Monthly Meeting - “You cannot make people learn. You can only provide the right conditions for learning to happen”

Tuesday 8 April – Green Routes

 Members and guests arrived at the hall in lovely sunshine and Janice Oman opened our April meeting ringing the “baby” bell and, on a warm night, extended an even warmer welcome to members and guests. The burn and blossom outside the hall remind us that spring is here. After brief apologies Janice reflected on the busyness since our last meeting – attending Beauty and the Beast performed by the Forest Theatre Group in Gartmore, supporting Tay Fitness at the Callander 5k &10K in aid of the Ripple Retreat, participating in the SC&WP Centenary Craft Display in Gargunnock Church (with photographs on this page and our website) and visiting Boquhan Farm courtesy of the Graham Family Dairy. She reminded us of the Loch Lomond Sail on 10 June, followed by a meal at the Oak Tree Inn, and the Federation Spring Meeting on 26 April in the Honeyman Hall, Bridge of Allan. The competitions are a pair of baby bootees in fine 3 ply yarn (New Forge Trophy) and the Morton Pairs of middle slice of a 2lb vegetable load and an embroidered needle case. There is also a plant sale at Port of Menteith Hall on Saturday 10 May in the morning at 10am to raise funds for Strathcarron Hospice & Port Church (on the same day as the Thornhill plant sale in the afternoon!)  Finally, with the closure of the local office, Ruskie have been given some trophies/cups which we can add to our archive unless anyone has an alternative idea.

 Janice then introduced Gillian Forster of Green Routes who is returning to Ruskie after 12 years (with fond memories of our suppers!) who introduced her work at the Walled Garden in Gartmore. The group trains people with additional support needs which covers a wide range of individuals, including those who have struggled during Covid. In the community garden the work generated plants and products to sell, including herbs and eggs now! In 2008 the programme identified a gap for young people with additional support needs who wanted to get into work – only 5% achieved this and sadly 65% lost their job within the first year due to lack of support to the young person and employers. With a lot of hard work there has been good progress made. Having moved from the walled garden at Gartmore to Gargunnock the volunteer army have learned how to clear gardens and work with nature as it ‘finds a way’! Discoveries during clearance included a full size polytunnel which was carried by hand across the garden and then added to with a further two tunnels. The work continued over an initial winter before welcoming the first students in the following spring who got stuck in and started to care for the space which started to look like a garden. Work included young people barrowing tons of hard core into the garden to create vehicle and wheelchair access – a mammoth task but one which created real ownership in the garden, along with setting up the office building. When the lease ended at Gartmore, after a celebration party, the young people participated in the moving process which lasted 6 months to ease the anxiety around the change. The new garden at Gargunnock was already in better shape but still somewhat neglected and the army of young people began to transform the space into one suitable for the students activity (and yes, tons of gravel again!)  A number of existing planting was replaced with raised beds which are more appropriate to our work. There are two polytunnels, and two donated greenhouses which are now full of plants. Advances in the project included electricity supply being installed, and creation of a car park with support from Callander Quarry – many local companies are very supportive with manpower and donations. The previous office was replaced with a miraculous flat pack version which was lifted over the wall and put in place over the space of only a few days – we look forward to having light and heat in the winters from this year forward!

 Horticulture is Green Routes main focus and the team work closely with the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society who certify the key gardening skills across a range of activity – and using power tools safely is always a great attraction! As an organic garden the young people learn to identify the ‘good guys and the ‘bad guys’ in the visitors to the garden. Creating and selling hanging baskets for sale is an interesting experience as young people can struggle to make their own choices; or learning how to do their own shopping and progressing from water & bananas to coke & mars bars – even unhealthy choices are personal choices! The team also contribute outside the garden and participate in local community gardens – and learn from external experts who are always welcome and their opinions are considered more important than the resident team. Some young people are participating in local competitions which is another learning experience for managing expectations on winning (or not).  Local Galas and Christmas fayres are also supported.

 In addition to gardening, animal husbandry is also taught including orphan lambs (who ate all the peas!) or piglets who learned to escape from an early age. There are also colonies of bees which are handled by students at least once, and hens which are many students favourites and allow students to teach local school groups about animals. The young people also do a lot of crafts including woodwork to learn about numbers, counting and measurement and finishing items which, in itself, can be a great success.

 Ultimately the favourite activity for everyone is the tractor! Everyone has driven it, and we secured a trailer for it and finally we upgraded to a new tractor which has only been in a ditch once! The more able students have learned to drive the tractor for specific tasks which is amazing as most of the young people will never acquire a driving license. Teaching independent living skills is a key skill to learn taught to young people who may have just left school, including healthy eating (back to bananas and water!), computing and reading, weighing and measuring or understanding physical money and the value of it. It is important to have reasons for learning skills – whether tying shoes or tying gates the skills are transferrable and help with the goal of getting young people into employment. This can take an extended period of time but ultimately can be so worthwhile and needs managed carefully so there are no backwards steps. Although Green Routes uses horticulture as a method they are really teaching a far wider range of life skills to enable young people to get into employment. The students initiative was set up for employability students to run a herb growing and egg business to introduce them to the concepts of price and profit (and the difference between the two!) In the future Green Routes will develop a dedicated property and has a 16 acre field to work on – this is also a long slow process involving planning permission but will get there. The volunteers with work with the students and in the garden are essential to Green Routes current success and their ability to ‘grow’ students 😊     

 Janice thanked Gillian for sharing her inspiring story of how to overcome the challenges every day and the breadth of experience this takes. After an amazing supper from Smellie, Gillian Ross and Claire Watt, with an enormous variety of savoury and sweet seasonal treats (which will live in Gillan’s memory for another ten years) and a generous raffle members and friends headed off into the moonlit night.

 Competitions:

Spring Flowers In A Jug (Mrs Beaton Rose Bowl) 1) Sharon McRobert,  2) Sheena Gibson,  3) Allison Mcleod

Traditional Garden Item  1) Alison Smellie, 2) Sharon McRobert, 3) Allison Allison Mcleod