The Therapeutic Gardener, @Ozichi Brewster, The RHS Bridgewater Garden, Salford, Manchester
Londoner, Nigerian & Streatham Raised, British-African, Ozichi Brewster, Now Based At RHS Bridgewater, Manchester, Needed A Change.
So She Tapped Into Her African Gardening Roots To Help Educate, Motivate, And Inspire Others
Especially Regarding Their Well-Being & Mental Health
And Indeed Her Own
Now She Is Known As The Therapeutic Gardener!
Photo: RHS Bridgewater, Well-Being, Community Garden, Salford, Greater Manchester
And Most Fabulously It Also Has ‘The Therapeutic Gardener‘ Ozichi Brewster, Who Is There To Help With Mental Health & Well-Being…
For Everyone.
Including Herself!
@RHSBridgewater @OzichiBrewster #GreenSalford
Linkedin ~ The University of Salford
Linkedin ~ Salford City Council Linkedin ~ Marketing Manchester
(TO.P Supports STEM Learning stem.org.uk)
Horticultural Science & Social Prescribing
Good Nutrition Can often Co-Relate To Good Health
Photo: Delicious Greens From The Kitchen Garden, RHS Garden, Bridgewater
Ozichi Brewster Is The Therapeutic Gardener Based At The RHS Bridgewater Garden Community Garden Space, In Salford, Manchester @rhsbridgewater
On Its Site It Outlines That Gardens & Green Spaces Are Increasingly Being Acknowledged As Providing Substantial Mental Health, Physical, And Social Well-Being Benefits Due To The Inherent Closeness To Nature That Is Involved.
The RHS Bridgewater Garden Community Garden Space Includes A Dedicated Well-Being Garden Focused On The Healing Power of Horticulture Where Ozichi @OzichiBrewster Runs It As Their First Ever Official Therapeutic Gardener.
Ozichi Has A Background In Gardening That Stems Right Back To Her Childhood In Africa, Nigeria, Which She Combines With Her Professional Experience In Mental Health Advocacy Work In Order To Help Others. And It Has Also Helped Her Two.
At The RHS Bridgewater Garden, Community Garden Space, She Initially Worked Within A Professional Work Placement Programme (PWP) For Individuals Whose Mental or Physical Health Could Possibly Benefit From Work Related Activities Alongside The Therapeutic Gardener. Now The Community Garden Continues To Receive Referrals Via ‘Social Prescribing’ Whereby Mental & Physical Health Patients Are Referred To Local Community Garden Space By Well-Being Professionals, Such As GPs For Instance, For Fundamental Well-Being, Social & Community Development, Purposes.
The Referrals Effectively Operate As A Prescription For Harvesting The Healing Powers of Nature, By Engaging With Community Gardening And Reaping The Natural, Uplifting, & Energising Benefits That Being Outdoors, Taking In Fresh Air And Connecting With Nature Can Bring.
Since 2021, The Well-Being Garden Has Also Provided Free Wellbeing Sessions For Groups Of People Facing Or At Risk From Health Issues. Some Of The Groups That Have Visited So Far Include Care Home Residents, Parent Carer Groups, NHS Frontline Workers And Other Professionals Such As A Staff Team, Mental Health Charities, Asylum Seeker And Refugee Groups, Community Centre Groups, And Many Others.
The Kitchen Garden At RHS Bridgewater Garden Salford, Manchester
A Fresh Look At RHS Bridgewater Garden In Salford,Manchester
The University of Salford, Salford Council And Marketing Manchester (Links Above & Directly Below) Have Teamed Up To Produce A Promotional Campaign Highlighting Salford’s Green Spaces With A View To Encouraging More Visitors, Students, Residents And Investors Into Greater Manchester. And The New Role of The Therapeutic Gardener At RHS Bridgewater For The First Time Ever Is Part of The New Developments On The Former Worsely Hall Site Which Features In One of Eight Promo Videos (As Shown Below).
In The Gardens Section of The RHS Website www.rhs.org.uk The RHS Bridgewater Garden Has Various Highlights, Including The Community Garden. It Is Just One of A Number of Gardens Within The Hertitage Landscape Space of The Former Stately Home, Worsely Hall, Where The Newly Built Bridgewater Garden Is Now Located, As Redesigned By Tom Stuart-Smith, Landscape Architect (www.tomstuartsmith.co.uk). The Old Stately Home of Worsley Hall Fell Into Decline & Disrepair And The Site Has Only Recently Been Redeveloped And Re-Opened In 2021 . It Is An Exceptionally Large Walled Garden Comprised of Various Other Gardens & Green Spaces Within It. These Include:
The Welcome Building Which Includes A Purpose Built Learning Studio For School Children, Community Learning, Workshops And Adult Learing.
The Worsley Welcome Garden Which Leads Visitors Into The Various Bridgewater Horticultural Flows & Structures, Including Large Metal Frames Which Set Certain Views of The Garden, As Seen In The Bridgewater Garden Entered Into The Chelsea Flower Show 2019
The Weston Walled Garden Which At 11-Acres Is Said To Be Large Enough To Accomodate The Chelsea Flower Show Itself As They Are A Similar Size, Both With Lots of Gardens, Green Spaces & Floral Activity
Learners Will Find Out Why Horticulture Matters To The World, How They Can Support The Environment, How Gardening Can Help Them To Be Happy And Healthy, And The Great Range Of Careers Within The Horticultural Industry
Suzanne Moss, RHS Head Of Education And Learning
The Therapeutic Gardener Finds Her Work Mutually Therapeutic
@Ozichi Brewster “Out In Nature Is Where I Feel At Ease. This Space Is For Sharing My Work, Learning And Collaborating With Others“
#LakeDistrict #Nature #Outdoors
TO.P (TheOrator.Press) Is Thrilled To See The Work of The Therapeutic Gardener @ozichibrewster Based In Salford Manchester And The Cloud Gardener Jason Williams @cloudgardeneruk Based In Salford Manchester, And The Collaborative Efforts Being Made By The University of Salford, Salford City Council, And Marketing Manchester To Us This Powerfully Helps Highlight The Power And Importance of Representation, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.
We Loved Attending @The_Rhs Hampton Court For The First Time Last Year And @The_Rhs Chelsea Flower Show For The First Time This Year As We Are Based Down South, In London, But As Advocates of Diversity Equity & Inclusion It’s Great To See Not Everything Powerful, Phenomenal, And Impactful Has To Be London Centric And It’s Great To See More Diverse Investment And Development Across The Country. Indeed On Discovering These Awesome Developments We Find Ourselves Inspired & Intrigued To Potentially Actually Visit And Do Some Onsite Reporting In Future. So Please Do Continue To Stay With Us, Support Us, Follow Us And Watch This Space.
Meanwhile, During Our Research We Came Across A Number of Interviews With The Therapeutic Gardener, Including On The RHS Website (www.rhs.org.uk) And On Her Instagram @ozichibrewster, It Was Great To Learn More About Her Professional Background, African Culture And How Much The Practical, Social And Therapeutic Elements of Horticulture Mean To Her. Some Elements of Which We Highlight Here.
Speaking To The RHS Website rhs.org.uk Black History Month 2019 She Says:
‘I First Came Into Contact With Social Prescribing Back In The 1980s Working On A 42-Acre Farm In Glastonbury, Somerset, Owned By A Charity (The Paddington Farm Trust) In London. Their Aim Was To Connect City And Country.
“Back In History, ‘Mental Hospitals’ Had Grounds That Were Used For Farming – Growing Food, Caring For Animals And Medicinal Herbs. Then It Was Recognised By Doctors As Beneficial To Help Calm The Mind And Restore The Person Back To A Sense Of Balance. We’ve Gone Full Circle And Doctors Are Helping Their Patients By Directing Them To Sources And Resources Which Could Help Them That Are Not Just Prescribed Medicines.”
‘The People Element Is An Aspect I Like, That Social Interaction. I Like Assisting People And Enabling Them – When You Put That With Gardening It’s The Perfect Combination For Me. When You See People Working In Nature, They Work Together Quite Happily To Get An Activity Completed. For Me, That’s Community Gardening At Its Best, With No Barrriers, I Like To Be Able To See People Thrive.’
Speaking To Gardens Illustrated She Explained That;
As A Small Child She Grew Up In Nigeria After Her Parents Struggled To Juggle Work, Education & Childcare In Britain. She Returned To Live In A Victorian Terraced House, With A Garden, In Streatham, South East London, Aged 9 Years Old.
My Love For The Earth And Respect For Nature Comes From Living A Village Life;
All My Food Was Dependent On What Was Around Me.
My Grandmother Taught Us To Forage, Grow And Produce The Food That We Needed. We Didn’t Call It Gardening; It Was Part Of Living Within Nature
The Therapeutic Gardener, Ozichi Brewster
Photo: Trevor Hart. Instagram Post: @rhsbridgewater June 2023
I Spy With My Little Eye. Early Summer In The Garden Is Full Of Flowers To Sniff, Insects To Discover And Adventures To Enjoy. It’s A Lovely Day Out For The Whole Family. PS: Don’t Forget Your Magnifying Glass!
EventuallyShe Was To Find Herself Struggling And Juggling Childcare And Work Demands Which Saw Her Accept A Job In Bristol Working As A Co-Ordinator For The Women’s Aid National Helpline. Later She Then She Moved Back To London To Work With A Specialist Mental Health Law Firm As A Representative For Mental Health Patients And As A Panel Member of A Mental Health Tribunal. Ultimately It Proved Too Draining Physically, Emotionally & Mentally And Herself And Her Body Had To Battle Back From Burnout.
She Subsequently Went Back To Her Roots And Got Back Into Horticulture, Undertaking A Number of Courses At The Centre For Alternative Technology And The Brigthton Permaculture Trust. She Subsequently Got A Job Teaching Gardening And Healthy Eating And Set Up A Gardent In A School For Children With Special Needs.
If You’re Truly People Centred And Meet People Where They Are, Then You Can Make A Difference.
You Have To Work With Both The People And The Space To Make Somewhere That Anyone Can Be Included And Involved,
Which Really Calls For Observing Rather Than Forcing Anything, So That You Can Find Something For Everyone.
The Therapeutic Gardener, Ozichi Brewster
[Just Before Covid The New Role At The New RHS Bridgewater Garden, Salford, Manchester Was Advertised And She Applied. Despite Being Somewhat Apprehensive In The First Instance]
“I Thought I’d Stick Out Like A Sore Thumb At The RHS”
[Happily Her Daughter Encouraged Her Nonetheless, Saying “It’s A Gardening Job, It’s Made For You”]
(TO.P Supports STEM Learning stem.org.uk)
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