Lend a Hand with Edible Estates 

Lend a hand is an outdoors volunteering programme designed for people over 50 and out of work. 

Lend a Hand at community gardens around Edinburgh by helping build community sheds, raised beds, maintaining paths, installing water services and growing fruit and veg. Edible Estates’ Lend a Hand programme was designed specifically to provide wellbeing support, training and volunteering opportunities to people over 50 and out of work, through the construction and maintenance of community gardens. The aim of the project is to reduce structural barriers to employment, increase confidence, develop skills, reduce social isolation, as well as improving physical and mental health.  

Hear what some Lend a Hand members have said: 

‘There’s a lot of people in my position, their families are grown up, there’s not that interaction, or maybe their family’s moved away, or some people dinnae have family and people just sort of end up on their own, so this has been very communal.’

Bobby, Lend a Hand member

‘I feel like I’ve accomplished something. Now, I’ve joined other groups and I absolutely refused to do that for a long time, but now I do that, I’m joining in.’

Ricky, Lend a Hand member

It’s certainly good for my mental health, just like a wee few hours a week that I can escape fae the four walls and the mundane. And it’s also great just meeting new people.’

Craig, Lend a Hand member

Hear from one of our Workshop Leaders:

‘Loneliness and social isolation is a big problem, especially amongst men and older men at that…The friendship aspect of it [Lend a Hand] is quite beautiful, people bring books in that they’ve been reading and exchange them; they talk about different parts of their lives, their relationships. It’s quite nice to hear men sharing things.’

Seal, Lend a Hand Workshop Leader

Who are Edible Estates?

Edible Estates is a community enterprise which seeks to utilise green space in council estates to promote individual and community learning and wellbeing. We have a role in the creation and support of community gardens across Edinburgh. As well as Lend a Hand, we run several other learning and wellbeing projects which include, Growing Youth (High Schools) and Growing Youth (Young Adults. 

Growing Youth 

Growing Youth offers young people opportunities in outdoor learning, vocational training, skills development, and hands-on work experience in horticulture, construction and landscaping. While Growing Youth (High Schools) supports high schoolers (S3-S6) who are typically neurodiverse; Growing Youth (Young Adults) supports young people aged 16 to 24 who face further education, training, or employment barriers.

Find out more at:  

Lend a Hand: https://www.edibleestates.co.uk/project-type/lend-a-hand/  

Growing Youth: https://www.edibleestates.co.uk/growing-youth/  

For more information and referral, contact Kate at kate@edibleestates.scot or 07548 906 816 

Do you live and/or work in Edinburgh and want to share your own experiences of mental health and wellbeing and the different ways keep you well? If you would like us to share your story, please email ithrive@health-in-mind.org.uk.