Lloyds Bank gets green fingered at Callington Road

A team of volunteers from Lloyds Bank visited Callington Road Hospital recently to improve the garden at the Alder Unit, which is part of Bristol Mental Health's Inpatient Services.

"We all got a huge amount out of helping to get the garden into shape and learning about support services for people impacted by mental health issues in Bristol," says Chris Davies, Senior Manager Strategic Planning at Lloyds.

The team of ten spent a day alongside a worker from mental health charity Rethink, making a new raised bed, building two compost bins and painting a garden shed to make it look like a beach hut!

Lloyds worked with Rethink to organise the volunteering day as part of the bank's Day to Make a Difference Scheme, through which the organisation encourages employees to spend at least a day a year volunteering in the community. As part of its Helping Britain Prosper Plan, the bank has committed to delivering 2.3 million hours of volunteering to support community projects throughout the UK by 2020.

Rethink has been working on the garden at the Alder Unit since 2013, making it a relaxed space where carers with loved ones using Inpatient Services can visit and garden or meet other carers.

"We had a great day with Chris and the volunteers from Lloyds, and now we can get on with planting in the raised bed they made and wait for the new raspberries to fruit," says Karen Allen, Rethink's Carers Outreach Worker.

Rethink's Carers Gardening Club meets on the first Wednesday of every month, 2pm-4pm at the Alder Unit. If you're a carer and would like to join, please contact Karen on 0117 903 1803 or at [email protected].