Life Changers is a free, four month gardening programme for those living with a life-changing illness or injury to enable them to improve their health and wellbeing.

Whether recovering from a stroke, cancer or surgery, or living with a long term condition like diabetes, multiple sclerosis or Long Covid, people experiencing a life-changing health condition can experience the joy of gardening, build new friendships and increase social networks and build confidence to regain or maintain an active, healthy and independent life.

Our weekly sessions will be tailored to individual needs through gentle gardening to help improve health and wellbeing. Alongside each individual, the horticultural practitioner builds a set of gardening activities for each client gardener to improve their general health and wellbeing, and to work towards particular goals identified by the gardener, such as increasing stamina, mobility and balance, improving fine motor skills, increasing memory and information retention or strengthening muscles.

We provide specially adapted tools and equipment, along with access to glasshouses and table-top gardening ensuring accessibility for all. Examples of activities include seed sowing, planting bulbs, pruning, weeding, and making hanging baskets. No prior gardening experience is required.

• Tuesdays, 10:30am–3.30pm at our gardens in Beech Hill, Reading RG7 2AT
• For more information and to book, telephone 0118 988 4844 or email Trunkwell@thrive.org.uk or look on our website.