Blisse* is a resident in one of our Move-On houses. This year, supported by our Meaningful Activities Manager, Shanice, he has been exploring new interests.

Blisse’s introduction to gardening was through the Cambridge Cyrenians’ Community Allotment. He first visited with his Project Worker before joining the group regularly.

“Picking up the tools, getting out, seeing and talking to people. Through this, I started getting better.”

Keen to develop his skills and become more active, Blisse took on a small patch of the allotment. Here he had the space to start a first project to grow strawberries.

“When they started growing, that gave me a lot of hope, strength, and courage. Just to see the process and how much they were like me, coming back to life.”

After the strawberries thrived, with help from Ruth, the Allotment Coordinator, Blisse prepared the soil and planted herbs, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, and peppers.

Closer to home

Encouraged by his project at the Community Allotment, Blisse was inspired to make use the garden of his shared house to grow some produce.

The majority of Cambridge Cyrenians’ shared houses are in residential areas across Cambridge and almost all of them have gardens and outdoor spaces. Blisse’s Move-On house has a long and sunny back garden, which was mostly covered in long grass when he moved in.

Working with another resident and the Cambridge Cyrenians’ maintenance team, Blisse started his project by tackling the grass. He then had an idea to plant seedlings in containers and plastic shopping bags. “Some people throw them away, but you can plant in them. It’s a good way to recycle,” he says.

Creativity rekindled

After mowing the grass and planting in the containers, Blisse got permission to dig a vegetable plot in the garden.

“It was from scratch. It was a good experience. I started with just a hand trowel. It was like a battle. I thought, if the plant survives, I survive. It rekindled my creativity.”

Blisse was given some seeds to begin his project but from this first crop, only his beetroot seedlings survived. “When they were just seedlings, I would go out every morning and feed them.”

Soon there were birds, squirrels, slugs, and even a family of foxes visiting the vegetable patch and Blisse had to work hard to protect his young plants. He says he would sit in the garden to scare the birds away: “You have to be very active; you’re not just sitting in your room. You have to make sure the little crops aren’t eaten.”

Blisse shared the beetroot crop with the residents in his house, as well as Shanice and others who had helped him with the project.

Keen to find ways to maximise his produce, he made pesto with the beetroot leaves. “The leaves were the part that really flourished,” he says.

Finding consistency

After his first trial, Blisse has been able to expand his project with more seeds. This year he has planted onions, potatoes, beetroots, and beans.

The crops are growing well this time around. Encouraged by his project, Blisse has hopes for the future: “I hope to get back to a job. One of the benefits of living [with Cambridge Cyrenians] has been the time and opportunity to get my head clearer.”

He says that living with Cambridge Cyrenians has given him “something constant.”

*Name changed to protect privacy.

Experiencing homelessness regularly goes hand-in-hand with unemployment.

Without recent work experience or formal qualifications, people trying to move on from homelessness often struggle to find employment, leaving them locked in poverty and vulnerable to falling back to rough sleeping.

Cambridge Cyrenians’ Meaningful Activities Project supports residents to access education, training, and voluntary work to increase their employability and move permanently away from homelessness.

Residents like Blisse work with our Meaningful Activities Manager to identify their goals and work towards picking up new skills and work experience.

Help us fund the Meaningful Activities Project for 2024 and support residents to make positive steps away from homelessness.

With your help we want to support 70 residents to access education, training, or voluntary work this year.

Some of the ways your donation could make this happen:

£60 could pay for a resident’s Construction Skills Certificate.

£40 could purchase PPE or new clothes for interviews.

£20 could cover transport for a course or volunteer placement.

Donate to the 2024 Meaningful Activities Fund and help people experiencing homelessness to make a positive step forwards.