At The Red Shed, we believe in making our garden a placed shaped by the people who use it. Our Stakeholders – participants, carers, volunteers, workshop leaders, trustees and supporters – all have a voice in deciding what happens here. We encourage everyone to get involved, from choosing new garden features to sharing feedback on what makes our space more welcoming and accessible. A recent example of this is our Herb Garden; we proposed adding something new to an area of the garden and our stakeholders came together with ideas and went on to make a vote… with the Herb Garden being the winner! Now it is a vibrant part of The Red Shed, offering scents, textures and taste that we can all enjoy. The transformation was a team effort from all of our stakeholders which shows how every voice can help make The Red Shed a community for everyone.
At The Red Shed, we’ve always been dedicated to creating meaningful, garden-based activities for those living with dementia, but our commitment to wellbeing extends well beyond the garden gate! We have been thrilled to share our latest partnership with Stevenage FC Foundation on an exciting new initiative – Boro Bygones.
This is a reminiscence programme designed to enrich the lives of those living with dementia, funded by the Hertfordshire Sport and Physical Activity Partnership with support from the University of Hertfordshire. The programme has been a great success in bringing many folk together to engage in a unique and stimulating experience.
Hosted at The Red Shed, the sessions are a treasure trove of Stevenage FC memorabilia and unforgettable moments to spark memories and stimulate senses. From past football shirts to tales from the world cup and Olympic sports, Boro Bygones has taken folk on a journey through the decades rekindling fond memories and creating new connections. To add a bit of fitness and fun every session ends with a friendly game of walking football ensuring that physical activity remains a key component of the programme.
While The Red Shed remains rooted in its origins as a garden programme, Boro Bygones exemplifies our ongoing commitment to being an active part of the broader community. We are very proud and have thoroughly enjoyed working alongside Stevenage FC Foundation to bring this programme to life – we’ll look forward to letting you know more about our collaborations and the many ways we’re continuing to grow our community impact, both in the garden and beyond.
So proud to see our article printed in the latest addition of the Jounal of Dementia Care ! It’s about the impact measurement tool we have designed using the 5 Ways to Wellbeing. We worked with researcher Elspeth Mathie and colleagues from the University of Hertfordshire to put it together.
Check out the Journal on line or read the full article below…….
Following the success of last years event, our recent Open Garden 2024 was another testament to the vibrant community and transformative work we do here at The Red Shed. Blessed with a beautiful day of sunshine, the garden was in full bloom providing a beautiful backdrop for the days festivities. We welcomed along Deputy Lord Lituenant, Lady Martha Lytton Cobbold along with our Mayor Jim Brown. Also joining us for the afternoon were funders, local counsellors, partners, service users and of cause our team of wonderful staff, volunteers and trustees with their families and friends in tow.
We showcased a wonderful exhibition on Stevenage’s famous Clarence Elliot, a British horticulturalist from the early 1900’s, along with having Development Officer Joel Gainsford from Stevenage Borough Council, who delivered a fascinating talk about the amazing work of the Green Spaces Team. Our Garden tour was in full swing and the perfect opportunity to show off our beautiful accessible space and demonstrate the profound benefits that our garden clubs offer to the lives of those living with dementia.
It truly is delightful for us to stand back and witness the joy and engagement our garden brings to the local community. Thank you to everyone who attended and supported our event – your involvement is what makes our garden not just a place of beauty, but a vibrant community of care and compassion.
Here at The Red Shed we have encountered many misconceptions about the abilities of those living with dementia.
“What’s the point of a garden club if they have dementia? They can’t do a lot, and will they remember what they have done?”
This question reflects very quickly a negative assumption around dementia and instantly overlooks the profound benefits and possibilities that not only our garden club can offer, but also what our folk are able to achieve in their day-to-day life. It is essential to recognise that people living with dementia are capable of a lot more than what you might initially think, and The Red Shed’s aim is to tap into those abilities by providing a supporting and stimulating environment to engage them in meaningful activities.
People living with dementia often retain a variety of skills that they can continue to use in their daily lives bringing joy and purpose to their routines. For instance, one of our gardeners has a passion for art. She frequently spends time in the garden showcasing her amazing artistic abilities through drawings and paintings that are inspired by the garden. We have some folk attend who are more mobile and handy, they often want to use skills to repair or construct, using tools and materials from the garden; we recently had some help build wooden platners for use in the garden.
Our Garden Clubs are great for promoting physical activity – Simple tasks such as planting seeds, watering plants and weeding keep our folk physically active, which is crucial for maintaining mobility and overall health. Physical activity as we know is also great for improving mood and reducing symptoms of anxiety.
The Red Shed is full of sensory experiences – The sight of colourful flowers, the smell of fresh herbs, the feel of soil and the sound of the birds… these sensory experiences can trigger positive memories and emotions, providing comfort and joy in the lives of our folk.
We encourage the skill of social interaction – our garden clubs are all about community and our folk work together on projects, share stories, listen and enjoy each other’s company. Social interaction is vital for mental health, to help combat feelings of isolation and loneliness that are common among those living with dementia and their carers.
Did you also know that gardening activities are great for stimulating and enhancing cognitive function. Following instructions, planning, recalling plant names – these are all exercises that keep the mind active. Whilst some participants may not remember every detail of what they have done, the process of engaging in these activities is beneficial in itself.
Most importantly, our core belief is helping our folk living with dementia showcase what it is they can do in the garden and enjoy themselves in the process. The joy of seeing a flower bloom, the pride in harvesting a vegetable and the pleasure of spending time outdoors are moments of happiness that significantly contribute to overall wellbeing.
We like to think that The Red Shed’s is a testament to the fact that people living with dementia can still lead fulfilling, meaningful lives. By focusing more on what folk can do and enjoy, we help them, and their carers experience the positive impact of nature and the community.
This month we have had the privilage of being nominated as a Charity for the year for Toulouse Womens International Group aka TWIG.
Toulouse Women’s International Group (TWIG) aims to provide a diverse range of social, cultural, and sporting activities for its members of women living in and around Toulouse. They run several regular activities from Gardening to Creative Writing and through these groups foster friendships and support for members.
They raise money – particularly at their annual Christmas Fair – and donate to 3 different Charities each year. The Charities can be based in France or the UK.
Dementia affects people world wide and France has a similar statistics to the UK. During our presentation at the TWIG AGM, many hands were raised when the question was asked – ‘how many of you know someone who has dementia?’. Having lived experience of the disease was a major factor for the amount of votes The Red Shed received. Our Garden Clubs and Carers Cafe are always recognised as valuable servcies but it was also our commitment to research that spoke to some of the members. One person told us that hearing about the research meant that work was being done that may have positive effects in the future as well as our day to day provision.
So – The Red Shed has gone international! What an exciting connection to make!
Just as a footnote – we were nominated by a family member of one of our team. They live in Toulouse and are a member of TWIG. The chance for our CEO to present in person at the AGM was fitted into a weekend trip to catchup with family and relax in some French Spring sunshine!
We have been very lucky at The Red Shed to include an asylum seeker in our volunteer team. Maha came from Sudan where she was a teacher. She travelled to the UK and while she was waiting for her application for residency, she wanted to use her time and skills to help the local community.
Her time at The Red Shed has been interesting and valuable for us all. Carrying out her role as a volunteer was easy but going through the process of getting a DBS check was much more complex. Our volunteer co-ordinator took on the issue and worked with another volunteer from Garden House Hospice to produce a really useful document on getting through the knotty issues the system throws up.
We have shared this tool with the North Herts Centre for Volunteers and hope that it will help other organisations to feel more confident about using the amazing resource that asylum seekers and refugees can offer.
If you want to take a look, use the following link……
January is a quiet time in the garden but it is a time of planning and looking to the future –
We have made a list of events we would like to run this year, including a Quiz Night, Open Gardens, Plant Sale and Summer Picnic
We have made new plans for our garden – paint our storage shed, create a tea pot tree (who wouldn’t!!), move our herb bed and grow the biggest pumpkins yet!!
We will continue to provide our 4 Garden Clubs benefiting as many people as we can who’s lives are affected by dementia. Our Carer’s Cafe, Dementia Involvement Group and our Friendship group will all carry on and develope as we go.
We also are planning to look for a 2nd garden – some in Hertfordshire we hope, employ a new Project Manager and……well that is all probably enough for one year.
How exciting!
We’d better get to work…………
Through December we have run Craft goups for Red Shedders, their families and our Friends at the Irish Network. We also had a get together for our volunteer team to say a BIG thankyou for their hard work commitment and support this year.
Then we finished the year with our Christmas party! Always a great way to celebrate what we have all acheived this year and look forward to what we will get up to next year!
HAPPY AND HEALTHY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!!
THANK YOU FOR YOUR AMAZING SUPPORT FOR ALL THE WORK AT THE RED SHED !!
This year we have been having a great time working with the Stevenage Mayor as one of her chosen charities. We have been raising money, raising our profile along with that of all the dementia services in the town…but most excitingly of all we have played a big part in helping the town to get it’s Dementia Friendly accreditation from the Alzheimers Society. This is a great acololade and highlights how Stevenage is embracing the needs of those who are affected by Dementia.
We were really proud to have a team from The Red Shed to join the Mayor and celebrate the acheivement.
Back row left to right – Tim, who lives with dementia, Kayleigh our administrator and Ian, one of our Trustees
Front row left to right – Ann, member of our research group and Tim’s wife and carer , Norma one of the original Red Shedders! Myla the Mayor and Maha, one of our amazing volunteers.
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