It’s Friday morning and a group of adults is gathered in a shed in Somerset. They’re working together to prepare and plant hanging baskets. It sounds like a simple enough task - and in some ways it is. But for these adults, such tasks can be life-saving.

All the assembled adults are our students at Bridgwater and Taunton College (BTC). They all have highly complex needs: they could be recovering from alcohol or drug dependency, or dealing with severe mental and emotional health issues.

Five years ago we decided, as a college, that we wanted to be involved in more outreach work across our community. Not only was it a way of securing potential students, but it was also a chance to give back to our local area. We set up a meeting with the county council and talked about the potential initiatives we could support them with.

We were told about a rehabilitation programme they’d developed called 12 Steps. The council brought students down from London and other urban environments who needed support in kicking an addiction or overcoming mental health issues. Participants were offered a wide range of courses in everything from computer skills to cookery. We decided that, as a college, we’d like to run some of the courses.

We pondered offering programmes in things such as countryside management and other land-based qualifications, but settled on horticulture because of the huge amount of research that links working with plants to good mental health.

The college set up a service agreement with the council. The partnership is simple: the council provides the students; we provide the teaching.

Our course is called Nurturing Recovery and it offers students the opportunity to gain a level 1 practical horticulture qualification through City & Guilds. We have one lecturer on the ground who delivers the teaching, Emma Butler, and I oversee the programme as the course leader for land-based studies.

Garden variety

Our learners are challenging to begin with - a lot of them can be quite confrontational, which isn’t surprising given what they’ve been through - and it can be hard getting them engaged. They’re in a pretty bad way when they first arrive, and we have to be sure that the process is safe for everyone. Their confidence is also shot to pieces so they don’t always believe they have the ability, nor the strength, to gain the qualification. But once they start getting involved, they become so passionate because they can see that they’re producing something - and can even eat the product at the end of the day.

It’s an amazing moment when they suddenly realise there is good in life, and that’s because of the calming effect of standing in a polytunnel, potting tomato plants.

The qualification is the core of what we do. It involves caring for a planting area; preparing soil and applying an organic mulch; preparing and planting a hanging basket; using a leaf-litter blower; identifying weeds; planting container-grown plants; preparing the ground for sowing or planting; and watering a bed, border or area of plants in containers.

Outside of this, we give them the creative freedom to do what they want. For example, Sam* built a cage out of bicycle wheels in which to plant. Some students will take these opportunities and some won’t. If they want to do something (within reason) that is going to benefit them, then we say yes.

We also offer yoga as part of the programme, and microsessions in which they work in small teams on allotments. We encourage them to buddy up, too - some of them need peer-to-peer support. Together, they’ll sit in the shed, talk about themselves, and share things with each other that they wouldn’t have normally shared. Seeing them make those connections is a joy.

Our partnership with the council and our ability to offer the City & Guilds qualification (and get funding for the course) means we don’t really face many financial challenges. But, of course, we do face challenges.

For both Emma and me, the biggest learning process was understanding the behavioural issues that these people have. We’ve done a lot of research into trauma, addiction and other typical challenges. This has helped, but dealing with disruptive behaviour is part of what we do as teachers anyway. We have masses of students who have support needs so the strategies we have for them apply here, if slightly differently because they are adults. Emma and I regularly discuss individuals and identify potential issues - in the same way that we would with any student. They’re treated with respect and we support them no matter what.

Sowing the seeds of success

Another challenge was getting the pedagogy right. For example, you couldn’t sit them down with a notebook for hours on end, giving a formal lecture. What we do is not like that at all. It’s muddy welly boots, wet-weather gear, getting out there, getting dirty, and then at the end of the session, talking it out and testing for the learning.

Now we’ve fine-tuned these things, the logistics of it all are quite straightforward.

Has the course been a success? In FE, we’re always talking about key performance indicators, about achievement. At Nurturing Recovery, of course we want students to achieve the qualification, but it’s not the be-all and end-all. If it was, that would be pushing some people too hard. Some of them rise to the top and they fly. But others will stumble along and take it at their own pace.

We’ve had about 200 people go through the programme, and some fall by the wayside, and that’s so tough. But a very high percentage don’t go back to their previous ways. That’s what success looks like to us - that’s how we know we’re having an impact.

For example, Barry* came to us from London, at death’s door from alcoholism. He was overweight and jaundiced. Having split up with his wife, he’d lost countless jobs and was living in a shared flat surrounded by others who were drinking and taking drugs. He’d been in and out of hospital during the past three years, and doctors said his liver was in such a state that if he carried on drinking he’d die within a year.

Barry started on a level 1 course and turned his life around. After completing it, he went on to do a level 2 in horticulture at BTC, and undertook another level 2 in the principles of plant growth and garden planning. During that time, he volunteered at the college’s walled gardens and met Flora, a floristry student. The couple now have a daughter together and he is healthy, fit and on our permanent staff at the walled gardens.

Then there are Lucy* and Sean*, who came to us at the same time. Lucy was a nurse and had been through a severe mental breakdown. Sean had serious alcohol issues. They worked through their level 1 together and are now both going to study the level 2 qualification at BTC. They’re a great example of what can be achieved when people support each other.

When you see people who have had such adverse experiences turning their lives around, it’s a fantastic justification for doing what we do. We are in talks with key people about how we could roll out the programme further, but I can’t reveal anything just yet. Watch this space.

*Names have been changed

Nigel Cox is course leader for land-based studies at Bridgwater and Taunton College

This article originally appeared in the 25 October 2019 issue under the headline “A plant-based diet of learning”