Stories

Volunteers Stories

We have a group of volunteer volunteers that help in each session. Volunteers in GTL are the backbone of the charity supporting our participants in the people support role, art and gardening activity facilitator. We are so proud of our volunteers and thankful of their dedication helping the community grow. Below is a note from one of our participants.
”Deciding to volunteer at Growing Together Levenshulme is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I feel lucky that the team and participants at GTL let me join them once a week to work on different creative projects. We’ve recently finished a banner that was displayed at Salford University for Refugee Week and we’re currently making murals on the kitchen building. All of the participants are having a go whether they feel confident making art or not, and this is one of ways that they’re making the environment their own. I know that our participants must be dealing with a lot of challenges, which our People Support volunteers and staff help them with. But what I see most weeks is a lot of joy; joy at being together, working together, making decisions for the garden, building and arts projects, planning trips, random singing, joy at a bed full of flowers or tomatoes or at seeing the newts in the pond. Unlike some other circumstances in their lives, our participants choose to come to the garden, and it shows.”
Fran
Volunteer
It's very rewarding being part of the volunteer team at GTL. Whether or not you are involved in the gardening itself, it gets you out into all weathers and exposes you to the seasonal cycle of preparing, planting and harvesting, which can be a privilege for the city dweller! Some of the participants travel a long way to be able to have that experience every week, and to be part of the welcoming, multilingual community which is fostered at GTL. The People Support team, which I am part of, tries to provide advice and practical help to make people’s lives a fraction less gruelling and bewildering. The ethos of care at this well-run project leads to all kinds of flourishing in this fertile corner of Levenshulme.
Hannah
Volunteer
I really value my time in the garden. The time I spend there is therapeutic for me, and it means a lot to share that with such a diverse group of people. The community at GTL is beautifully diverse and I couldn't find on like it anywhere else.
Nel
Volunteer

Participants Stories

“Garden feels like a second home. Helps with mental health”
Participant
"The GTL continuously helped us with different things from 2022 until today. The GTL is helping us with our HO meetings and our daughter's school admission, our housing and all other aspects of life. GTL is like our backbone. Thank you GTL”
Participant
“For me it is like first family”
Participant
“GTL is like first family. When I heard about my case approval the first people I called was GTL”
Participant
Meals provided
0 +
Participants per year
0 +
Volunteers
0 +