Sowing the seeds of social enterprise

Run under the umbrella of the New Horizons Programme, the centre is a lifeline of learning and a tranquil haven in which those with disabilities are taught personal development courses, horticulture and career steps.

Far from being a care unit, the people who attend are treated with the utmost dignity and are encouraged to achieve personal and skills that not only provide them with a career in the great outdoors, but they have employment and a proper wage reflecting their efforts.

Set in the three-acre walled garden of the Beresford-Ash Estate off Ardmore Road, the ‘A’ Team who are currently working on placements in the centre include Martin Sweeney, Gary Duddy, Fintan McGarvey, Paul Craig, Johnny Fulton and Peter O’Neill, affectionately called ‘the boss’ because of the number of years he has worked there and because of his experience as a propagator and grower. He came to Ashbrook from Glenside. Also on placement there at present are Christopher Neely, Cathal O’Kane, Jonathan McCourt and Stephen White, who came to Ashbrook from Ness Nurseries bringing with him a wealth of experience and knowledge in horticulture, which he enjoys sharing with his co-workers.

The team produce high quality hanging baskets and window boxes for a wide range of businesses in the city, as well as for a large number of public houses, and are skilled at producing tubs not only for public bodies and town centre displays, but also for domestic gardens and in bespoke colours.

Clients can choose from an extensive range of trailing plants, including geraniums, petunias, lobelias and more exotic greenery such as fragrant trailing mint, and there is a rainbow assortment of daisies and other familiar planter flowers and verdant greenery.

Many may not realise that the Asbrook Garden Centre tenders for contract work to provide a splash of colour in the urban environment, and last year the hanging basket and container work that the team did was recognised when the council entered the Ulster in Bloom competition, and went on to take the silver award in the Britain in Bloom competition.

All the participants at Ashbrook are meticulously trained in how to propagate seeds, nurse the seedlings to the planting out stage and grow them on, and volunteer and avid grower Bob ‘Junior’ Faulkner, from Ballykelly has been helping instruct the team on how to grow plants, shrubs and trees from seed, including white beam, sorbus and mountain ash.

Manager George Hawthorne explained: “We sow our own seeds here and do all our own propagation and the boys take part in all aspects of the process, including learning how to pot on cuttings, planting out, putting together window boxes and hanging baskets, and planters and tubs.

“Peter is called ‘the Boss’ because of the experience he has in horticulture and Stephen, coming from Ness Nurseries, has brought a lot of experience with him. All of my team have no problems planting out and creating colourful hanging baskets, tubs and containers, but we would not be able to do half of what we do without the help of a number of key people, including Rodney Harris, who has come to work with us from the Cedar Foundation, and he has had a big impact here and he and Peter are responsible for all the beautiful hanging baskets at Ulsterbus. Another full-time worker is Alan Latta, who came here from Foyle New Horizons. We also have the benefit of working with Ronnie McGee, who is in full-time employment here for six months, through the Steps Ahead Programme,” said George proudly of his team, adding that their work is of such a high standard hotels and individuals regularly place orders for weddings.

In addition to the ‘floral’ aspects of Ashbrook, the participants also get to work with Alan Stevenson on the allotments, where a huge selection of vegetables are produced for the table year-round. Alan has also been working on recycling bays where all garden ‘waste’ is recycled for use as mulch and compost. George paid tribute to the Probation Board for their funding contribution that allowed Alan to bring another dimension to the ongoing education and development work at the complex.

George, who is one of the founder members of the centre, along with Kenny McAdams, believes it is the positive and welcoming environment that has been created at Ashbrook that ensures the other founders and everyone who has worked with the participants stay in touch and visit year after year. Participants rights and dignity are highly valued and those working with the ‘A’ Team are vetted for suitability.

The facility also operates as a training ground for people on courses, and a point in case is Keith Logan, and in addition to site work, George also takes the Ashbrook message out to schools and schools are also welcome to visit and learn about other aspects of the facility including the bug hotel and the worm factory.

“We have a committee overseeing things and we get great support from a variety of organisations including Magilligan Prison, the Churches Trust, Health Board, Probation Board and Youth Justice Organisation, without whom we could not function. We have a partnership with Magilligan that has been running for eight to 10 years now and we pride ourselves on delivering comprehensive training and personal development programmes like the Workability Programme and the Independent Travel Programme,” said George.

Ashbrook does not turn anyone away, and as consequence placements have been found for folk for between two and five days, and every square inch of the three-acre site is being put to good use, next to the kitchen/canteen and rest rooms is the greenhouse for seedlings and planting/propagating,

Ashbrook is open to the public from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, all year round, and from May through to September, it is also open on Saturdays, from 9am to 5pm. The contact telephone number for booking visits and making orders or bookings is 028 7131 2329.