Thrive (charity)
Thrive (registered in the UK as The Society for Horticultural Therapy) is a national charity, founded in 1978 by Chris Underhill.
It is the UK's leading charity in the field of Social and Therapeutic Horticulture (STH) which sits under the wider umbrella of green care.
Thrive uses gardening to bring about positive changes in the lives of people living with disabilities or ill health, or who are isolated, disadvantaged or vulnerable.
Thrive helps people who want to garden at home, on an allotment, in a community setting or who may to access its structured horticultural therapy programmes currently available at Beech Hill (Reading), Battersea Park (London), Kings Heath Park (Birmingham) and Saltwell Park (Gateshead).
A research programme underpins Thrive’s work to provide evidence and improve understanding and the charity runs professional training courses from taster days to a Diplomna.
This is known as social and therapeutic horticulture - the process of working with plants to improve physical and psychological health, and communication and thinking skills.
It is also uses the garden as a safe and secure environment in which to develop an individual’s ability to socialise, make friends, and gain practical skills that make them more independent and self-reliant.
Using gardening tasks and the environment Thrive horticultural therapists build a set of activities for each gardener aimed at improving their health and wellbeing and achieving particular goals identified by the gardener themselves or by their family, support workers or carers.
Gardens offer the peace and tranquility needed for rehabilitation and recovery. And, being given the opportunity to develop an interest in gardening will give benefits that can last a life time.
Gardening can help individuals accomplish many things. It can help rebuild a person’s strength after an accident or illness, and can provide a purposeful activity for someone coping with a difficult period in their life. It can lift moods and help people to connect with others, reducing isolation by forming friendships and improve communications skills.
References
http://www.thrive.org.uk/about-thrive.aspx