With support from The Pixel Fund and several other charitable trusts and foundations, we are pleased to be able to continue providing supported work experience placements at Martineau Gardens for young people with a range of support needs. These young people are aged between 16 and 25, and their developmental differences, or exclusion from mainstream education, mean that they are often denied access to traditional work experience. They work alongside the adults who attend our main Therapeutic Horticulture programme to help nurture our wonderful gardens, and they benefit from working in a community in a peaceful space.
Through the placements, the young people build skills, working from their own baseline. They have opportunities to interact with people beyond their usual peer group and experience the living world in our gardens, something that would otherwise be very difficult for their families and schools to provide. The students improve in confidence, become more independent and learn useful skills - not just in horticulture/gardening, but also working as part of a team and following instructions.
We would like to thank the Trustees of the Pixel Fund for their support to us in providing this vital service, which is greatly under-provided in Birmingham.