Trust’s gardening project helps teenager’s confidence grow

A Derbyshire teenager who is being housed by Derventio Housing Trust has been finding space to thrive in a valued gardening project.

Leo Webberley, 19, of Heanor, has been living with the trust since just before Christmas last year.

Derventio provides accommodation to hundreds of people across the UK who might otherwise be homeless.

According to its housing officers, shy Leo was barely able to communicate just a few months ago.

Now they say he has been transformed into a confident young man after finding his calling cultivating plants and growing fruit and veg right from seed.

Leo said he had always enjoyed spending time outside but has now truly found his passion in the garden run by Derventio Housing Trust’s Growing Lives project in Ilkeston.

Leo attends Growing Lives daily, growing vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, tomatoes and sweetcorn.

Not just that, he has been turning his talents to growing plants and vegetables in the small outside space at his shared accommodation, using his produce to make meals for housemates as well as Derventio staff.

He said: “I’ve always liked gardening and now I’ve just clicked with it. Last week I made carrot cakes fresh from the carrots in the garden.

“Gardening is just peaceful. You can do whatever – and it just grows. I really like the energy at Growing Lives. You can do whatever you want. When you’re gardening, you can listen to your thoughts. If you put your mind to it, you can grow it.”

Katie Rose, Derventio Housing Trust housing and support worker, said: “When I first met Leo, I would go to the house, and he used to open the door a tiny little bit.

“He was quite shy and introverted and not comfortable. He started coming to Growing Lives and now he’s a major part of the community there.”

Sarah Hernandez, managing director at Derventio Housing Trust, said: “We are so proud of the journey that Leo has been on since joining us in 2024.

“At Derventio we encourage the whole person to grow – and Leo has been doing that by finding out his real passion lies in the garden.

“We are delighted that through our Growing Lives project he has been able to achieve such positive change in his life and on those of his housemates and the wider Derventio family.

“Congratulations to Leo for an amazing personal turnaround.”