Special gardening session inspires What To Do

Gardening enthusiasts supported by Community Integrated Care enjoyed a very special online session with leading horticulturalist, Bunny Guinness.

Volunteers who access care and support listened to expert tips from the respected gardening journalist and broadcaster, who is a regular on BBC Radio 4’s Gardener’s Question Time and writes a column for the Sunday Telegraph.

The session took place live on our charities award-winning online activity platform, www.What-To-Do.co.uk. What To Do was created by our charity to give people who require care and support free accessible activities every day, along with regular special events with visits from inspirational people.

The gardening session saw Bunny provide participants with expert gardening tips, as well as them having the chance to share stories with Bunny, of projects that they have been involved with through the charity. This includes the creation of a Rugby League World Cup-themed garden at Newton Community Hospital in Newton-le-Willows, which was visited by the national Italian Rugby League team during the Rugby League World Cup 2021, last year.

Community Integrated Care’s Sports Inclusion Specialist, Kurtis Marsh, said that the ‘What To Do’ session was hugely enjoyable for everybody that took part. He explained: “Everyone found it such a positive experience. It provided an opportunity to engage the wider charity and raise awareness of the impact that gardening can have on people’s mental health.

“The session showed the way that people can get involved in gardening indoors and outdoors, and Bunny Guinness provided all kinds of fantastic tips on how people that we support can do that. We showcased some of our successful gardening projects to Bunny, which allowed our volunteers to display the hard work that they have been so proud of.

“Our What To Do website regularly hosts activity that benefit people in various ways. Whether it’s getting active, introducing people to a new hobby like gardening or simply making new friends, we love to see people getting so much from these online sessions week in, week out.”

Watch our highlights video from the session here: