Local mental health charity restarts some face to face services – including its ‘Place to Grow’ allotment group

A local mental health and wellbeing charity has started re-opening some of its face-to-face services.

Advance Brighter Futures (ABF) has been supporting people in the Wrexham area for over 25 years and since the Covid-19 pandemic has had to adjust to offering online support, with all its face-to-face services stopping in March.

Now the charity is slowly reintroducing its people facing services, and restarting the allotment group, called A Place To Grow, in mid-August was the first part of this.

A Place To Grow is made up of people who get referred to ABF by the Community Mental Health Team. They meet weekly on Wednesday’s (10am-12pm) at Erddig Allotment (Hollow/Thomas Fields) on Erddig Road, with the sessions providing valuable social contact to support with the wellbeing of those who’ve attended the group.

Lorrisa Roberts, ABF Chief Officer, said: “Whilst our online support services have been received incredibly well, there was a proportion of people who told us that they had badly missed the face-to-face support we offer.

“Whether it’s a need to get away from the confines of their homes, or a lack of confidence using technology, reopening the building and resuming our services is vital for these people.”

Resuming the allotment group was no easy task, with staff attending the allotment after lockdown described it as “like a jungle”.

Gareth Bilton, engagement officer, said: “We had to clear the pathways before restarting, which were a hazard and would have prevented us from resuming our allotment group.

“There’s still a lot more clearing to be done, and that’s going to be our focus for the time being, but it’s entirely up to the people in the allotment group how they want to use the session.

“Some prefer to come along to sit and relax in our open seating area, whilst still being involved in our community. There’s plenty of research which shows how being around nature benefits mental health and wellbeing.

“The community aspect is really the most important part in all of this. We have a great community of staff, volunteers and local people who make the group work so well.”

ABF’s walking group has also now resumed, starting from Thursday 3rd September (11am-1pm), although it will eventually move back to taking place on Mondays.

The circular walk through Erddig begins and ends at the ABF building on Belmont Rd.

If you would be interested in volunteering to help with the allotment or walking groups, please call ABF on 01978 364777 or email [email protected] for an informal chat.

If you think you would benefit from any of our groups you can ask to be referred to Advance Brighter Futures by the Community Mental Health Team.