Growing Ability at the Triangle Garden Hitchin

Want to get out into nature and learn about growing food and gardening? Get active and improve your fitness and stamina? Build your confidence? Socialise with new people and do things together?

Growing Ability offers social therapeutic horticulture sessions for adults with learning disabilities and mental ill health, at our beautiful growing plots and community garden in Hitchin, just over the border in Hertfordshire. On our website you'll find a short film about Growing Ability called “Come and Try!” which tells you all about what we do and what our 'gardeners' (the people who attend) think of the project.

If you join Growing Ability as a ‘gardener’ you’ll be taking part in meaningful activities and skills training in horticulture, nature conservation, healthy living, cooking and food prep, nature-based art and crafts/woodwork.

Everyone at Growing Ability is involved in making plans for what we do at the project, from small decisions like how long we will walk each day, to big ideas like getting a polytunnel and deciding what to grow in it. Our quarterly reviews with gardeners, staff and volunteers help to inform how our organisation develops.

At Growing Ability it’s a lot more than gardening. As well as learning new skills, we like to have fun – we celebrate birthdays, we enjoy doing art, we explore new taste experiences, we go on visits to places like Cambridge Botanical Gardens and we help run community events like Hitchin Apple Day and our Summer Garden Party. Come and try!

Our sessions are 2.5 hours long and run on Tuesday mornings 9.30-12, Wednesday afternoons 12.30-3pm and Thursday morning and afternoon (same times). We work in small groups of 6-8 people depending on support need, staffed by two care professionals and a volunteer. Our staff to client ratio is never less than 1:4 and often 1:3 or 1:2 depending on support need. If 1:1 support is required we may be able to provide this, or you can bring your own support worker. Please contact us to set up a free taster session.