A Rochford-based charity initiative for people with learning disabilities has been given a boost by volunteers and funds from a southeast Essex-headquartered business group.
Seetec, an employee-owned public services provider operating across the UK and Ireland, has been Headquartered in Hockley since it was founded in 1984. Its mission is to advance fairer, safer and more prosperous communities, and colleagues from across the Seetec Group receive extra time off for volunteering each year, to support local causes and charitable organisations close to their heart.
The company’s local staff have been supporting Hamelin Trust’s ‘Roots & Shoots’ horticultural project in Rochford, which offers training and practical experience for people with learning disabilities to develop their confidence, creativity and life skills.
Participants learn where their food comes from, how to plant and nurture fruits and vegetables, and to understand the wildlife around them. As well as crop cultivation, the site also gives people the opportunity to learn DIY and maintenance skills to be more self-sufficient in repairing things at home.
The project provides a unique environment for individuals to get outside, get back to nature and learn more about food production and the wildlife around them. Participants are also able to develop other key personal skills such as building friendships and gaining employment skills, while working towards individual action plans. Other benefits include improved mental and physical health as well as reducing isolation and loneliness.
As well as taking part in volunteering activity, colleagues from Seetec awarded the Roots & Shoots project with a donation of £1000 from its Community Investment Fund – a charitable initiative enabling colleagues to petition for donations to be awarded to a cause of their choice.
Speaking on the project and the impact of the donation, Pippa Martin, Specialist Manager for the Roots & Shoots project, said:
“It’s been a really exciting time for our project over the past few months, where we’ve been focused on getting stuck in and supporting our gardeners with transforming the project into somewhere that is a super place for supporting peoples’ mental health.
“We’re now growing every kind of vegetable and herb you can think of, and making plans to sell our own produce. We can then re-invest back into the project to fund more education and training opportunities for our gardeners, teaching them further essential skills they’ll need in everyday life, and potentially in the workplace too.”
“The volunteering support provided by Seetec has been great, for example with their help our workshop has transformed from a grey and boring building to a bright ray of sunshine! It’s had a big impact and has really helped to transform the space.
“Seetec’s donation will fund the development of our new wildlife pond, which is not only great for the space, but is fantastic for supporting our local wildlife. We ran a design competition with our gardening participants, and received some fantastic entries. We’ve now settled on a winning design and we’re really looking forward to starting work on it this summer.”
Cat Peacock, an Employee Owner at Seetec who helped organise its local volunteering activities, said:
“The Roots & Shoots initiative is a great way for people to get outside and get back to nature, and delivers vital support for people with learning disabilities across Essex. We’re proud to support this local initiative, and we can’t wait to pull on our wellies to help out again in future!”
