About SAGE
SAGE stands for Support Arts Gardening Education. We promote the mental and physical well-being of adults experiencing mental health problems via the provision of creative therapeutic activities. Our largest project is SAGE Greenfingers, a horticultural therapy project based on Grimesthorpe allotments in Burngreave in inner-city Sheffield. We also run other therapeutic projects such as singing workshops, art and craft sessions and food growing courses.
Who do we support?
We can offer support to men or women over 18 whose life is troubled by mental health issues. These might range from mild to severe and enduring and include diagnoses such as anxiety, depression, bi-polar disorder, panic attacks, phobias, schizophrenia, psychosis and post traumatic stress disorder. We can also accommodate adults who have a dual diagnosis of learning disability &/or physical disability. Most of our projects welcome both men and women but we also offer women only activities such as the Tuesday women’s gardening group and the singing workshops.
How are our clients referred?
Adults are usually referred to us by a health or social services professional such as a GP, Community Psychiatric Nurse, Counsellor, Social worker etc. We also take self-referrals but will ask for a referral form to be completed by such a professional to ensure we offer appropriate complementary support. You can find out how to be referred or to make a referral here.
Where are our clients from?
Most of our clients live within a 3 mile radius of the office or the allotment site. Occasionally we take referrals from further a field if our support looks vital and cannot be provided more locally.
Why we were set up
SAGE was established in 1999 as a small voluntary gardening group set up after a needs assessment commissioned by Pitsmoor surgery. This confirmed a high incidence of mental health problems in the area and a low take up of available services. We decided to set up a project that had a non-clinical and non-threatening feel but would still give focussed, professional support. At one level it seemed a simple gardening group but in reality it was a group which used gardening as a means of supporting people with complex and enduring mental and physical health problems. This sort of gardening is called Therapeutic Horticulture. You can find out more about therapeutic horticulture here.
Our evolution
Over the years our project has proved popular and successful with the clients we have supported and the people who refer to us. In 2001 we secured funds from Burngreave New Deal for Communities to develop a therapeutic site from 3 allotments on the City Council run Grimesthorpe allotments. This enabled us to increase the number of people we can support. We designed the site according to principles of therapeutic horticulture and it has evolved to become the Greenfingers project.
What we look like now
In 2006 we became a Registered Charity and Company Limited by guarantee. We started offering different sorts of creative therapy including art and crafts, singing, cook and eat sessions, fishing etc. We have diversified our funding base to include grants from trusts, personal donations and contracts. Our annual turn-over is approx £100,000. You can download our most recent accounts here. (Adobe pdf document, 86Kb)
We have an office base connected to Pitsmoor surgery and are managed by a Trustee Board. We employ several part-time staff and benefit from excellent input by volunteers and occasional student placements.
We conducted a strategic planning process in 2009 resulting in a business plan that endorses our commitment to the field of mental health. We hope to refine our therapeutic model and develop partnerships to roll it out more widely. An independent evaluation conducted by Sheffield Hallam University into our partnership working with Pitsmoor surgery confirms that we have model that is effective and merits wider implementation.
