Creating community through food and fellowship
Meet the Volunteers
Carl Duffy came to us after ten years of unemployment and an ongoing struggle with mental health challenges. Volunteering with our Growing in Harmony project has given him a much needed boost and improved his wellbeing and plans for the future.
Since this video was recorded, Carl has found work with the help of a reference from us and continues to thrive.
Phil has been a volunteer with us for many years and helped us on our old site at Beechwood before moving with us to our current site at Kirkleatham. He has been a big help with many of the construction projects on the sites and in supporting the volunteers
Chloe is one of our younger volunteers and joined the team in the summer of 2020. She is now back at college and returns to work with us during the school holidays. Chloe has done some extensive research around propagating plants and has grown may herbs, vegetables and houseplants from scraps in the kitchen, as she demonstrated in one of our videos for the 2020 digital festival of thrift.
Zoe has been volunteering with us for a few months now. She already had some knowledge of horticulture and since joining us she has developed a love of composting and of the organic methods that we use here. Zoe is becoming increasingly skilled and confident in the garden and is often a great support to our newer volunteers. Like Chloe she also contributed a video as part of our offering for the 2020 digital festival of thrift.
Tim is working towards a career in horticulture and came to us as a step towards his goal. He has a lifelong interest in nature and how we can live more in harmony with the natural world so he was a great fit for our team. He now works for Redcar Council's countryside team, whose offices are alongside our project here at Growing in Harmony.
Sam is the first of our Harmony Hub volunteers to take part in a video. He joined us a few years ago when he was going through a difficult time. He became an integral part of our meet and eat group, learning to cook and sharing meals with the rest of the group. As his confidence has grown Sam has become a supportive volunteer, helping out others in need and doing many vital jobs for the service.
Scarlett is an aspiring botanist who joined us in order to gain experience of caring for plants in preparation for her future career. Since volunteering with us she has been inspired to grow peas, rocket, sunflowers and much more in her garden at home. She has also supported us with plant swaps.