This month, This is Haslemere volunteers have been finding out more about the Green Hub.

Green Hub co-founder, Vanessa Lanham-Day, positively exudes enthusiasm as she chats to us about the Green Hub’s Project for Teens, a nature-based, mental wellbeing programme for Teenagers. 'A little bundle of loveliness' is how she proudly describes the Green Hub charity which offers social and therapeutic gardening to stressed, anxious and neuro-diverse teens. The Hub gives them the chance to experience the calming effects of nature in a safe, calm environment while learning new skills.  

The project began back in 2021 when Vanessa’s co-founder, local chiropractor Tone Tellefsen-Hughes, was looking for alternative solutions to support the escalating mental health crisis amongst local teenagers post-Covid. Tone landed on the idea of using the then derelict garden at the back of her clinic in Luck’s Yard, Milford, as the location for her new project. Enter Vanessa, who with her background in marketing and fund-raising provided the perfect partner to Tone’s clinical expertise. After a few weeks of digging and prepping, the garden was declared teen-ready and five teenagers came along to experience the calming effects of  nature while learning new gardening skills. So successful has the venture been, that nowadays around a 100 teens a year are reaping the many benefits offered by this wonderful charity.

Sessions take place on Thursdays and Saturdays lasting between 90 minutes and 2 hours. Accompanied by trained volunteers, the teens take part in a range of activities depending on their interest and mood on the day. Anything goes, be it sowing seeds, mowing, pruning, composting or digging. Craft activities are also on hand if a participant needs some quieter down-time. Vanessa stresses that learning is instrumental to all their visitors. In turn the self-esteem of these visitors is massively boosted by the new skills they’ve gained after just a few hours. And of course nothing beats seeing the seed you so carefully sowed germinate into a fully functioning, fruit-bearing plant.

The Green Hub welcomes teens aged between 11-18 years who can be referred by a parent or GP. Typical participants will be teens who are experiencing short or long-term mild to moderate anxiety and / or depression, stress-related disorders, insomnia, feelings of social isolation or loneliness, and are not benefiting from clinical medicine and drug treatment. Most will stay around 12 weeks but some can extend their time on the programme and there are even options to join the volunteers by buddying up with a new teen just starting.

Vanessa is at pains to stress that none of this fantastic work would be possible however without her army of trusty volunteers who come along to guide and support the teens in their gardening labours. No prior experience with either mental health issues or gardening is required. Just lots of positivity and enthusiasm.  'The Green Hub has attracted some incredible volunteers', says Vanessa. 'Both expert horticulturalists, and parents and professionals with teen mental health experience. It’s a powerful mix!'

At each session 3 adults pair up with 8 teens, their key aim to give their charges a good time and a feeling of belonging. Welcome breaks for hot chocolate or squash interrupt the sessions, most of which finish with a craft activity. One volunteer I spoke to enthused: 'I’ve so enjoyed volunteering with Green Hub. Everyone is so friendly and welcoming and it’s incredibly rewarding watching the teens bond together and seeing the big smiles on their faces at the end of the sessions.'

The majority of The Hub’s activities take  place at Luck’s Yard in Milford and at Hydon’s Flower Farm in Hydestile while lucky ‘graduates’ of the programme are treated to sessions at the beautiful Munstead Wood, inspired by the pioneering gardener, Gertrude Jekyll.

If you want to find out more about referring a teenager or volunteering at the Green Hub, click here.