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Growing Skills and Confidence
Growing Skills and Confidence
Growing Skills and Confidence is SUTTONfx’s community garden initiative, supporting young people and adults with special educational needs and disabilities to develop practical skills, confidence and independence through hands-on, supported activities.
The project operates across two locations. At the Dr George Rice Community Garden, participants engage in outdoor gardening and environmental work within a shared community space. At The Welsh Chapel, Lind Road, we are developing an Accessible Green Skills Hub with inclusive facilities and structured learning opportunities so everyone can participate safely in horticulture, sustainability, and practical skills development.
Together, these projects create welcoming, inclusive environments where everyone can contribute, learn and grow.
Dr George Rice Community Garden
Dr George Rice Community Garden
Creating a garden for all the Community
Creating a garden for all the Community
There is a patch of land beside St Nicholas Church. It's right by the civic offices and under the shadow of the Gibson Road car park.
The plot of land was overgrown. It had become an area that is associated with litter and anti-social behaviour.
We are guided by a vision for a new community garden right in the heart of Sutton. A space for all community groups to use, whether young or old.
Since we were granted the license to occupy the land in March 2022 we have managed to achieve a massive transformation of the overgrown site.
So many people have contributed to the garden. Bulbs have been planted, the grass turned into something approaching a lawn, saplings and overgrowth cleared from half the site, and flower beds (minus flowers) have been created, benches repaired and a memorial wall created. And fruit trees have been planted.
Are you interested in helping?
Contact: jeff@suttonfx.com or join the Friends of Dr George Rice Community Garden on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/drgeorgericegarden
Dr George Rice
Dr George Rice
Dr George Rice BA, MB, C-M Edin (1848-1935) was an African American physician who trained in Edinburgh under Sir Joseph Lister.
Sir Joseph commended Dr Rice for his ‘exceedingly efficient manner’ and ‘indefatigable zeal’.
Dr Rice came to Sutton in 1884 with his family and took up the position of Resident Medical Officer at the South Metropolitan District School on Brighton Road.
He conducted a successful practice within Sutton. He filled many local appointments that included the position of public vaccinator for Sutton, Cheam, and Carshalton.
He worshipped at St Nicholas where his children were baptised.
The Theology
The Theology
This is a shared community project to bring life back into a patch of waste ground is a communal act of hope.
It presents Christians with a chance to be able to share their faith with others in a work setting, outside of a Church building but in a context that has deep spiritual significance.
"For the Lord will comfort Zion; he will comfort all her waste places, and will make her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song. " Isaiah 51:3
Each of us is not only a creature or product of God’s creation, we are also sub-creators with him. We are called to the work of the kingdom within the world.
"What are human beings that you are mindful of them, or mortals, that you care for them? You have made them for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned them with glory and honour, subjecting all things under their feet." Hebrews 2:6-8
The work to create a garden emphasises our responsibility as followers of Jesus to do what we can to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth.
Accessible Green Skills Hub
Accessible Green Skills Hub
The project creates meaningful training and skills development opportunities for both participants and volunteers. Young people and adults with SEND gain practical, transferable skills through structured horticulture and environmental activities, including planting, propagation, composting, tool use, teamwork and safe working practices. These experiences build confidence, independence and workplace readiness, supporting future progression into volunteering, further education or employment.
Developing Skills
Developing Skills
Practical work experience is especially important for students with special educational needs and disabilities because it provides a structured, real-world environment in which they can develop confidence, independence and essential life skills. Many students with SEND benefit from hands-on learning, where tasks are clear, purposeful and linked to visible outcomes. Activities such as gardening, maintenance or hospitality help reinforce communication, teamwork, time management and problem-solving in ways that classroom settings alone cannot always achieve.
Driving Change the Community
Driving Change the Community
Working alongside young people with special educational needs and disabilities brings a powerful, often overlooked perspective to the design and use of community spaces. Through their direct participation in activities such as gardening, maintenance and visitor engagement, they naturally highlight barriers that others may not notice, including uneven pathways, inaccessible work areas, unclear signage or environments that are overwhelming or difficult to navigate. These lived experiences provide authentic, practical insight into how spaces can be adapted to be safer, more welcoming and genuinely inclusive.
This project is enabled by grant money from the Sutton Community Fund provided by the London Borough of Sutton
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