Students from our new Steps into Horticulture course have been getting hands-on experience through a six-week volunteering project at Morden Hall Park, working alongside the National Trust’s Community Rangers.

Steps into Horticulture builds on Share’s well-established horticulture programme, offering students the chance to take their skills further and prepare for employment. The course focuses on developing both practical gardening techniques and essential work-readiness skills such as teamwork, communication and timekeeping. 

The volunteering project has helped our students to build their confidence in new settings. Every Monday, the class travelled from Share Tooting to Morden Hall Park, where they spent the morning working outdoors with Community Ranger Molly. This not only gave students the chance to practise familiar horticultural tasks in a new environment, but also gave them experience of following instructions from someone they haven’t worked with before, an important step towards future employment.

Students took part in a range of activities: deadheading roses in the Rose Garden, raking hay meadows, and removing invasive plants such as the Tree of Heaven. They used a variety of tools, from secateurs and loppers to a new piece of equipment for everyone - the 'tree popper', which helps pull out roots.

The project has been a fantastic opportunity for students to apply their horticultural knowledge in real-world settings, build their confidence, and get a taste of what working life might look like. As well as helping to care for the park’s green spaces, they’re also growing the skills and self-belief that will help them thrive beyond Share.