Mortgage Advice Bureau Foundation has provided £2,000 of match funding
Sydenham Garden - reaching more people!
London, Greater London, United Kingdom
Aim
We need your support to enable us to run more therapeutic groups and help more people facing mental health challenges and dementia.
Sydenham Garden provides therapeutic gardening and and arts and crafts groups for people with mental health difficulties and dementia - in the beautiful setting of a nature reserve and community food growing site. It is a source of peace and joy, a real sanctuary when people are going through tough times.
The waiting list for Sydenham Garden's therapeutic groups is growing. But we can't meet this growing need without also growing our capacity and running more groups!
We need your help to make this happen!
To understand how our work makes a difference please see the story below.
Katie’s Story
Leaving hospital is hard. Really hard. It can feel like you’re leaving with nothing more than a bag of medication and barely able to look after yourself. The world seems enormous, empty and scary. How do you even begin to rebuild your life?
When I got home I felt as though there was nothing for me, I really did. Empty day after empty day stretched out ahead of me. Luckily for me I had an amazing Occupational Therapist who ferried me around the various groups, art sessions, walking groups, fitness memberships and, most importantly, to Sydenham Garden!
My first impression was the space, such a little green paradise you’d never know was randomly slap bang in Sydenham. I met Rachael who was so friendly and welcoming. I was feeling really vulnerable, still trying settle into being at home, but I felt very quickly that Sydenham Garden was a place to feel safe in. I was so pleasantly surprised with the group! Jo and the volunteers – Clare, Hannah and Barbara were so friendly and welcoming. I liked the idea of name badges every week. Removing the pressure of remembering names actually took a huge weight off that I hadn’t even realised was there!
We did such a variety of crafts and making, things I’ve never tried before were such good fun. I loved being taught new processes and everything was always explained and demonstrated really well. It was also great seeing other people’s pieces, so inspiring to see all the creativity in the room.
For quite a lot of my time at Sydenham Garden I was rather unwell. Sometimes I was barely holding on. Through all of this Sydenham Garden was a lifesaver. I mean that completely literally.
It was a rare glimpse of purpose, fun and sparks of enjoyment that were few and far between — one of very few spaces I felt some respite and safety. No matter how horrible things were, how scary and overwhelming the illness could be, Sydenham Garden was simply amazing.
Last year:
- 100% of co-workers reported receiving the service they wanted.
- 97% of co-workers reported an increase in confidence to advocate for themselves.
- 94% of co-workers reported increased engagement with physical activity.
- 95% of co-workers reported increased confidence in health management.
- 100% of co-workers reported having met more people.
- 95% of co-workers reported having more fulfilling relationships.
- 90% of co-workers reported increased contentment with life.
- 97% of co-workers reported increased access to information.
- 51% of co-workers reported involvement in volunteering.
- 91% of volunteers reported having met more people.
- 91% of volunteers reported increased contentment with life.
- 82% of volunteers reported improved skills as a result of their volunteering.
You can help make this kind of support available to more people. Please help!
This project successfully funded on 27th March 2026