support mental health recovery in a unique, non-clinical setting.
“It’s vital that services like ours are here to respond to the escalating mental health crisis in our population and support people to find help at the point they need it. Our funders recognise the urgency of this and can also see the additional benefits of a model such as ours, to the wider community. We are very thankful for their support.”
David Peattie, CEO at The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, cut the ribbon to officially launch the opening of the Egremont site, and said: “This truly is a fantastic asset to the local Cumbrian community and as someone who places huge value on mental health, I am delighted that the NDA has been able to be part of supporting such an important service.
“It’s a great example of how the NDA is delivering its decommissioning mission with care for the communities and the environment, investing money and resources in projects like this one which will benefit future generations to come.”
Duncan Nicholson, regional head of funding, The National Lottery Community Fund (North East and Cumbria), said: “As the largest funder of community activity in the UK, The National Lottery Community Fund is delighted to support Growing Well to open a third site in Egremont.
“Thanks to National Lottery players, Growing Well will provide vital mental health services to support the wellbeing of communities across West Cumbria, and the newly redeveloped site will also help to address community food issues, health inequality and poverty.”
Emma Moynihan, fund manager for Copeland Community Fund, said: “Copeland Community Fund is delighted to support Growing Well with their new project to deliver mental health support to our local community through a horticultural growing scheme. Improving the health and wellbeing of the community is a priority of Copeland Community Fund and partners.
“The grant of £275,000 is to establish the site in Egremont and to deliver the programme over the next three years. The team and I had the privilege of attending a pre-opening volunteer day. It was fantastic to see the projects progress and have the opportunity to experience first hand how this project will be supporting beneficiaries.”
Growing Well West Cumbria is open to beneficiaries and also offers traditional volunteering opportunities within its horticulture enterprise. More information about how to refer someone or get involved can be found at www.growingwell.co.uk or egremont@growingwell.co.uk
