Green spaces have a positive impact on mental and physical well-being. The Botanic Garden is the perfect place for people to connect while immersing themselves in an ever changing landscape of colour, sound and scents.
Introducing some of our community visitors
The Botanic Garden has welcomed a variety of community groups who support people to explore and learn in the Botanic Garden. These include:
St Paul’s Thursday Lunch Club gives members of the local community a space to discuss families, health and life’s trials and tribulations as well as a two course lunch. Once a month, members enjoy social outings exploring the Botanic Garden through the changing seasons.
Cam Sight supports local people with low vision and blindness. Participants are welcomed to the Garden for regular sensory walks with their guides.
Camtrust are a local charity specialising in life skills for adults with learning difficulties and physical disabilities. They visited us for our Plants That Bite Back workshop where participants have the opportunity to handle a variety of carnivorous plants and explore the different mechanisms these fascinating plants use to lure and capture their prey.
“Thank you so much for making our visit happen… to cut open and look inside a Trumpet Pitcher was something none of us had ever done before and it was really wonderful to see the clients and staff really interested.”
Stepping Stones Project supports adults with learning difficulties to increase their students’ knowledge and encourage them to lead more independent and fulfilling lives within their community. They visited us for our hands-on Plant Growth and Propagation workshop where participants planted seeds and cuttings before taking time to explore the Garden.
Waterbeach Brownies had an after hours adventure learning about the Garden’s nocturnal inhabitants with a guided bat walk.
A local Rainbows unit visited us with their 5-7 year old members for a weekend outing to create animal collages from fallen leaves, twigs and petals collected from around the Garden.
Wellbeing Walks are a Cambridge City Council initiative for people who are attending the exercise referral service because they have a long term medical condition or injury and for Invigorate Members who have ill mental health. They visit us regularly for guided walks.
For any queries, please contact our Community Learning Coordinator who will be happy to discuss your group’s requirements.
Collaborations with University of Cambridge Museums
The Botanic Garden also collaborates with our partners in the University of Cambridge Museums:
Wintercomfort, an information, advice, training and support centre in Cambridge for those who are homeless or vulnerably housed, visit the UCM once a month. Their visits to the Garden encompass a seasonal guided walk followed by the opportunity to socialise over a cup of coffee and a slice of cake.
The Portals to the World programme, in partnership with Dementia Compass, provides talk and walk sessions to promote physical as well as cognitive health. Participants visiting the Botanic Garden were led on an adapted trail focussing on the history of the Redwood trees with discussion and exploration of the trees using touch. The accompanying trail leaflet can be downloaded below.
Find out more about the Portals to the World programme here.
