Two people working in a garden

Bridewell Gardens logoBridewell is a mental health recovery service providing social and therapeutic horticulture in a working garden to adults living in Oxfordshire. Their goal is to help people into jobs or voluntary roles out in the wider community.

Bridewell Garden’s Step Change project was to transform the garden’s infrastructure, growing capacity by increasing staff time and funds available for our core activities. The charity can now focus on its primary purpose – providing a mental health recovery service for people whose lives have been affected by serious mental health problems, helping people transform their lives by re-engaging in their community, and taking steps towards training, volunteering and employment.

Thanks to the Step Change Fund, Bridewell Gardens now has off-grid solar electricity, a refitted kitchen, re-roofed workshops and a garden office allowing the whole team to be based on site with access to essential IT.

CEO Ruth Madder says: “The Step Change Fund has transformed how we can work, enabling closer working relationships with other agencies, saving travel and administrative time, releasing funds to support staff training, and allowing us to increase the number of people we can support.”

“The Step Change Fund has transformed how we can work, enabling closer working relationships with other agencies, saving travel and administrative time, releasing funds to support staff training, and allowing us to increase the number of people we can support.”

Ruth Madder, CEO, Bridewell Organic Gardens