Guest post by Stuart Bullen
As someone who’d done some
volunteering in the dim and distant past I had been feeling that I
should get involved in something similar for a while. I wanted to
use my background and interest in all things environmental and
geographical, so I made the initial step of contacting the excellent
‘Active Student’ volunteering team here at the University of
Brighton, to enquire about their Staff Volunteering Scheme. This
allows staff the opportunity to undertake up to five days volunteering per year at a suitable
local community group. I asked them to
highlight possible eco opportunities for me.
I was after a bit of a different
experience from my role as an SSGT (or Student Support & Guidance Tutor) in the Brighton Business School. This student focused job,
although wonderful, is primarily office based so I wanted to get my
hands dirty, quite literally smell the roses and perhaps ‘give
something back’, as the saying goes, to the local area and
community.
Of the many local possibilities I was
most tempted by the Moulsecoomb Forest Garden & Wildlife Project.
It’s website and history did a good job of convincing me this was
the place to head for my earthly delights ! A quick form completed,
a few formalities at the university and all was set.
I volunteered for a total of three days
(one each in April, June and July) at this project, which is based
just behind the Moulsecoomb railway station and University of
Brighton campus. You wouldn’t believe, once you’re there and
immersed in your restorative outdoor work, that you’re near such a
hubbub of life and action, such is the tranquil nature of the site.
There is something calming, Zen-like
and, indeed, good for the soul about being in such an environment.
The site is a large one which is set into quite a hill, so the view
from the amazing, genuinely eco-building at the top is a great one.
It is a place of peace, solitude, communal working and, (vitally) it
has to be said, good food Yes, this wasn’t uppermost in my
thoughts - for once ! - but this has been a real bonus of the days. Jo, Daisy and their able helpers have
churned out amazing, nutritious and tasty food (much of it grown and
harvested from the allotments at the site), which they provide for
the hordes of workers who’ve toiled that day at the Project.
The tasks that I undertook during my
few days there included turning over soil and preparing areas for
planting seeds, herbs and squashes and clearing path areas of
troublesome weeds, in addition to helping out with serving food and
clearing up after delicious lunches!
What I found most rewarding and
positive from the three days was working with a real diversity of
other volunteers and service users. These included a group of
foreign students who’d volunteered via a local organisation named
Concordia and many local people with varying additional needs, who
use the project regularly with their key workers as a place to meet
and develop their social/practical skills.
I hope that it has helped the project
to have some extra hands and someone to muck in whilst I have been
there and I also feel that it is positive for the University of
Brighton, to have current links with such a close by and valuable
organisation as the Forest Garden Project. It is a community based
model, with links to schools and other groups – such as the
Brighton & Hove Food Partnership, a very worthwhile local
organisation. This seems to be a fine example of excellent
partnership work, much of which occurs under the radar of most of our
daily lives.
In terms of my own role and practise,
it certainly has been beneficial to me to meet and work collectively
with a diversity of other people in the local community, and I’ve
returned energised and with a real sense of context and perspective
to my SSGT post. I have made some useful contacts and further
developed my knowledge of local service provision. Similarly, a
number of students from the university undertaken voluntary work or
participate in community based placements at the Project, and no
doubt reflect upon similar personal development and skills growth as
a result of this.
The Project has been on Radio 4, won
awards and been nominated as a mayoral charity locally. It is
clearly a successful and well-loved resource, which has been covered
in many articles (see below). I have nothing but admiration for the
dedication, compassion and energy shown by the myriad groups and
people involved in the work on the hill behind the station, go and
see the magic for yourselves !
As
Warren Carter, the Garden Project Manager, who
helped set up the site over 20 years ago put it…
“Our project isn’t
just about gardening. It plays an important part of the social glue
that binds communities together, with all types of people, young and
old, pupils having problems at school, people with learning
difficulties, working together in a safe, pleasant, genuinely
inclusive environment”
