I left my job as a GP to create a community therapeutic garden in Fife – here is what I have learned

When I was working as a GP in Methil I saw first hand the difference spending time outdoors in nature made to my patients.

Projects like CLEAR Buckhaven and Methil and Silverburn park were having a really positive impact on individuals’ mental health and wellbeing.

And I felt they were doing much more for patients than I was able to do in a ten minute appointment.

That’s what gave me the idea to create a community therapeutic garden.

So three years ago I opted to take a year out from working as a GP to develop a large unused garden space which was part of Over Rankeilour Farms that we – and my husband Neil’s parents – own.

But I found I got a lot of satisfaction and enjoyment from working in the garden, so I made the difficult decision to quit my job as a GP.

And it’s been the most brilliant change for me.

How long had Louise been a GP?

I did my training in London and Kent and worked as a GP in London for five years.

I married Neil while living there and we ended up moving to Scotland nine years ago with our two children, Harry, 13, Rose, 10, so he could help his parents with the farm.

When we moved to Cupar I worked at a practice in Auchtermuchty for a year.

I had my third son, Archie, 7, and then became a GP at Airlie Medical Practice in Methil.

I worked there for four years.

As far as GP practices go I loved working there.

But things changed post-Covid.

Instead of seeing patients face to face, a lot of it was done over the phone which made it not as easy to do the job.

The video calls were quite good but they ruled out half the population because a lot of elderly weren’t able to do video calls.

Growth in patient demand

The demand grew quickly and I started seeing more and more patients with mental health issues.

And I found it increasingly hard to be able to help them in a 10-minute appointment.

I got to the point where I didn’t feel I was doing the job very well – I wasn’t getting job satisfaction.

Demand has grown so much along with the expectations of what GPs should be able to do.

In the end I felt sad and guilty about not being able to make it work because I loved being a doctor.

Using the community garden to help others

Over Rankeillour Walled Garden had been lying empty since the 1960s.

My husband and I had always loved it, but it was too far away from our house for us to use.

It seemed like such a waste just sitting there empty.

So my friend Claire Parkin and I got in touch with Scotland’s therapeutic garden charity Trellis to get some advice on restoring it.

Neither of us were qualified in therapeutic horticulture, so we couldn’t call it an official therapy garden.

But what we decided to do was look for different groups or charities who might be able to refer people to us who are needing help in some way.

For example – people who are maybe off work with mental health issues or have another disability which keeps them from working.

Or it could be people who are maybe just feeling isolated or lonely or even people who want to do an extra bit of gardening.

How the community garden blossomed

We first opened the garden to volunteers in June 2022.

And we started running two sessions a week on a Tuesday and Thursday morning.

Claire and I started things off but neither of us have a lot of gardening knowledge.

So that’s when we asked Jen Gallier, who is a gardener herself and has lots of experience working with volunteers, to help us out at the sessions.

We also now have a part-time session leader Teresa Widd who has a lot of experience in therapeutic horticulture.

People of all different ages have been coming along – with 16 being the youngest to those who are retired.

We have had referrals from community mental health nurses and Fife Voluntary Action has also referred volunteers.

What do the volunteers do in the garden?

Our volunteers do anything that needs done in the garden, depending on the time of year.

They don’t need to have gardening experience.

They do the usual gardening jobs like weeding, pruning, building flower beds, grass cutting and sowing everything from vegetables to flowers.

Funding for the Fife project

The project’s volunteer co-ordinator’s post (shared by Jen and Claire) has been funded for the past two years by the Scottish Government’s Fife Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund.

While money from our cut flower sales – along with money raised from plant sales at two open days we had this summer – covers the day to day costs.

The farm has also given us donations.

I am hoping we will get other groups in paying to use the garden space on the days when we aren’t running the volunteer sessions.

How has the garden made a difference?

Since the volunteers have started coming here I have really seen a difference in some of them.

It is quite brave to walk through the door to somewhere new and you soon see their confidence improving.

We now have a lovely group of really kind, generous, people who get on really well.

And it’s really satisfying when we all work as a team to get a job done.

We have been taking this project slowly and it has grown very organically

It’s nice to see everyone working together and feeling part of something special.