Gardens to cultivate wellbeing at Jewish Care
WITH THE winter months upon us, the cold weather and the Covid-19 pandemic are making it even harder for care home residents to venture outdoors.
But Jewish Care home residents are enjoying mini indoor gardens that allow them to be surrounded by greenery and tend purposefully to the gardens, bringing the outside in and the residents closer to nature.
The new project took root when Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg, who regularly speaks to Jewish Care’s Holocaust Survivors’ Centre members, invited Jewish Care to a Gardeners’ Question Time on Zoom.
The online event was organised by the Eco-Synagogue and chaired by Matthew Biggs, professional gardener and presenter, who appears on the long-running BBC Radio 4 programme that inspired the event.
Rabbi Wittenberg and Niki Jackson, director of education at the New North London Synagogue, prepared plants to be donated and delivered to care homes in November, before the third lockdown.
Via Zoom, Rabbi Wittenberg spoke to members about Tu Bishvat. He said: “In these times, so especially hard, when we can’t go out, plants give pleasure to the senses and solace to the spirit. They remind us of the beauty of the world. Watching the leaves and flowers unfold brings
us hope and joy.” Plants were also delivered to the care homes by Brian Berelowitz and Zea Katzef, from Berry Gardens, keen supporters of the Jewish environmental initiatives the EcoSynagogue and J-Trees.
Wendy Pater, a volunteer who has devoted her time to supporting residents for many years and especially through the pandemic at Jewish
Care’s Anita Dorfman House at Sandringham, donated plants in memory of her mother, Queenie, on her Yarzheit.
Queenie was a resident at the previous Princess Alexandra Home and Wendy has been volunteering with Jewish Care ever since. Wendy has coordinated many kind donations from members of Bushey Synagogue.
Kingston Liberal Synagogue and King Alfred School have also donated plants, as well as seeds to sow at care homes in the spring, for the wellbeing gardens.
Adam Overlander-Kaye, Jewish Care’s director of fundraising and community engagement, says: “We know that nature has a transformative and positive effect on our wellbeing, which we all need more than ever this year.
“We would like to thank the community and our wonderful volunteers for their generous donations of winter plants which are enabling us to bring nature in for our residents to enjoy in our care homes over the winter.”