A fascinating talk by Nick Truman from The Growing Space...

The School Charity of the Year for 2022/23 has been The Growing Space, a Wincanton-based charity focused on supporting people of all ages with mental health difficulties. In the light of this we were delighted to welcome Nick Truman, who helps to run the charity, to speak at the whole school assembly on Monday morning.

Nick outlined the work of the charity, which uses gardening activities to help improve happiness, confidence and health in those who attend. Gardening has been shown to help offer relief from the stresses of people’s lives, whilst increasing their confidence and self-worth. Through the charity activities, participants also discover new friendships, routines and techniques for tackling the triggers of their anxiety or depression, whilst also allowing them access to a range of trained support services. Nick gave some particular examples of how individuals had their lives transformed by the charity. This was useful for the pupils to hear, especially after such a successful Mental Health Awareness Week. Nick offered the opportunity to the pupils to get involved in work experience, and he was grateful to all pupils and staff at King’s for their hard work raising money for The Growing Space. Whilst also gaining an understanding of the work of the charity, it was interesting for the pupils to hear about Nick’s career path, with a background in psychology developing into a specific interest and work in agri-therapy and horticultural therapy. 

So far the School has raised well over £2000 for Growing Space. With further events to come, it is hoped that far more can be raised to help this invaluable work, which is improving the lives of so many individuals in the area.

Will Daws - Deputy Head, Sixth Form