The air is filled with a delightful medley of scents as flowers sway gently in the breeze.
Roses release their sweet, intoxicating perfume, while lavender wafts a calming aroma through the air.
The subtle earthiness of damp soil and the fresh green scent of leaves further enhance the sensory experience…
Take a wander through a garden in full bloom, and together, the sights and smells create an immersive sensory experience, inviting you to lose yourself in the tranquility and beauty of the natural world.
For 31-year-old Dundee woman Jek McAllister, however, this kind of environment is not just somewhere she visits – it’s where she enjoys her “dream job”.
Jek has been working as community engagement facilitator at Ninewells Community Garden in Dundee since October 2022.
Ninewells Community Garden job combines creativity of art with gardening
Originally from Edinburgh, the former Leith Academy pupil moved to Dundee eight years ago to study fine art at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, graduating in 2019.
During the Covid-19 lockdowns, however, she realised that she enjoyed being outdoors much more than being in.
This inspired her to enrol in a horticulture course at Elmwood College in Cupar.
She got a job working at Fairmuir Park in Dundee.
They started a community garden through a project called the Dandelion Festival.
Then, when the job came up to work at Ninewells Community Garden, she “got lucky” with the timings and made the move.
As her job title suggests, the role of community engagement facilitator involves engaging with the local community and people who visit the garden.
She puts on a range of events and creative workshops as well as trying to attract more people to what they are doing.
But for her personally, the biggest draw, aside from being outside, is the ability to combine the creativity of her art training with the creativity of gardening.
She gets to “make things up”, and on that her creative brain thrives.
What is the mission of Ninewells Community Garden in Dundee?
The award-winning Ninewells Community Garden lies in the beautiful arboretum of Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, near the Maggie’s centre.
Jek laughs, however, that she doesn’t like the word “arboretum” because “no one knows what that means”!
Overseen by three staff and run by a core of volunteers, the mission of Ninewells Community Garden is to promote physical activity and good health through community gardening in an environment where horticulture supports wellbeing, therapy and rehabilitation.
The garden includes wheelchair accessible paths, herbaceous borders, vegetable beds, a sensory garden, small orchard with wildflowers, picnic area, wildlife habitat, garden room, poly-tunnel and children’s play area.
The garden also boasts a physic garden, containing a range of plants used over the centuries for medicinal purposes.
The garden is run by volunteers, with the support of garden facilitators, and is available at all times for public, patients, staff, community groups and garden volunteers to attend.
What’s the history of Ninewells Community Garden in Dundee?
Jek explained the garden started as a project involving Mary Colvin, the chairperson of the group, who worked for decades in the NHS.
“The garden actually started as a project just to get paths into the woodland at the back of the hospital so that staff could get out for a walk,” explained Jek.
“They were staring out at these beautiful trees and not able to get there.
“It just started as a project to put paths around.
“At the core of that, they just put a little shed in and said ‘let’s cultivate a few little plants and crops and stuff’.
“But then it grew a lot of momentum. They got involved with Beechgrove Garden.
“They then helped them design and plan and put all these paths in, so we’ve got a really robust skeleton almost for the garden, which now 12 years on is really mature and such a beautiful place.
“We’re actually expanding out into more areas so we can grow more vegetables, and we’re working on a wildlife focused garden as well.”
Focus on health and wellbeing
The garden is maintained for beauty and as a place for people to “just sit and experience just being in nature and watching the birds and watching the seasons change”.
The focus is on wellbeing and physical and mental health.
It often acts as a respite from the hospital.
But while it was originally set up for staff, the garden is on a public path and is open to all.
“We often have people passing by or waiting on someone for an appointment,” she said.
“Staff come for their lunch and stuff.
“But it’s for everybody. We have lots of dog walkers and families come as well.
“And nurseries use it quite a bit too.
“Currently the programme is volunteer led.
“We’ve got core volunteers that have been coming for a really long time.
“We like to let them lead the decisions, what they want to happen and go with their interests.
“That’s our weekly sessions.
“And we have workshops around growing and crafts.
“We do Christmas wreath-making, we’ve got a bird-watching group with patients from Carseview.
“There’s a lot of activity around as well as the gardening.
“It’s often about getting there and being in the space rather than it is about actually gardening.”
Volunteers and visitors from many backgrounds
Jek said a “real mixture” of volunteers get involved.
Some have been there for so long they are “just part of the woodwork”.
Some people join because they are recently retired and they just want to keep active and “give back”.
Some volunteers have worked at Ninewells.
Young people or students sometimes get involved because they have studied horticulture or something else and just want a bit of experience for working.
June Imrie, 56, is garden therapy facilitator at the garden where she’s worked for four years.
With a background in mental health services, the former pupil of Greenfield Primary and Whitfield High School, who grew up in Whitfield, changed career in 2014 when she set up her own gardening business.
She got a job at Ninewells Community Garden following an internship at Dundee Botanic Garden.
“We get a lot of people from Ninewells,” she said, adding: “My office is a woodland!”
She went on: “A day can consist of you come into the garden, set everything up, and someone will come down from the hospital after hearing some bad news that they don’t have long to live.
“So you offer an ear, help signpost people to the right services as well.
“My other part of the job is coordinating the volunteers and supporting them – not just with doing the jobs but emotional support.
“Opening the place up where people can actually feel safe to talk about things and be open.
“We cover many subjects at the table when we are on the break, from men’s health to where to get treatment, to politics and how to grow onions.
“It’s about friendship and socialising as well.”
‘Mentors’ often help ‘lost’ young men and women learn new skills
June, who’s had her own health issues, says the garden is a great way for people to “work off any frustrations or depressions”.
What makes it the “dream job” for her is the people she works with, the volunteers.
“Many men share their skills,” she added.
“We have a lot of young guys who come in here who don’t have father figures or have lost their way.
“The older men – I call them mentors – some are in their 70s and 80s and they’ve really been essential to help the young men, and the young women as well.
“A lot of people these days are isolated and spend most of their time at home watching television, with no one to guide them through life or through their problems.
“Here, they definitely find a way or an answer to any issues.”
Jennifer Morris, 43, is a volunteer, originally from Montrose.
Health issues brought her to Dundee, and she’s been helping out for around four months.
“I come here twice a week,” she said.
“It’s really to learn how to plant vegetables and fruits and learn names of the plants.
“I’ve done a lot of gardening for my mum as a child. My brother was into gardening.
“I’m looking forward to nice weather! Just to learn different aspects of gardening. Relaxing with the bird-watching here. It’s good for health and wellbeing.”
Edinburgh-born Dennis Harkins, 60, who was brought up in Greenock and worked in the shipyards, has lived in Dundee for about 20 years.
He’s been volunteering in the garden for more than a decade.
“My mate John come round for us saying there was a spot opened,” he said.
“I took it from there. I do a whole lot of things – mostly vegetables.
“I could never stop coming up here. Everyone is brilliant. I get my health out of it. I can think of the future.”
Ninewells Community Garden is always looking for volunteers. To find out more go to ninewellsgarden.org.uk
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