Headway visits tree nursery at Poole Farm
On a wet and windy winter morning, the Green Communities team joined up with Plymouth and South Devon Community Forest and Poole Farm to host a tree nursery session with clients from local charity, Headway.
Headway Plymouth is located in Devonport Park and its mission is to support people with an acquired brain injury. They help and support their clients to live independently and provide a welcoming space for people to socialise.
The Headway team joined the PCC teams for a tour of Poole Farm, with highlights including the pig enclosure and the veg garden (along with the ducks, of course!). The main reason for the trip, though, was for the Headway team and clients to see the tree nursery, as very soon they’ll be providing a home for some of those trees on their own site in Devonport...
This project began when Green Communities and Headway started working together in early 2024. Their CEO, Craig Butler, reached out to the team to explore how we could work together to improve the area around their site for nature and their clients.
The relationship between Green Communities and Headway blossomed as we ran multiple Nature Connection sessions with their clients, offering activities like insect sweeping, seed collecting, and creating a compost system for food waste. They were so inspired that they commissioned a local mural artist to design the outside of the Headway building. The design included the Lady-Autumn Tresses orchid and the Long Tailed Blue Butterfly, both rare species that can be found in the nearby Mount Wise Park!
An opportunity came around at the beginning of last year for Headway to apply for the Plymouth and South Devon Community Forest Trees for Climate Grant. The Green Communities team worked with Craig and Headway client to help design an accessible planting scheme and pull together the application. Headway was thrilled to secure the grant, and work is now in progress to plant fruit trees in the surrounding area, to be enjoyed by people and wildlife alike! We’re looking forward to watching the trees bloom and grow in their new home in Devonport.
