Katherine Kelly, Coronation Street’s Becky Granger, visited crime reduction charity Nacro’s ‘Ladies That Lunch’ garden at the RHS Tatton Flower Show on Tuesday 22nd July 2008, on the day that the garden was awarded a bronze medal by the RHS judges.
Katherine’s character Becky is an ex-offender and ex-prisoner who turned her life around with help from characters Hayley and Roy Cropper.
Nacro invited Katherine to visit Ladies That Lunch to meet the Nacro tenants and service users who designed and built the garden – people who, like Becky, have experienced homelessness or who are moving away from an offending past with help and support from Nacro.
The twin themes of Nacro’s back-to-back entry are chickens and self-sufficiency. As the world tries to get to grips with the credit crunch and the threat of global warming, ‘Ladies That Lunch’ offers simple solutions for gardens of all sizes – from keeping chickens for fresh eggs to planting fruit and herbs.
The planting provides food for both chickens and humans and the chickens help the environment by recycling food waste and producing compost.
Getting involved in RHS Tatton has helped Nacro’s tenants and service users to change their lives for the better, giving them responsibility and something to really care about. They have seen their ideas grow into a beautiful garden for the chickens (the ‘ladies’) to enjoy.
One feature of the garden – the hen house – was built by Nacro service users from recycled wood and after the show will be donated to a farmhouse in Cumbria to house rescued battery hens.
Nacro’s garden will be home to live chickens throughout the week of the show, thanks to Tatton Park, as well as chicken sculptures by the Big Black House Design Company.
Commenting on her visit to the garden, Katherine Kelly said:
“Nacro is a charity I’ve wanted to get to know for some time and so I was really pleased to come down to see their garden.
“It’s very relevant to my character Becky and I think that if she were real she would really benefit from a project like this.
“If Becky didn’t have Hayley and Roy, she would need Nacro.”
Lou Campbell, Nacro service user involvement worker, said:
”More and more people are keeping domestic chickens and this year our garden illustrates just how easy it can be to keep your own brood of ‘ladies’.
“Ladies That Lunch combines supporting healthy living and supporting people who have nothing.
“Through Nacro’s allotment project and entering the RHS we are using gardening to help people turn their lives around.”
Nacro tenants and service users made the following comments about their involvement in the project:
Jason: “Being involved with Nacro has saved my life. I am a member of the growing group in Manchester and volunteer each week on the allotment projects. If I was not involved in this group I would probably be begging on the streets, involved in drugs, or locked up. My relationship with my family is growing rapidly and my mum, especially, is really proud of my achievements.”
Teresa: “After becoming involved in last year's RHS garden and getting the gardening bug, I again have participated in this year's RHS garden by doing the plant research for plants that chickens will either eat or leave alone. Thanks to Nacro and the RHS, I have found great pleasure in a healthy activity.”
Jacqui: "Two years ago, I was homeless and addicted to drugs. I was persuaded to join in and it was amazing, seeing something grow from nothing, something so beautiful. It was such a buzz, everyone working together, and we won a silver medal. That was a turning point for me. I'd never experienced anything like it and it gave me the space to reflect. Today, I'm building bridges with my children and working with networks of other service users and getting qualified. I'm never going back to where I've been."
Anne-Marie: “I joined the gardening group six weeks ago and it has literally changed my life. Due to my mental health I never left the house except to go to the shops for an hour. But now I do something with the group most days. I have even contacted my family after twenty years because I now have the confidence and strength of mind to go through with it.”
Dalton: “Being a part of the growing group gets me out of the flat doing things outdoors. It helps me to keep off the drink. If I wasn’t involved in this, I would be sat in my flat bored and drinking for most of the day. Most of all I enjoy meeting a lot of different people.”
Patrick: “At first I thought being part of a group wasn’t for me, but I was so so wrong in every way. Being with others gives me the confidence I need. Thank you to all the group.”
Photograph:
Katherine Kelly with Nacro tenants and service users (l to r) Iain, Teresa, Jacqui and Dalton
Notes to editors
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Nacro’s garden, Ladies That Lunch, can be found in the back-to-back garden area, plot E48.
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Ladies That Lunch was designed and built by Nacro tenants and service users from across the North West – people who have suffered homelessness, drug and alcohol addictions, mental health problems and ex-offenders – with support and funding from Manchester in Bloom.
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Katherine Kelly has played Becky Granger in Coronation Street since February 2006, when she appeared as the prison cell mate of Kelly Crabtree, and came back in November 2006 at a literacy class for ex-offenders where Hayley Cropper was teaching. She was nominated for three awards at the 2008 British Soap Awards, including Best Actress.
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The RHS Tatton Flower Show takes place from 23rd to 27th July 2008. Tickets are available from the hotline on 0870 906 3781. For more information visit http://www.rhs.org.uk/tatton/2008
