Rick has been volunteering on Art Gene’s allotment in Barrow for around ten weeks. He was referred to the project through social prescribing. The allotment has definitely helped Rick to make social connections – in the first week he discovered that one of his fellow volunteers was a cousin he hadn’t seen for fifty years! Rick has experienced a friendly welcome on the allotment, he says that everybody has been very kind and made me feel welcome. We all club together and help people out. Everybody’s really friendly, no matter what background you come from. Rick intends to keep volunteering for as long as possible. It has made a real difference to him that Helping Hands has supported his volunteering by providing work boots and a stool, so that he can still do the weeding despite living with rheumatic pain in his knees.
Rick
