Breathing Spaces

About this provider

We run Garden Clubs at 2 community centres in Worthing doing garden-related activities that are enjoyable, sociable and therapeutic. Gardening in small groups can stimulate thinking skills, boost self-esteem and keep people socially active, which is important for everyone and especially older people and in the early stages of living with dementia. Our groups also include people with different support needs and volunteers. Tasks can be adapted for different abilities, interests, mobility, strength, memory, personal history and wellness and include seed sowing, potting on, propagating, planting, watering, harvesting, pruning, weeding, digging, mowing, sweeping leaves, even basic carpentry etc. We make an initial and ongoing assessments so that we can monitor the impact.

Gardening therapy has benefits for people at any stage of dementia. There is evidence that meaningful, structured, individualised activities can reduce depression, frustration, aggression and the tendency to 'wander'. We can continually adapt the activities we do. We run sessions in a number of care homes for people with more advanced dementia and nursing needs, and some care homes bring their residents to our gardens. We focus on providing sensory, enjoyable experiences for people at later stages.

We currently take referrals from Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Memory Assessment Service, Alzheimer's Society, Going Local and other agencies as well as self-referrals - just ring us to discuss, or you can tell your GP about us and ask them to make a referral.