Thrive Birmingham offer therapeutic gardening programmes to people with a defined health, social or
educational need in the old TV gardens in King’s Heath Park as well as various outreach projects in the
wider community. For those that remember, the TV gardens provided the outside broadcasting
location for Pebble Mill and previously Gardeners’ World and Gardening Times.

The office is based in the pavilion next to the Horticultural Training Centre in the park, but the majority
of our work takes place in the TV gardens.

We use an approach called social and therapeutic horticulture (STH), where our team of trained
therapists work with plants and people to improve an individual’s physical and psychological health,
communication and thinking skills. The therapists, together with our dedicated volunteers, take a
person-centred approach; they work in a variety of ways - in small groups, which maintain good ratios
so that the therapeutic intervention is maximised, on a 1-1 basis for people who may require additional
support at times, and also in larger groups, where there may be more of a focus on social interaction,
facilitated discussion and group learning.

Whilst King’s Heath is a public park, the TV gardens provide a safe, secure and private space for the
client gardeners, therapists and volunteers to work within.