Help Yourself Grow is part of the charity Fair Deal, which was founded in 1989 to shape and deliver services for people with learning disabilities in Glasgow.
Fair Deal is a registered charity and was originally set up by parents of young people with learning disabilities. It works in partnership with a range of providers to ensure that vulnerable people have every opportunity to lead active and inclusive lives. Fair Deal’s aim is to empower people with a learning disability to get the most out of life and Help Yourself Grow is an important part of that.
Help Yourself Grow was established in 2016, after several years of collaboration, consultation and planning, resulting in a successful funding application to The National Lottery.
We offer training opportunities for people with a learning disability, giving trainees an opportunity to develop new skills in horticulture and cooking, as well as focus on personal and social development. We offer opportunities from Tuesday to Friday, from 9.45am to 3.15pm (gardening) or 9.45am to 1pm (cooking).
We have created a video (scroll to the bottom of the page) which is a helpful guide to what we do.
Current Trainee Opportunities
Gardening
Our gardening trainees will learn the basic principles of horticulture within small, people-centred
groups led by an experienced horticultural trainer and co trainer.
The training garden has excellent facilities with a geodesic dome, sensory garden, variety of outdoor growing spaces and, new to 2023 is the fabulous new PolyCrub polytunnel which means that there is plenty of indoor space should bad weather prevent the trainees being able to work safely and comfortably outside.
Working in the garden provides significant physical and therapeutic benefits to the trainees. Being outside, in the fresh air, connecting to nature is known to reduce anxiety and depression and increase the feeling of wellbeing. Working in the garden has benefits to physical health too, improving fitness and lowering the risk of stroke and heart disease.
We are accepting referrals for the gardening programme. If you are interested please contact Gail Cochrane at Fair Deal either by emailing [email protected] or called the office on 0141 634 4996.
Cooking
The cookery programme is very hands on and practical. The trainees will learn about food hygiene as
well as the basics of being able to prepare a basic meal.
High quality training comes from an industry experienced professional, with the trainees learning new skills as well as increasing their confidence and independence, learning to work as a team, improving communication and, most importantly, making new friends.
The programme takes place in a new, state-of-the-art training kitchen where trainees learn to
follow recipes, understand about eating a balanced diet and where food comes from.
We are accepting referrals for the cooking programme. If you are interested please contact Gail Cochrane at Fair Deal either by emailing [email protected] or called the office on 0141 634 4996.
What people say about Help Yourself Grow
Every year we conduct an evaluation of our programme in order to ensure that our programme is
achieving the outcomes for our trainees as well as our funders.
We celebrate our achievements with a graduation ceremony, which our trainees and their families
love to attend. This also gives us an opportunity to get feedback from parents and carers and hear
where we could do things differently or better.
Here’s are some testimonials from people who’ve been involved in Help Yourself Grow over the years.
