Big Society award winning gardening scheme helps older people stay in their homes and enjoy their gardens

Older people who love their gardens in Staffordshire but are no longer able to maintain them, are receiving help from local disabled people in a social enterprise which is the latest winner of the Prime Minister’s Big Society Awards.

Cherry Orchard Gardening Service, (COGS) provides training, support and employment for local people with learning disabilities to become competent gardeners. They then use their skills to maintain the gardens of vulnerable isolated older residents.

The service has supported 300 older people in the past four years, with many saying that the work of COGS has enabled them to continue to live at home.

COGS has 24 people with learning disabilities each year benefiting from its services and reports show an improvement in their health and an increase in their self-esteem, as well as ensuring that older people can still enjoy their garden and feel positive about their local areas.

Congratulating COGS on the award, the Prime Minister said: “I would like to congratulate all those involved with the Cherry Orchard Gardening Service who have made such a difference to their local area.

"Their work has enabled both disabled people to find work and also elderly residents to feel more secure in their neighbourhood. This is an innovative way for one part of the local community to help another.

“Winning this Big Society Award shows what can be achieved when people come together. It’s fantastic for community spirit and social cohesion and I wish this excellent initiative all the best for the future.”

Accepting the award, Ian Wells, COGS project co-ordinator, said: “When the Cherry Orchard Gardening Service started out following the wishes of the learning disabled gardeners, nobody could have predicted the welcome they would receive by the community.

"Nor could we have predicted the level of demand or the benefit our work would have for the well-being of the older people wishing to stay in their own homes.”

Colin Burnyeat, a gardener in the COGS Team, said: “I like working in gardens with my mates at the Cherry Orchard Gardening Service, having a job, getting paid, laughing, meeting people and learning about new things, making a difference and it makes me feel good.”

For more information on COGS, visit: http://www.cogsprepareforlife.org.uk/home