Social gardening group helps older women fight loneliness and find joy
LONDON: A social gardening group is helping older women fight loneliness and find joy and a voice.
Maureen Cherry’s face crinkles into a smile when she looks at the native gum tree she planted with a gardening group that helped her overcome loneliness.
“It’s got orange blossoms on it … and [when you] see the bees at that tree, in the flower, I stand there and I’m amazed,” she said.
“This morning when I was out there, there were little birds.”
Gardening has been a part of Mrs Cherry’s life since she was a little girl planting honeysuckle and cherry trees with her family.
Her dream of becoming a florist came true as an adult and she ran several gardening shops around the country before retiring in a Perth apartment with only a few pot plants to keep her busy.
About three years ago, her children encouraged her to move 170 kilometres south to Bunbury to be closer to them.
“I was a bit lonely to start with … [and then] I saw an ad for the garden group, so I rang and put my name down and here I am,” Mrs Cherry said.
“It helped me certainly when I first came down, it was a big move.”
Mrs Cherry is part of Grounded Women Gardening (GWG), a community group aimed at bringing women together and reducing loneliness through the simple act of planting fruits, vegetables and flowers.
She said getting back into gardening and connecting with women after living alone in a city apartment had helped with her mental health.
“The other women of course, they’re all very good to me,” she said.
“They think that I’m old, and that’s fine … they run around and I play on it sometimes [telling them], ‘You can get my mug and pour my tea’
“Having been coming here for three years, some of the women are still well and truly here, some of them have left, but it’s great watching women come out of themselves.”
Rebecca Tichbon has been running GWG for three years as part of the South West Women’s Health and Information Centre.
She said the group welcomed women from all walks of life.
“A lot of these women have mental health challenges, anxiety, depression, some have escaped domestic violence situations, some have just other challenges [like] loneliness, financial issues,” Ms Tichbon said.
“We’re kind of creating that safe space for them to come together have a little chat and share their stories if they want to.
“But the beauty of being in the garden is they don’t have to talk if they don’t want to, we’ve got a hands-on activity they can join in with, whereas other sort of support groups often revolve around talking and sharing.”
Ms Tichbon said it was special to witness the women’s personal growth after coming to the weekly gardening group.
“One woman in particular, when she first came along, she was so introverted that she couldn’t even tell me what her name was … she’s now sharing with other people and we’ve helped her to really build her life outside the garden as well,” she said.
“We’ve seen some women build the confidence from being in the program to go on and do studies, either in horticulture or community service.”
According to data from Aged Care Research and Industry Innovation, around one in five older Australians are socially isolated.
While women of all ages are involved in GWG, Ms Tichbon said a major focus for the group was providing an opportunity for older ladies in the community to “get out of the house” and meet new people.
“There’s limited ways for older women to connect,” she said.
“Younger women can sometimes use their kids at school or in sport programs or other volunteer groups [to find friends], whereas for older women, some of that can be lacking.
“So this has been a wonderful opportunity for those women in our community.”
At 82, Mrs Cherry certainly won’t be giving up on the garden anytime soon.
“Being with the gardening group and doing the garden where I’m living, ripping everything out and redoing it, it’s just a joy,” she said.
“You’re in contact with earth and with nature and to me, there’s a higher power than me of course, and I always think of it as the garden and the colour.”
