People and Gardens was set up in 1997 by Ken and Lorraine Radford.
People and Gardens was set up to enable people with learning disabilities or emotional impairments to be able to develop as individuals, to learn work and social skills and to have equality of choice and opportunity in the workplace.
Ken and Lorraine understand through their own experiences, that we should all work together to break down barriers, to educate and to support each other to make the world a better place for everyone.
We believe gardening can help you achieve a sense of well-being, satisfaction and self-worth. We believe that gardening can help you feel good about yourself.
We believe that everyone has the right:
- to lead a fulfilling life
- to be treated with dignity and respect
- to make choices and decisions about their own life
- to be valued by others
We respect that all people, including our organisation, and its service users, have the right to exercise the power of choice.
Everyone who attends our project has an individual plan drawn up based on their aims and aspirations.
The plan sets out how those needs might be met and is reviewed at least every six months.
We treat all participants with courtesy and respect and regard meeting each persons goals as paramount.
The people who come to work at People and Gardens are what makes our organisation special.
Here’s what some of the participants have to say when asked how they feel about coming here:
“Watering Lane helps me to be myself”
“Attending has stopped my moods and changed my outlook on the world.”
“I like to help with the work. I like trees.”
“I like the tranquility, the peaceful environment and the friendliness of everybody. It helps me forget my problems which are always there when I get home.”
“Ken’s got lovely legs”
“I like coming here because I see all my mates and I like doing lots of hard work. I like helping others also I do all the ditches for Watering lane nursery. I like all the pretty flowers and plants at the nursery”