The Lambeth Collaborative has been working innovatively to reshape mental health services in the borough for the past few years. As part of this vision it meets monthly for breakfast and recently members were on Loughborough Farm sampling the fruits of the farm’s labour and hearing from volunteer Zeenat how the farm has helped her well being.

“It’s great to see enthusiastic people taking a derelict patch of land and making it into something that gives back not just good food and a better environment , but a place where people can meet their neighbours and work together,” said the Collaborative’s Bill Tidnam, Director of Housing And Community Support at Thames Reach.

“It was a pleasure to breakfast at Loughborough Farm,” added Sarah Corlett from Lambeth & Southwark’s Public Health Team “what a lovely little triangle of creativity and growth. It was the first time I have had salad at that hour of the morning but it was delicious as was the courgette cake. Hearing about the project, including directly from someone who was volunteering really showed how a gardening project builds communities and improves wellbeing.”

GP Ray Walsh, a member of the Clinical Commissioning Board whose practice is part of the Lambeth Food Co-op said the farm is a “great example of developing community resilience through a non “service” model. Connecting people through shared activities where each person can make a valuable contribution and regarded as an asset is the basis of developing a community.”

Photo: Anthea Masey

Karen Hooper