Finding connection in community and building solutions to loneliness: The Grow Project

To round of this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week we spoke to two community efforts who are using their own unique methods to bring people together, encourage new experiences and to fight loneliness. It can be really hard to admit when we’re feeling lonely, and the longer loneliness persists the more likely we are to experience negative mental health effects. We spoke to The Grow Project and Brighton Women’s Centre about how nature and specialist support groups are vital in the solution to loneliness.?

Written by Bryony Porteous-Sebouhian

How do we address loneliness?

When considering a positive way to round of this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week we asked ourselves: what is an actionable solution to loneliness that is happening in every city across the UK? Community projects ran by local charities, organisations and volunteers are a widespread way that people on the ground have been working to fight loneliness for decades.

When waiting lists for NHS mental health services are years long and private therapy is out of the question, many of us turn to our local charities for support, advice and community.

From peer support groups to workshops that provide a neutral space, where people can come together and have freedom to choose whether or not to talk about their problems, wellbeing and mental health provision that is open to the community (and often free or based on sliding scale) is an essential part of addressing not only loneliness, but also the current mental health crisis the country is experiencing.

The Grow Project

The Grow Project , which is based in Sussex started in 2011. Founded by Jo Wren, and her friend Julie Wright on the simple idea, as Jo told us “that being out in nature is good for us”. And so The Grow Project – or as Jo warmly calls it, Grow – started from this basic premise.

From there, Jo and cofounder, Julie spoke to a friend, Graham who was a National Trust Ranger on Saddlescombe Farm and the early idea of getting people up to that space came about. After this, Grow was lucky enough to receive a small amount of money from Eco Mind which was in partnership with the National Lottery.

In those early stages, Grow was more of a pilot, but it was so successful that the National Lottery came back to them, expressing interest in further funding for Grow. As Jo put it that funding: “allowed us to really refine what we did and consolidate it and all the learning from the original project and how it could be beneficial for everybody.”

Since then, Grow has taken off, having now worked with over 1000 people

As with most community organisations, Grow paused their services during the early days of the pandemic. What worked in their favour however, was the very fact their wellbeing support, groups and workshops are based outside in nature.

As an answer to the isolation many faced during the early days of the pandemic, Jo and her team started smaller groups, that ran for a shorter period of time under the name of ‘Reconnect’. Looking back on the inception of these groups, Jo said:

“We had intended to be a light version of the programme, but that as soon as we could get back to normal, we would and, we did. But actually, we’ve really seen the long-term value of the shorter groups. And so we’ve decided to carry those on.”

Expanding on Reconnect as a project itself, Jo said:

“Lots of people that we work with had been living on their own through lockdown. They were quite nervous about coming out again. Lots of them had disconnected from people or were disconnected from nature as well. So, it really did what it said on the tin, it felt like quite an important thing to be doing, actually.”

During our discussion, the idea of combining nature and community – which in many ways is what Grow is all about – came up again and again. On this Jo had some interesting thoughts:

“When we started Grow, we sort of, disingenuously went into it thinking that it was all about the nature and connecting to nature. Which it is, obviously, partly. But I think we quite quickly came to realize that human connections within that were just as important.”

“We try to engender a real sense of community. Once people have been through our programs, we keep in touch with them, we have a newsletter that we send out to people, we get people back together, we started using badges to give out to people so that you can be walking around town, and spot someone else who’s been to Grow.”

Here, Jo jokingly remarked that people may think they’re starting a cult. But, it’s clear that it is really important to Jo and everyone at Grow, that the people who attend their programmes feel a part of something, a part of a community.

“I think nature is a brilliant environment for really facilitating human relationships.”

Again the connection between community and nature came up in conversation and Jo pondered on why it’s so effective as a pair, “I wonder is it because, that’s where we all came from, that’s the environment we all used to live in, in these rural communities – it’s quite easy to make that connection.”

As well as providing longer eight week programmes that Grow call ‘Seasons’, their shorter Reconnect programmes, they are also branching out into providing workplace wellbeing workshops. Something that Jo and the Grow team are very eager and keen to begin trying out. They have already had interest from multiple local authorities in Sussex and, in Jo’s own words:

“We realized that the workplace has become very disconnected. We’re all hybrid working, or working from home, on our computers, and it has really had a significant effect on people. It’s made people feel lonely.”

So, the idea of these workshops is to provide teams with that natural environment, to reconnect and destress as a team.

Grow has seen undeniable increased interest since the start of the pandemic, which Jo attributes to the public, in a widespread way, cottoning on to how important nature and time in nature is to our mental health.

Speaking to this increased demand for their own service, and what many call, ‘green therapy’ or ‘green therapeutic interventions’, Jo highlighted the need to ensure that these projects and services are accessible and available to everyone, she said:

“One of the things with nature, it’s very often seen as a white, middle class thing. And we were very aware of that. This even comes down to something as simple as: you’ve got to have the right clothing to be outside, you need good boots. So all of those things, for some people, it’s already stacked up against them.”

Similarly, their base, Saddlescombe Farm, which is a National Trust site, Jo remarked on the fact that so many people will think “Oh that’s not for us”. So addressing this inequality became a core tenant of Grow.

“When we started the project, we thought about how we could get rid of those barriers so that anyone can come along. So, we have a big stock of outdoor clothing, boots, wellington boots, so if anyone doesn’t have the right clothing, we can give them the stuff they need. We also have our own minibus. Which we felt was really important, just to be able to pick someone up, they don’t have to worry about public transport, they don’t have to think about anything, and they’re taken care of.”

To conclude, Jo parted with some thoughts about how we as a society might begin to break the stigma around loneliness and how we might begin to feel a part of something, rather than individuals.

Aptly and unsurprisingly the connection between nature, community, mental health and loneliness came up again. “There’s something about connecting with the natural world, that helps us to see ourselves as part of a wider world.”

“It’s not that there’s us, and there’s nature, but rather that we are part of that wider world. And I wonder maybe if people could get a sense of that, they might feel less alone. And that’s not to diminish our problems or minimise what people are going through. But there’s something about the perspective nature can give you.”

“If you feel part of the natural world, you’re not alone.”

“What I always say to people about Grow, is that they can come along and they can feel that it works.” Jo placed her hand over her chest as she said this, and it’s clear that she knows and feels that it works too.

She continued, “And what we try to do is say: “okay now you’ve felt that, how do you carry that on? How do you make it part of your life so that you do this on a regular basis in some way?”

“The great thing about nature is, it doesn’t need me to take people out into it. It’s always going to be there. All that’s needed sometimes is to show people the way sometimes. I think that’s the value of that we do, we show people the way into it and help them to trust that it will do the job.”

To read about The Grow Project and their services, you can see more here , as well as find out more about the science behind nature and wellbeing in their report, here .?

This blog is the first in a two part series to round off Mental Health Awareness Week, where we look at two local Sussex community projects that are helping to tackle loneliness in unique ways. To read part one, about Brighton Women's Centre, click here .