A property management company has partnered with a local mental health crisis centre to fundraise for a community garden.
CERT Property Management has been organising a series of events plus crowdfunding to raise £5000 on behalf of their neighbours The Recovery Lounge, a crisis centre located on Cross Keys Street in Manchester city centre – it’s run by Turning Point, a mental health support charity.
Emerging Beats is a live music panel discussion CERT will be holding about the intersection of music, mental health and community – from 8:00pm on 30th January at Ramona.
CERT said: “We aim to inspire dialogue, build connections, and raise funds to help Turning Point transform lives.”
In November 2024 the property management company kicked off their series of fundraisers with Verses for Growth – a live music and poetry night – at the Feel Good Club; CERT said this edition will feature candid conversations and creative insights from some of Manchester’s most compelling voices.
Rob Lowe, grant development lead for Turning Point, said: “We’re really grateful and I really recommend people go to the events because if the first one’s anything to go by – it was really, really good.
“We just simply wouldn’t be able to get something like this done without that.
“It will be massively appreciated by the people supported to get to see something come to life.”
He explained all the money raised from CERT’s events will be donated to try and help build a sensory garden to liven up that first contact with the crisis service as it might be “quite scary” for people when they first arrive, but if it can look really welcome that can have a big impact in how someone settles in.
According to Johnny Villanueva, marketing manager at CERT, the value of people actually getting together to express these kinds of feelings has a ripple effect into more community building – “it makes people not feel alone,” he said.
CERT has a development being built in New Cross next to The Recovery Lounge: the collaboration came about after both groups were looking at ways they could work together to ensure privacy for both the people moving into the area and those who may be coming to crisis point.
Conversations were productive – focussing on community ethos and other shared values, so CERT offered to organise a series of events to help Turning Point’s vision of a communal sensory garden “come to life”.
Mr Villanueva said: “A partnership with them grew out of a shared commitment of transforming places, both physical and metaphorical, into places where people can grow and thrive.
“We work to create an environment that support resilience and opportunities.
“It’s not just like we’re organising events for the sake of it – there’s a lot of wins.
“Because at the end of the day, regardless of if we have a community in one development or two, we are in the same city and all together we are one big community.
“I think we want to show that we’re all in this together.”
Both organisations were keen to raise awareness for the support available at The Recovery Lounge.
“Often it can be as simple as people just literally not knowing what’s there,” said Mr Lowe.
Mr Villanueva added: “I don’t think a lot of people know that facility and it’s very convenient because it’s just in the city centre.”
Turning Point has around 300 different services across the country: it’s helped individuals in Manchester with mental health, learning disability and substance use challenges for over 25 years.
The Manchester city centre service provides intensive, short-term support for those in immediate need: a detox service, a short stay (on referral) for about a week if you’re not coping with your mental health and a recovery lounge, which people can self-refer to if they’re struggling.
According to Mr Lowe, in addition to a safe space to decompress, a one-to-one, one hour session with a trained professional “to help people get back on their feet” is typically offered to those who self-refer.
The work done at the crisis centre diverts pressure away from emergency services and gets people the right support as quickly as possible – they aim for “sustainable recovery”, Mr Lowe said.
He added: “They may be there for a week, but actually some of the tools they might have as a consequence of being there can last for a long time.”
Mr Lowe emphasised the impact of people having meaningful activities to do while they’re in recovery: he said different sensory experiences can really help but it won’t be purely decorative as therapeutic gardening sessions will be offered: so people will be able to “grow nice herbs” and other things to use in their food long after accessing the service.
Several of the charity’s facilities across the country already have a garden – he said service users in Manchester are keen to be able to spend time outside together in a nice, relaxing environment.
According to Mr Lowe: “There’s one particular gentleman who will help maintain this garden as well, alongside the people that that are currently using the service.
“That can be really important, for people who’ve accessed that support – coming back and being involved.
“It can show people who in that moment may be having a bit of a tough time, actually there’s hope here.
“If this person went through this, and now they’re back here and look how well they’re doing – that kind of role modelling can have a really positive impact.”
CERT has also been raising money for Turning Point via different internal projects – having already received donations from karaoke nights, team hikes and run clubs.
This month the city centre company will be having an in-house event in collaboration with Motion Property Management – this industry being male-dominated, CERT want to encourage people they work with to find others with similar values, “leave formalities in the office” and talk about their feelings: a wellbeing talk will be held as part of the new approach to networking.
Mr Villanueva shared some of CERT’s regular outreach it does as part of its business ethos such as: collecting for Manchester Central Foodbank and supporting independent artists by letting them use CERT’s spaces as a platform; the organisation actively work with people who are in the same space – encouraging the communities within its developments to get involved with communities outside.
He said: “Work can be stressful and to have initiatives like this, I think it’s very impactful.
“Getting people together for the same one cause is even more beautiful because it makes a difference in everyone’s minds.”
The fundraising efforts began in autumn of 2024, so far over £900 has been donated and CERT plan on continuing to help Turning Point until they reach their goal of £5000.
You can book tickets to Emerging Beats here or donate to the GoFundMe here.
Feature image: Outdoor seating area at Turning Point Crisis Point, Manchester. Image provided by Turning Point UK
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