Levengrove Horticulture Project which was started in 2009 provides accessible acreage with greenhouses, poly-tunnels, raised beds, groundworks and a training room.

The project is a partnership between the WD CHCP, HEEDS, Greenspace and WD Education Services. Tam Hall, Work Connect, the Gardening Employment Support Worker is on site five days a week to offer guidance and assistance and he also runs an in house training programme. This valuable resource offers not only training and meaningful activity it also offers social interaction and the basis for moving into further training or employment in the horticulture field. The core ethos is around individuals using their abilities, learning skills, being productive, and helping each other.

The Gardening Employment Support worker supports 4 volunteer assistant gardeners plus 1 admin volunteer from Work Connect who help him with the daily upkeep and smooth running of the site. At the moment there are 11 plots in use by various groups leaving four available for development. In a typical week there are 52 people consistently using the facilities with this increasing to 85 on average when the weather is good. Future plans include refurbishing outbuildings to provide wet weather facilities, a sensory garden, an orchard, an orchard garden and develop peer support volunteers.

Some of the project users (plotters) have said that the benefits they have felt are enjoying being outdoors, socialising and the satisfaction of seeing something grown from seed to harvest and then eating it.

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