Testimonials
Different views from two recent Nurture Project Clients
The programme meets both a learning and therapeutic need. I am currently starting out as a professional gardener so I appreciate the opportunity to learn and the input from Carlyn and Alan. I find the provision of one-to-one sessions really helpful as I struggle with group based sessions and find sharing mental health issues much easier this way - September 2024
Being part of a group is very important as sometimes I don't see many people. It is also a great place to gain some knowledge of plants. Everyone here is so friendly and there is a lovely relaxing feeling - September 2024
From Nurture Project Clients and Volunteer
"I enjoy all aspects of the programme and would find it difficult to suggest any improvements" - August 2024
It is most rewarding "working together as a team with nature in a safe space and feeling a sense of achievement. Also being able to just take in my surroundings to appreciate the sights and sounds of nature whether in the walled garden or the woods" - August 2024
"I always leave in a generally better frame of mind than I started!" - July 2024
From a recent Wellbeing in Nature event
"Thank you for a lovely day - all the good things in life: interesting women, beautiful countryside, delicious food and new things to learn. I think what you have at the Nest is fabulous."
"So inspiring and delivered in such a calm and encouraging way. I really enjoyed the mindful element early on and then the fabulous fun challenge of creating tools to experiment with in such a relaxed setting."
"The highlights for me were the silent walking, the lovely group of people, the lunch and being creative. I liked that we contribute to helping others, and I loved the environment and all the little touches like flowers on the lunch table."
"What a wonderful set up and what a wonderful workshop. All just so brilliantly run by amazing people. The lunch was delicious and it was fun meeting everyone. The foraging, tool making and the painting were all very therapeutic and refreshing. I came home feeling very happy!"
"I came home feeling inspired in so many ways but particularly by all your wonderful work at The Nuture Project. You have set up such a special place and we were all lucky enough to enjoy walking around some of it and cleverly using some of the beautiful materials we had foraged. Lucy was fantastic at teaching us to look and use natural materials in a different way."
- April 2024
From a recent Nurture Project Client
The Nurture Project offers an excellent programme. To feel nurtured while nurturing plants is a special and rare experience which I am so grateful for.
I really benefitted from:
- the familiar space which feels safe
- respite from daily life struggles with my mental health
- the gentle pace which never made me feel rushed
- seeing the seasonal change in the gardens and feeling it reflected in ourselves
- spending time in the garden observing nature (patterns, colours, smells, tiny details, wildlife, birds)
- tidying up and weeding - seeing the results of work
- the highly attentive, sensitive and patient chatter
Carlyn is an amazing facilitator with high attention to detail and accepts me whatever mood or disposition I have turned up in - March 2024
From Nurture Project Clients
It has been of great benefit to me to have had meetings with you over the past few years. You have always made me feel like a women who loves gardening and not how I feel like I am perceived by others. I hope I have had an influence on how people I have met see disability; I think this is something which is close to my heart. I wish you and the Nurture Project all the best for the future and thanks again for all of your support and great mental health and gardening knowledge - January 2024
Being able to step outside my comfort zone in a supported environment, to allow me to build resilience and independence - December 2023
Thank you. I felt very privileged to have joined the project. Andy, Carlyn and the visiting facilitators were all fantastic and played an important role in keeping things running smoothly. The project included a wide variety of soft skills and hands on activities which I never thought I would do in the middle of woodland. Keep going with these programmes and you’ll help so many people - December 2023
I feel that I have significantly improved my independence again, allowing me to leave my home and go places without so much fear - November 2023
From a Wellbeing in Nature Workshop Client
"The Nest is beautiful, calm, welcoming and perfect. Same goes for the way you set up for the course. This is a very special place. Thrilled to have made it here and hope to be back" - October 2023
From a North Norfolk Community Connector
“Wow what an amazing space The Nurture Project is offering, they have thought of everything. I know lots of people who would benefit from this space" - September 2023
From Nurture Project Clients
I feel safe at TNP and The Nest is a super calm space that Carlyn has created for us to work in, catch up with others and just have some quiet moments - July 2023
Thank you, I often feel my needs are either ignored or overlooked when I am out and about but Carlyn has really taken my comments about disability seriously and has done her level best to accommodate my disability support needs both with the barn and the new toilets - July 2023
I love the way The Nest invites the natural world in with it’s lovely big windows. Even if I can’t get outside on a miserable day I still feel as if I am being nourished by nature - May 2023
From Nurture Project Clients
"I’ve been coming to the Nurture Project for a long time now, but it is still like a lighthouse. As you know I can find the world pretty difficult to navigate at times, so a few hours respite each month is a real tonic". - February 2023
"I’ve said before, but I can’t stress how much of a support you have been, particularly recently. I felt like a boat cast adrift in a storm, and I had 4 people holding onto my ropes- my husband, you, my doctor, and my creativity coach." - March 2022
“I have got a lot out of our time together – ‘gardening and talking’ with you has definitely helped me keep my head above water, and has been a reminder of how much being in nature is essential for me” - October 2021
One of the things… “that has helped improve my mood and wellbeing has of course been coming to the Nurture Project! It has really offered hope at a dark time for me and even though I have not been for a few weeks the spirit lived on in my daily life”. - September 2021
From a Nurture Project Volunteer
“Volunteering in lockdown became more of a two-way experience than ever. I looked forward to and got so much from the weekly chats to the clients. Personally it was a really welcome break from the mundane routine of being at home and not seeing anyone.” - August 2020
From Nurture Project Clients
"Gardening with The Nurture Project helps us cope with our pain, our minds and our bodies" - October 2020
“For me it was a lifeline knowing I could talk and be heard once a week. The gardening boxes and newsletters were much appreciated and looked forward to. As everything else just stopped in lockdown the continuity of The Nurture Project kept me and my garden going and growing. Thank you heart felt.”
August 2020
From a Nurture Project Client
“The Nurture Project was a lifesaver for me during lockdown; the phone calls, delivery of plants, seeds and produce all helped me so much to remain focused, feel part of something and feel cared about in what were often very dark times for me.”
July 2020
From a Nurture Project Volunteer
" My experience as a volunteer is that the telephone support we have given our clients has really sustained them through the lockdown, a period when they have felt particularly vulnerable and anxious. They have also appreciated the varied content of the regular newsletters, which has encouraged them both to continue to garden from their own homes as well as read or listen to relevant titles.
The monthly gardening packs that Carlyn put together gave our clients something special to look forward to and enjoy. One lady said that receiving her pack was like Christmas come early!"
July 2020
From a Nurture Project Client
“It is thanks to my sessions with Carlyn at The Nurture Project that I am currently volunteering with a charity. My role involves researching and writing grant applications and I feel privileged to be making a small contribution towards helping local people who find themselves faced with financial hardship. This work is completely new to me and it is personally challenging, rewarding and enjoyable.
A year ago I could not have envisaged being able to take steps to making this positive change in my life. I am very grateful to Carlyn and her dedicated team at The Nurture Project for giving me the renewed motivation and confidence to do so.”
June 2020
From a Nurture Project Client
"Recently I was fortunate in attending sessions at The Nurture Project, from early Spring to early Autumn, where I found much comfort. Carlyn described our relationship as working alongside each other and her considered planning of the gentle-paced tasks which we carried out together ranged from seed sowing to constructing and erecting supports for plants, in advance of their growing and blooming.
My time at The Nurture Project reinforced how the creation and sustaining of gardens and of life requires knowledge, the application of skills and creativity. Being outside doing those activities which I love, in a safe and peaceful environment, provided a space in which I could be open with Carlyn about how I live with and try to manage the symptoms of a life-long, depressive illness. Carlyn brought her generosity and highly attentive, non-intrusive professionalism to every conversation. In addition to our many and varied discussions, I was lent books, we exchanged gardening experiences and tips and I always left with freshly-picked produce.
The Nurture Project is a place of contrasts, where its woodland, wildflowers, vegetable patches and borders containing spectacular specimens such as peonies and dahlias are given respectful care and value, as are animals and the human beings who participate in gardening there. I found my sessions rewarding, uplifting and enriching.
October 2019
From a Nurture Project Client
"I discovered The Nurture Project at a time when life was very difficult and hard to cope with.
The Project provided a safe space, in peaceful natural surroundings, where I didn’t need to pretend everything was alright when it really wasn’t.
Learning to grow and care for plants was a boon, relaxing, rewarding and therapeutic."
December 2018
From a Nurture Project Client
"My name is Pam and I have been suffering from mental depression for a while. My doctor did not want to increase my medication and knowing I loved doing my garden, he recommended that I gave The Nurture Project a try. At the time I thought how could this help me? After giving it some thought I decided to give it a try. My first session with Carlyn Kilpatrick, who runs the project was something I had not expected, such a lovely person, and made me feel at ease straightaway. After a chat I was shown around the many different gardens, something for everyone, which I found enjoyable and relaxing.
Carlyn is such a easy person to talk to, not only about gardening, but many other issues you might have. On one of my sessions Carlyn took me for a walk through the woods, chatting as we walked, it was so good to talk to some someone about the issues I was having and knowing that they were being understood. I have had many sessions and look forward to going. I come home feeling much more relaxed and at the same time I am learning more about my own garden. This is such a relaxing hobby to have.
The Nurture Project has helped me in many ways, coping with my depression, and at the same time, learning about my garden. I would recommend it to anyone who are having some kind of problems as I have had; it is just a relaxing place to be and to have such a caring and understanding person as Carlyn Kilpatrick."
August 2018
From a Client and a Family Member
“For a short space of time you do not have to pretend you are not well to protect the sensibilities of others, or to protect yourself from judgement dismissal or abuse. You can just be, and you can just garden” - a client
“It feels such a privilege that my brother can access The Nurture Project in an environment he feels relaxed in, and where he can grow and learn at his own pace” - Lucy
These are the reassuring words of support from people who have been close to The Nurture Project during 2017 and 2018.
