Growing works is a Huddersfield based charity working in Kirklees to nurture healthy lives and communities outdoors. Delivering projects since 2009 and achieving charitable status in 2015, the charity works with families and individuals with various needs who feel isolated and marginalized, supporting them to make positive changes in their lives. By connecting people with their environment and providing supportive activities we can help to improve health and wellbeing and enable our participants to build relationships and access support.
Growing Works aim to:
1)To promote good health in the community through outdoor activity and creativity.
2)Outdoor therapy for isolated individuals and families with complex needs
3) To advance education of the public with regards to the natural environment and the seasons through gardening and utilisation of the outdoor environment
Our services are based in urban, economically deprived areas of Kirklees, with our main therapeutic site in Dalton, Huddersfield. We work outdoors all year round delivering seasonal, therapeutic activities including, gardening, allotment site development, bushcraft, nature exploration, healthy cooking and much more. Our projects use the outdoor environment to help vulnerable people become more active and encourage a sense of community and inspire nature connection.
Our Projects
Bud – Therapeutic gardening, skills building and outdoor crafts for people aged 18 and over to aid wellbeing, predominantly for those with a range of vulnerabilities or socially isolated. Wellbeing and training sessions open to all, including edible growing courses; foraging discovery walks; bushcraft.
Sprout (Strong Parents Reaching Out) – Providing support using a whole family approach that is open to those with children with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) or Social, Emotional and Mental Health, (SEHM). Early intervention, peer support and a safe space for the whole family to feel relaxed and be themselves.
Young Shoots – Funded by BBC Children in Need for young people 13+ with SEND / SEHM. Courses in bushcraft, cooking, conservation and environmental exploration to develop onfidence and independence and build life skills.
