Gardening group brightens care centre for Mother’s Day

Ron Smith Care Centre’s gardening group enjoyed planting violas and pansies for Mother’s Day at their latest gathering.

The group meets every other week in one of the wings at the care centre.

The gardening group is run by volunteers Leung and Elaine Ho.

Leung, a horticulturalist, holds a BTech in Horticulture from the University of South Africa (Unisa) and has a special interest in using gardening activities for therapeutic purposes.

He believes that plants, gardening activities and the innate closeness we all feel towards nature can be used as a vehicle to bring certain therapeutic benefits to participants. Over time, simple gardening tasks practised in a group can provide sensory and memory stimulation, increase movement, improve orientation to reality, increase a sense of community and decrease feelings of loneliness and isolation.

The Ron Smith Care Centre has plants for sale and the proceeds are used for operating the gardening programme.

For more information about Ron Smith Care Centre, visit www.randaid.co.za