Northampton women's centre secure gardening plot for safe meetings during lockdown

A women's centre has acquired an allotment to help with the rehabilitation of their service users as lockdown measures ease.

The charity delivers community orders as an alternative to custodial sentences so the women can address their real life issues to reduce offending.

Due to lockdown restrictions, the women have been unable to visit their hub for four months, causing stress and anxiety among some who live with abusive partners.

The new allotment plot, which the charity has had for two weeks, has given the ladies a new-found place to meet up confidentially with their counsellors.

CEO Angie Kennedy said the allotment space will allow the charity to help more women get their lives back on track. "The service users and the staff are really excited about it," she said. "There's so much to do.

"During the lockdown we were doing wellbeing visits on the doorsteps of people who were frightened to go outside.

"However there's a limit to the conversations you can have. If they are in an abusive relationship they are less likely to say they are scared on their doorstep. They now have somewhere to come and talk freely without having ears around them. Working alongside someone in a garden is a lot more relaxing and they are more likely to share what has been going on."

On hand for the women at the charity is on-going support around benefits, housing, children, safety, money, debt, health and police or courts involvement.

Trained staff and volunteers work alongside specialist agencies to provide advice as well as ongoing one-to-one work and a food and clothes bank, if required.

Angie added: "How we can engage with the women has been hugely impacted by coronavirus. We have been talking to them over-the-phone and internet but there's nothing like meeting face-to-face with people.

"We started on the allotment plot last week, which allowed us to get our service users outside of their four walls and engage them in planting to improve their mental health.

"We have been clearing the way to introduce some beds for planting and we are looking to plant some winter vegetables for families to use.

"The women want to come back to the centre, which is a safe haven but we can't because of space so we can now actively do things with them outside."