A group of volunteers have revamped the Safe Space garden to encourage patients to engage with nature.
Safe Space, which was established by the Roundabout homelessness charity, provides accommodation for 16 and 17-year-olds who are experiencing a mental health crisis.
Young people are able to stay in the house for up to 72 hours and the charity takes in one patient at a time, providing a supportive, non-judgemental environment.
Tracey Hemmerdinger, the Safe Space manager said: “We’re referred to by mental health professionals when a young person is feeling like they can’t cope anymore.
“So they might have made an attempt on their life, they might have been ridiculously anxious, they might have things going on that means they’re not able to cope with life.”
The charity’s fundraising department recently organised a group of volunteers from BOC to come and rejuvenate the garden at the Safe Space house, allowing nature therapy to be offered to patients.
Mrs Hemmerdinger said: “When young people are in a heightened state, one of the things that’s really important is to ground them where they are and nature has a really positive way of doing that.
“Being able to engage with nature, being able to appreciate the different sights and sounds and smells, and being able to actually connect with the earth, has a really positive benefit for mental health.”
The garden now contains a vegetable patch, a meditation area and a punch bag for exercise.
Mrs Hemmerdinger expressed that the benefits of Safe Space have been ‘amazing’, with over 80 percent of patients strongly agreeing that they felt safe and listened to by members of staff.
She added: “There is no other organization, there’s no other house like this.
“As far as we’re aware, no provisions like this exist anywhere in the country.”
Young people are referred to Safe Space by mental health professionals from CAHMS, Social Services and hospitals.
