{"id":16052,"date":"2022-10-27T11:22:45","date_gmt":"2022-10-27T09:22:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gardensillustrated.com\/?p=94481"},"modified":"2022-10-27T11:43:18","modified_gmt":"2022-10-27T09:43:18","slug":"the-glasshouse-an-inspiring-social-enterprise-working-with-prisoners-and-plants","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/rss_feed\/the-glasshouse-an-inspiring-social-enterprise-working-with-prisoners-and-plants\/","title":{"rendered":"The Glasshouse: an inspiring social enterprise working with prisoners and plants"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Daisy Bowie-Sell\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 27 October 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Clare is holding a healthy-looking umbrella plant<\/a> (Heptapleurum arboricola<\/a><\/em>) with her name on it. She has grown it on from a discarded broken stem<\/a> and is nurturing it to give to her mum when she is released next year. Clare is one of a small team of prisoners at East Sutton Park women\u2019s open prison in Kent who are growing and tending houseplants as part of The Glasshouse project, a social enterprise co-founded by project director Kali Hamerton-Stove and social entrepreneur Melissa Murdoch.<\/p>\n

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Two large glasshouses at East Sutton Park women\u2019s prison have been given over to the houseplant project.<\/span><\/figcaption> \u00a9 Lisa Linder<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

The scheme\u2019s aim is to help women rehabilitate when they leave prison by offering horticultural training<\/a> and improved employment opportunities. Kali and Melissa hit upon the idea for it in 2019 when they learned that two of the glasshouses at the prison were largely unused, due in part to cuts in land-based training in recent years. Post-release, women can face significant problems finding a job and somewhere safe to live. The insecurity this engenders can lead to issues with reoffending and this is where Kali and Melissa felt they could do something to help.<\/p>\n

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Kali Hamerton-Stove, who co-founded The Glasshouse project with her friend Melissa Murdoch, outside the project\u2019s shop in Cranbrook.<\/span><\/figcaption> \u00a9 Lisa Linder<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

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Tennessee-born Kali has a background in international marketing and ran her own caf\u00e9\/plant shop<\/a> locally, so botanics were a natural fit. With Melissa, she formulated an idea to train up to ten women at a time to raise houseplants in the glasshouses and their initial business plan, supported by a \u00a350,000 director\u2019s loan, was based around plantscaping. This entails sending in a team to install and maintain houseplant schemes in corporate settings, which generates an ongoing income stream. To this they have added online sales, corporate gifting and now a smart plant shop (called The Glasshouse) in nearby Cranbrook, where the women gain experience working in a retail environment.<\/p>\n

The project began in February 2020 and, despite the many challenges \u2013 both of Covid and of learning how to integrate into the prison\u2019s system \u2013 it has thrived, doubling its turnover in two years. All profits are reinvested to grow the programme and to help ex-offenders rehabilitate. Women who apply to work in the scheme train on site for an NVQ in horticulture<\/a> with modules tailored to houseplant cultivation, skills they can take on into further employment post-release. They also receive practical, mental and emotional support, provided by Maria Love, who has joined the project as head of social impacts.<\/p>\n

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Women work in the glasshouses two days a week and are trained in all aspects of houseplant care.<\/span><\/figcaption> \u00a9 Lisa Linder<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Kali has set high standards: plants are bought in small and grown on, being repotted into peat-free compost<\/a> tailored to each plant. Propagation<\/a> skills are taught too, although there isn\u2019t enough space to do this on a commercial scale. Their houseplants<\/a> are lush and healthy and those for sale online and in the shop<\/a> are planted up into fine Italian clay pots<\/a> with matching saucers. Mail-order packaging is all biodegradable.<\/p>\n

Clare and two of the other women, Katie and Carla, speak of the benefits that the scheme has brought them. Clare and Katie both say that plant care has become a vocation and they have ambitions to keep working for the project when they leave prison. \u201cIt\u2019s my calling now,\u201d says Katie. \u201cNature is so soothing and being in the glasshouses brings me a sense of peace<\/a>.\u201d Clare agrees. \u201cWorking in the shop makes you feel like a normal person,\u201d she says, \u201cand helps you adjust back into society.\u201d Meanwhile Carla reports that her family has noticed a positive change in her since she started working with plants. \u201cBeing here has given me a sense of purpose and structure to my day,\u201d she says. \u201cI feel really lucky to be part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Each houseplant that is sold goes out with full directions for its care.<\/span><\/figcaption> \u00a9 Lisa Linder<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

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Kali notices the difference in the women in the programme too. \u201cDuring Covid, they\u2019d come into the glasshouses pent up and upset. By the end of the day you could see them unwinding, be more at peace.\u201d She revels in seeing them gain skills and improve in confidence and ability. \u201cIn prison they have no control over anything in their lives and when you see them standing there giving advice to customers they are in control for once.\u201d<\/p>\n

The response to the project has been very positive and Kali now has ambitions to roll out the scheme to other prisons. It is possible she may expand into men\u2019s prisons but for now, she is focusing on women. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing the benefit to ex-offenders exactly as we envisioned,\u201d she says. \u201cOur aim is to set them on a path to find a good second chance in life and it\u2019s incredible that, through growing houseplants, we have been able to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Learn more about the project at theglasshouse.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n

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\u00a9 Lisa Linder<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n

Clare holds her little umbrella plant nurtured from a rescued offcut, and planned as a gift for her mum.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 Lisa Linder<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n

Mail-order plants are beautifully gift-wrapped in biodegradable paper packaging and card.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 Lisa Linder<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n

A selection of the project\u2019s houseplants. The women are taught how to keep all the plants in tip-top condition and they repot them in custom-mixed, peat-free compost.<\/p>\n

\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\nWorking in The Glasshouse shop three days a week, the women gain experience in arranging the displays and interacting with customers.\n
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\u00a9 Lisa Linder<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n

Signage on the Cranbrook shopfront explains to customers how the plants have been raised in prison glasshouses with a view to reducing reoffending rates through horticultural training.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 Lisa Linder<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n

Large specimens such as these parlour palms are used in plantscaping schemes which are installed by the women.<\/p>\n

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\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
\u00a9 Lisa Linder<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n

Training is given in identifying and then carefully labelling all the plants being cared for.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 Lisa Linder<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n

Nurturing the plants on a day-to-day basis is both satisfying and calming for the women who spend time here.<\/p>\n

This article appeared in the October issue of Gardens Illustrated magazine. Subscribe here.\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n

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