plot: a. A small piece of ground, generally used for a specific purpose: a garden plot.
b. The connected series of events which make up a story.
We’ve gathered some of the stories of people who have become woven into the land and the community of PLOT 22 over the 10 years we’ve been plotting together. With their kind permission and the skilful help of Vaska https://the-curious-cat.com/ we can share them here.
You can also listen to PLOTstories recorded in 2013 and 2015 here: https://www.plot22.org/voices-from-the-plot
Serena’s story (regular volunteer)
“I was frozen like the earth when I started here, now I am blooming again like the summer flowers”.
I volunteer at a community allotment in Hove called Plot 22. I've been going since November, when the ground was frozen, and I was not well. The allotment was an important journey in my healing process. I started off going once a week for an afternoon and then extended to two full days a week […]
I've met Sudanese refugees who landed on a small boat here after fleeing the war; artists, DJs, nurses, retired surveyors, horticulturalists, and so many different people at the plot.
I was frozen like the earth when I started here, now I am blooming again like the summer flowers. I'm looking forward to running a storytelling evening in the autumn around the fire pit. […] Here are some of the flowers I’ve been tending this week.
As posted on her Linked In page and shared here by permission.
Alison’s story (Thyme & Space)
“It’s a place where you can come and be who you are”
There’s a magic here with the connection of the plants and people. I always see a shift in my emotions when I come here. I always feel different at the end. That shift is so valuable.
I’ve been coming here for three years. Originally, I came to PLOT 22 through the Survivors’ Network when they held the monthly session for women survivors of sexual violence. I’d already been accessing other groups there. The first time I came I was quite paranoid and I would cry. But now I feel the impact it has as it’s shown me you don’t have to be stuck.
Alison W & Rita’s story (Thyme & Space project hosts)
“It’s a very different kind of space”
Alison W We are co-hosts for Thyme & Space - therapeutic gardening sessions for women who would benefit from using the space. Our role is to facilitate the sessions and make sure they flow.
Rita Women come here and find it’s a space where they don’t have to perform or do something in a certain way. There’s an openness and also a respecting of privacy too. Nobody has to say anything if they don’t want to.
Yvonne’s story (from volunteer to project leader and workshop host)
“The plot’s as much about growing people as it is about growing food”
It’s a lovely supportive place to do new things as part of a community. I’ve been able to try out new ideas here and experiment. I first came to do a little bit of gardening with some other women about six years ago and I didn’t really look far ahead but I was hooked and I’ve been coming ever since!
My role here has evolved. I was instrumental in setting up Thyme & Space – a group for survivors of abuse, I’m on the Circle Team and now run my own workshops here - that has been a beautiful surprise.
Charlotte’s story (Story Chaplain and project lead for Dementia Inclusive Gardening)
“Within the context of difficulty and challenge there are certainly plenty of opportunities and scope for joy and hope and positivity”
Some of my favourite times in my life are the times that I have spent with people who are living with dementia. I think very often, society sees value in what people can produce and what people can do, and so there’s a great emphasis on performance over presence. But what I’ve learnt from people living with dementia, and that includes every DIG session without exception, is that there’s a kind of presence and quality time that’s possible.
When people enter the space, you can almost see their body language change. It’s a space that can feel different across the seasons and there is a welcome for participants that allows them to feel safe in the space and not under pressure to perform.
Doreen’s story (participant Dementia Inclusive Gardening)
“Two or three stalks of flowers brings back all that memory”
What does it feel like when you’re here?
Oh, I love just everything about the atmosphere. I mean what more could you wish for? Pleasure within, for a start. To find that the warm sun’s here. And then to be surrounded by nature, just on its own, of its own accord, it just is able to inspire us to do things like this. Gifts out of the blue! And what blue!
Can you describe what you’re doing?
I’m just putting whichever colours of flower particularly appeal to me amongst these, do you see? And so whenever I get two or three which I like, I’m putting a knot on there.
Andrew’s story (DIG participant)
“A little piece of heaven”
How have you found it today?
Very relaxing.
Can you describe this place for me?
A little piece of heaven. It’s unexpected, it gives some people who couldn’t afford an allotment to actually get down and do a small amount of gardening. And you can see from the furniture, the huts, and tables that it’s a place revered by the people that use it. Revered sounds too formal, loved.
Jo’s story (Grow & Play participant)
“Grow & Play is very important because children learn things through play, especially outside play.”
It definitely helps being outside, especially if you’re used to being cooped up. It also helps with wellbeing. The sensory aspect is good too and the children can go anywhere in the plot. My daughter’s been getting more fussy with food so actually picking things off the vine and seeing everyone else do the same makes her try it more!
Louise’s story (Grow & Play project lead)
“I feel better for PLOT 22. It’s very inspiring. It’s very carefully nurtured. And it’s made me grow enormously.”
I was really surprised at how much I enjoy it. What I’ve realised about living by the seaside and in the city is you don’t notice the depth of the seasonal changes so much. Lots of concrete can disconnect you. At PLOT 22 you really see it. You watch the plot go through the seasonal journey and you move through it too. I see myself as part of that natural cycle now. For me, it’s been good to see that winter isn’t dead!
Jennie’s story (Trustee and DIG and Grow & Play Co-host)
“It just looks like you’re coming home to your little safe place really”
You learn things from the people that you’re with, whether it’s individual tasks and skills that you pick up bit by bit, co-hosting groups, or being a trustee. I’ve built up lots of experience of things I never thought I’d do when I first came to the plot! And it’s in a lovely organic process. It’s not regimented, it’s just very fluid.
It’s being part of a community and contributing to something that’s worthwhile. You receive as much as you give. It’s a two-way process because we’re just all constantly putting things in and gaining other things.