On The Plot – Summer 2023

We’re proud to have offered another 12 sessions of On The Plot this year, for people living with Dementia and their carers.

Man and woman laughing and looking to camera whilst standing outside at a community allotment. Man is holding a potato and a trowel.

DWB’s Jo-Anne van Levesley and a number of our brilliant volunteers ran the sessions, which provide opportunities and support for people with Dementia and their families to get involved at Darnall Allotment Project, in all sorts of different ways. It is a community plot at Infield Lane allotment site,  maintained and run by Darnall Allotment Project members, along with grower, Sarah Emberson.

On The Plot sessions this year included opportunities to work with clay, paint and many other mediums. The intense weather affected three sessions by taking us indoors, and even led to one cancellation – but the newly built shelter at the plot provided some very timely cover from a lot of the rain.

a man and woman sitting in a community allotment shelter, smiling to camera whilst making clay models
family of clay ducks
group of people at a table making clay models, whilst a man stands up to demonstrate what to do
a mixture of clay models, drying on a tray
people sitting around a table in a community allotment shelter making clay models together
clay roses
man smiling to camera, holding a small cake
clay model
person's hands moulding some clay
Pottery sessions with support from Brett

Three sessions were spent creating clay models, thanks to support from Brett,  a potter, and resident  gardener/grower on the site with his own plot, too. Another enjoyable activity was taking the time to create their own drawings and paintings of flowers and hollyhocks on the plot.

woman seated at a table covered in art materials, smiling to camera
woman sitting at a table with art materials, smiling to camera
2 women seated outside at a community allotment, looking at items in a box.
Coloured drawings of hollyhocks pinned to a wooden post on an allotment
Art sessions underway on the plot

Participants also helped out with tasks around the plot, including, planting vegetables, working on the raised beds, doing general weeding, and watering. At one early session, they planted lettuce seeds together in a raised bed, and then made colanders to take their plants home to grow on the window sill. Everyone reported enjoying harvesting and eating the results at later sessions.  “I never realised just how easy it is, how different the lettuce tasted to shop bought – and you can keep going throughout the winter, too…”

2 people looking up from a piece of paper, sitting in a community allotment shelter
2 people sitting in sunshine in a community allotment, looking at pieces of paper
2 people sitting in a community allotment shelter, with pieces of paper
woman in mobility scooter on a community allotment in the sunshine, smiling to camera, with another woman sitting next to her on a raised bed.
3 people sitting on a community allotment, smiling to camera next to a vase of sunflowers
man and woman, photographed from above, looking at writing in a feedback book.

At the first and  final session for this summer, we shared stories via the Out Of The Box storytelling, an approach that Jo has been learning, using compost and sand. Using the theme of “Down Memory Lane”, this helped participants to think about topics together, including “How do you feel about your community?” and “What have these sessions meant to you?”.

group of people putting items into a large circle of soil with plants in it.
Tub of soil with plant labels arranged around the edge
People seated outside at a community allotment, around a table with a large circle of sand on it.
feedback written on a page with smiley face stickers next to them
Out of the Box sessions at On The Plot

“It has been one of the best things for me. I feel totally relaxed and de-stressed here – I am  better able to cope, sharing time with others has made me feeI better. I highly recommend coming; it has been one of the best things we have done together”.

Pat, On The Plot participant

From clay roses and ducks, to wooden men climbing beanstalks, the sessions brought all kinds of creativity and art to the plot this summer. We look forward to bringing the sessions back next year!  Thank you to People Keeping Well for their funding and support for these much needed sessions!

small wooden man figure attached to a bean plant
small wooden man figure standing on the edge of a raised bed of potatoes