Over the past year, we’ve embraced a community-based approach to get to know customers better, listen to feedback and establish regular events.

We’ve discovered that many customers are actively engaged with their communities, and one passion that’s bringing people together is gardening.

Gardening not only helps you to connect with nature but also plays a key role in boosting your wellbeing. This has been the case for our customer, John, who has gone above and beyond to help others with their gardens.

Initially, gardening wasn’t something John had an interest in when he was younger. But once he started working on his own garden and community gardens, he realised the profound impact it could have on both his physical and mental wellbeing.

“I never thought I’d get into gardening, but it’s kept me going,” he says. “It’s helped me physically and mentally. I don’t know a lot about it, but I get satisfaction from doing it.”

“When my wife was ill with cancer, it was a way to cope. Even the doctor encouraged me to keep it up. He said, ‘You’ve got a lovely garden; promise me you’ll keep it up. Once you’re outside, you’re using every muscle in your body to keep active.”

“When we moved into our house, our garden was a state but after a couple of years I managed to transform it.”

Inspiring others

As part of John’s efforts to encourage others to get involved in gardening, he’s been growing plants with the intention of sharing them. He takes cuttings from the plants he grows, offering them to others so they can plant them in their gardens. It’s a simple, yet powerful way to inspire others to get into gardening.

Years ago, John was part of a gardening club on his estate. Members would come together, share their gardening experiences, plant vegetables and even exchange pots and plants. The club also organised trips to local garden centres, where members could learn valuable gardening tips from the staff.

“We even used to cook the produce that we grew and share it with our neighbours. When I started the gardening club, there were a lot of things I didn’t know but I picked up little tips and tricks from other members.”

…And in the 2000s he won a Leeds in Bloom silver medal to acknowledge his gardening efforts.

A safe space for nature

For John, gardening has become more than just a hobby. Since transforming his garden, he’s noticed that it’s become a safe space for nature where butterflies, bees and wasps thrive. He even gets special visits from hedgehogs.

“The bees like to come and pollinate my tomato plants. They say you can pollinate them yourself, but I like leaving it for the bees.”

Tips for beginners

For those new to gardening and unsure where to begin, John offers some helpful tips to get you started.

• Do your research – you could chat with another gardener, watch a gardening show or read a gardening magazine to pick up tips.
• Get to know your garden – if you’re planting outdoors, find out where the sunny parts of your garden are so you know what to plant where. You might also want to do a soil test to find out what type of soil you have.
• Start off small – potatoes and cabbages are easy vegetables to get started with. With potatoes, you can just start with one and grow many more from that.

Community-based approach

Through our community-based approach, we want to celebrate more of the wonderful things that are happening locally and hear more about what you and your neighbours do to bring people together.

Over the year we’ll be looking at more ways we can get neighbours involved in community projects like gardening. You can explore all of our projects and community-based approach pages that you can get involved with on Your Voice.