Phone:
01475 725251
Landscape and Horticultural Services
Our News
Jay starts his apprenticeship with In-work
8 April 2018
We are pleased to have a new addition to our horticultural team. Jay McLeish joined us on a 6 month work experience placement in September working alongside our horticulturalists mainly in the greenhouses cultivating and propagating plants. This experience gave him a real understanding of the skills and knowledge required to care for plants correctly in different environments. There is nothing like getting your hands dirty to grow your knowledge and confidence! Jay is really happy to be given the opportunity at such a young age in the career that he wants to pursue.
Jay will be working alongside Liam Kelly and Chris Trainer, who will be mentoring him through his three year apprenticeship at Langside College.
Margaret Tait, CEO comments; “I wish Jay every success in this new role and know the team will make him feel welcome. It is great to have another apprentice within the business.”
Broomhill Gardens and Community Hub officially opens!
10 October 2017
Local residents and community representatives came together to celebrate the completion of our new Broomhill Gardens and Community Hub in Mearns Street, Greenock on Friday 27th October by Provost Martin Brennan.
Inverclyde Provost Martin Brennan, Jenny Speck chairperson of Broomhill Tenants' and Residents' Association, Margaret Tait, CEO of Inverclyde Association for Mental Health and local MSP Stuart McMillan
Our new Broomhill Gardens and Community Hub are finally finished and we are open for business! Please come along and visit our Garden Cafè overlooking the courtyard and have a look around our Community Hub and training rooms. If you are interested in booking a community, family or business event please drop in, contact us on 01475 553570 or visit our dedicated website www.broomhillhub.org.uk for more information and a booking form. We look forward to welcoming you!
.JPG?etag=W%2F%2220f19d-59fa20bd%22&sourceContentType=image%2Fjpeg&ignoreAspectRatio&resize=267%2B200&extract=0%2B0%2B267%2B200&quality=85 "Broomhill Gardens and community hub")
Broomhill Project Progress. Week 41 and almost finished!
Courtyard
Cafe from Servery
Community Centre
Cafe from Servery
Cafe
Community Centre
Walled Garden
Week 36 on the Broomhill Gardens and Community Centre Build
12th April 2017
Walled garden
Inside Workshop... awaiting windows
Conference Room
Office area
Walled Garden looking to Community Centre
Community Centre
Conference Room
Training Room
Walled Garden looking to corner of Cafe and Community Centre
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Update on Broomhill Gardens and Community Centre
15 March 2017
Week 32 of a 41 week build and we are delighted to say we are still on time and on budget thanks to the hard work and efforts of our design team and our contractors.
Building 2 : Workshop and Bothy
Community centre hall and meeting room
Cafe and kitchen area
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Local children from Wellington Nursery visit Bob the Builder!
3rd March 2017
The children have been watching the building work from the nursery and were happy to be invited on site by main contractor CCG to see the work up close. They especially enjoyed the dumper trucks and diggers.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Congratulations to John Boyd on being awarded Lantra Scotland’s Land-based and Aquaculture Learner of the Year Award.
6th March 2017
.jpg?etag=W%2F%2214d87-58bfda11%22&sourceContentType=image%2Fjpeg&ignoreAspectRatio&resize=685%2B514&extract=0%2B0%2B685%2B421&quality=85)
John (centre) with John Dyer (chair of IAMH) and co-worker Liam Kelly
We are delighted to announce that John Boyd was recognised for his hard work and endeavour during his studies at Glasgow Clyde Collavourby being awarded the Lantra Learner of the Year Award.
John was presented the award at a ceremony on Thursday 2 March at the Doubletree by Hilton Dunblane Hydro Hotel. The ceremony included a keynote address from TV presenter Adam Henson. The 2017 judges include Ray Jones, former Chairman of Scotland Food and Drink, and Keith Paterson of Forestry Commission Scotland
John, from Port Glasgow, has completed a Level 2 Horticulture award and is now studying for a Level 3 award in Parks, Gardens and Greenspace at Glasgow Clyde College, a course designed for those employed in the horticulture or landscape industry. John is involved with carrying out hard and soft landscaping works, ground maintenance contracts, Scotrail adopt a station programme, tree and shrub planting, timber fence construction and taking part in community projects.
The Lantra Learner of the Year Award recognises the achievements of those who work in Scotland’s rural sector and is organised by Lantra Scotland, a sector skills council for land based, aquaculture and environmental industries.
John, 25, said: “It is an honour to be recognised in Scotland’s Land-based and Aquaculture Learner of the Year Awards. I really enjoy my Horticulture course and it has inspired me to broaden my knowledge of the industry to help with future job prospects.”
The SVQ Level 3 Parks, Gardens and Greenspace course at Glasgow Clyde College includes learning about monitoring and maintaining health and safety standards, identifying plants and co-ordinating the control of pests and diseases and to prepare and construct hard landscaped areas.
Derek Carson, Horticulture Lecturer at Glasgow Clyde College, said: “Everyone at the college is proud of John for being nominated for such an important award. To have a student who is so passionate about his studies is great for us to see as the subject of Horticulture is an important one. We hope those who are interested in this course are inspired by John and his achievement to step forward and learn something new and exciting about the Horticulture industry.”
Allan Maliska, Project Manager at In-work Enterprises Ltd., said: “This is a great achievement for John and everyone at In-work couldn’t be happier for him. It is evident that John has a good attitude and commitment to his Horticultural duties, which he carries out to a high standard. John enjoys his work and takes great pride in assisting others around him which has enabled him to become a valued member of our team.”
.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Week 28 on the new Broomhill Horticultural and Training Centre and Community Centre
15th February 2017
As the internal work begins on Building 1 we are on target to complete in July 2017
The underfloor heating pipes in Building 1 are laid and the concrete screed will be poured this week
View over the courtyard to the cafe and meeting rooms/offices
View over courtyard to community centre
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Week 24 on the Horticultural and Training Centre and Community Centre
18th January 2017
As you can see the project continues to gather momentum with walls and roofs on in week 24.
View to the side of the Community Centre and looking to Cafe and Offices.
Community Centre on the Left with cafe and offices beyond courtyard.
Work Continues at Broomhill
21 Dec 2016
Week 20 of a 41 week build and the steel structure is up its really starting to take shape.
GOOD PROGRESS TO DATE ON BROOMHILL PROJECT
26 October 2016
We are on week 12 of a 41 week project and the foundations are in.
Building 1: Community Centre, Cafe and Training Rooms
Building 2: Bothy and Store
WORK IS NOW UNDERWAY AT THE GREENOCK HORTICULTURE TRAINING AND COMMUNITY CENTRE
2 September 2016
Pictured: Allan Maliska (Project Manager In-work Enterprises Ltd) and Jenny Speck (chair of the Broomhill Tenants’ and Residents Association) Derek Gall ( Project Manager CCG) Stuart Andrews (Site Manager) CCG, Councillors – Brennan, Clocherty, Shepherd. Representatives of the Broomhill Comminity, Horticultural Assisstants (in-work Enterprises Ltd) Margaret Tait CEO ( Inverclyde Association for Mental Health) IAMH service users and volunteers.
Construction company CCG have commenced construction works on our new £2.1m Horticultural Training & Community Centre in Mearns Street, Greenock.
This state of the art facility is expected to be open by June 2017 and will play a central part in the dynamic regeneration of the Broomhill area. It will offer local residents a new community hall, coffee shop, training & meeting rooms together with new dedicated office space for Inverclyde Association for Mental Health’s trading subsidiary “In-work Enterprises Ltd”. Building 2 will house the horticultural services and in time, Phase 2 will see the project expand with the addition of outdoor space for planting and green houses on the adjacent Blaes pitch site.
Margaret Tait, CEO of Inverclyde Association of Mental Health, said: “All of this would not have been possible without the vision and financial investment from The Big Lottery, Inverclyde Council, Scottish Government and our own organisation Inverclyde Association for Mental Health. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their support, commitment and perseverance in getting us to this stage and look forward to this time next year when we will have a facility that we can all be proud of.”
It is the Inverclyde Association of Mental Health’s aspiration that through their social enterprise principles they will be able to deliver positive health, social, educational, training and employment outcomes. Their aim is that with time it will be recognised that partnerships between the public, third sector and local communities is an effective model of delivering community regeneration and participation.
Inverclyde Council’s vice convener for regeneration, Councillor Jim Clocherty, said: “This is an important milestone in delivering this new community centre, but also in the wider regeneration of Broomhill. By working in partnership with, in particular, The Inverclyde Association of Mental Health, this exciting project will deliver an innovative and exciting facility for our area.”
Derek Gall, CCG Projects Manager added: “The Horticultural Training & Community Centre is an important project for the community of Greenock and one in which CCG will approach with our trademark care and efficiency. We are proud to be working with Inverclyde Association of Mental Health and are confident that, upon its completion, this bespoke facility will contribute greatly to the wider regeneration aspirations of Inverclyde Council and beyond.”
Planning Permission Granted for In Work Horticultural Training Centre and Community Centre
June 2016
Our Social Enterprise which is wholly owned by IAMH has been granted planning permission from Inverclyde Council's Regeneration and Planning Department for the new Horticultural Training Centre and Community Centre at Mearns Street. The Planning Notice can be viewes on Inverclyde's planning portal https://planning.inverclyde.gov.uk/Online/simpleSearchResults.do?action=firstPage.
This is a partnership project with financial support from Inverclyde Council, the SG Regeneration Capital Grant Fund (RCGF) and The Big Lottery. The contractors, CCG (Scotland) Ltd expect to start securing the site in mid July with the project expected to be completed by June 2017. The Design team include:
Inch Designer and Architecture
Armour Construction Consultants
Design ID
Atelier Ten
ERZ Ltd
We are grateful to all our design and legal team and our partners for all their hard work on our behalf and we are looking forward to seeing the project starting!
Social Enterprise Development award 2015
6 November 2015
In-work enterprises Ltd have won the Social Enterprise Development award 2015 through Inverclyde Community Awards "Reach for the stars" event, which was held at the Beacon arts centre on the 4th of November. Congratulations to all staff and service users!
Social Enterprise Development Nomination 2015
2 November 2015
We have been short listed for a Social Enterpise Development award through Inverclyde community awards 2015. This will be held at the Beacon arts centre on Wednesday 4th November.
Grass cutting and garden tidy 2016
19 October 2015
We are opening a list for grass cutting and garden maintenance starting in spring 2016. Contact us on 01475 725251 for a free estimate.
Winter projects and garden maintenance works
19 October 2015
Are you looking to have your garden or premises maintained over the winter? Contact us for commercial and domestic ground maintenance works, hard and soft landscaping and tree felling and cutting back branches and limbs. We offer free estimates and very competitive prices.
Big Lottery Funding Announcement
8 January 2015
We are delighted to announce that Inverclyde Association for Mental Health's, “In Work Transitional programme” has been awarded £999,358 from the Big Lottery to create a new horticultural training and community facility from which it will develop the employability support it provides for people with mental health issues. The organisation currently delivers its services from two different locations which are some distance apart. Today’s award will mean they will be able to buy and refurbish a vacant site in Broomhill where the new facility will be based.
New Mearns Steet Proposal
Monday, 11 August 2014
Inverclyde Association for Mental Health (IAMH) have applied for permission to build a horticultural training and community centre to be built on land stretching from Mearns Street to Nile Street taking in the site of the disused Mearns Centre -- which would be demolished -- and the blaes gravel pitch between Nile Street, Dempster Street and Trafalgar Street.
The project involves the development of a new horticulture training and community facility that comprises of a range of training space; meeting space; hall area; cafe; and office space. It will also include the development of a new demonstration garden within a courtyard environment and growing area.
The site also incorporates a disused, overgrown aqueduct, formerly part of the Eastern Line of Falls, which is currently redirected further south at Drumfrochar Road. The plan is for this section to be re-opened to allow natural movement of water through the site.
The project is conceived as a series of streets -- existing and new -- which divide the site into three distinctive areas: The Walled Garden, The ‘Green Route’ with ornamental gardens and IAMH growing gardens and demonstration areas.
There would be a garden area on the roof of the building with paths and places to sit offering views of the gardens below and the wider landscape. Following consultation, the proposal emerged that there would be value in merging the horticultural training centre and new community facility as a single project.
The application is pending consideration by Inverclyde Council planning department.
Copyright Inch Architecture +Design Ltd
Inverclyde Association for Mental Health (In-Work Ltd) achieves ‘guaranteed ethical’ business Award
June 2014
Greenock based Inverclyde Association for Mental Health has been awarded the Social Enterprise Mark for their Horticultural Company In-work Ltd, which proves they are in business to help people and protect the environment.
The Social Enterprise Mark Company is the only authority which provides certification to businesses which have proved they operate as a social enterprise, putting people and planet before shareholder profit. The Social Enterprise Mark helps people recognise these unique businesses, acting as a guarantee that profits are used to provide a network of sustainable support & opportunities to enable people with mental health issues maximise their potential within the community of Inverclyde.
Inverclyde Association for Mental Health joins other ethical businesses that have been recognised by being awarded the Mark such as the Eden Project, Big Issue, and Age Scotland Enterprises Limited, CRISIS Counselling, and the Lennox Partnership.
Government data estimates that there are 70,000 social enterprises across the UK, contributing over £24 billion to the economy and employing around a million people.
Social enterprises plough the majority of their profits back into activities that benefit people and planet, rather than just lining shareholders pockets. Social enterprises are working to make a difference across the UK and beyond, but not enough people know what they are or how they work. The Social Enterprise Mark aims to raise awareness of what social enterprises do in order to get more people to buy from, engage with, start up and work for social enterprises.
Inverclyde Association for Mental Health were early adopters of horticultural therapy and in 1993 set up In-Work Horticultural & Landscaping Services, to providing training, voluntary and work-related opportunities in landscaping, ground maintenance and horticulture to people who have experienced mental health issues. In-Work deliver projects to a range of public, private and 3rd sector clients in Inverclyde, Renfrewshire and Glasgow including Scotrail stations, Riverside Inverclyde and Riverside Homes and have built a strong local reputation for their quality, health and safety and positive social outcomes. Over 300 participants have been assisted over the years, training in new skills and learning how to overcome social and economic barriers and to live with their mental health issues.
Margaret Tait, Operations Manager, said, “We’re really proud to have been awarded the Social Enterprise Mark. Inverclyde Association for Mental Health is absolutely committed to supporting sustainable businesses and consequently helping local communities to thrive and prosper”.
Lucy Findlay, Managing Director, Social Enterprise Mark Company, advised:
"With more and more opportunities opening up every day for social enterprises to deliver health services, the Social Enterprise Mark has an important role to play in helping people understand when their health provider is genuinely socially motivated. The Social Enterprise Mark is available across the country and we hope it’s as successful as Fairtrade, in helping people buy in a more ethical way."
PUPILS at a Greenock nursery have been helping to ‘green’ their surroundings.
7 July 2014
Children at Wellington Children’s Centre got involved in brightening up the area around their nursery. Funding for the effort came from local housing association River Clyde Homes and the Scottish Government’s People and Communities Fund. The project is being carried out through Achieve Inverclyde, a partnership between River Clyde Homes, Inverclyde Community Development Trust and In-Work.
Set up in November 2012, Achieve Inverclyde aims to improve environments in specific estates across Inverclyde, while providing unemployed young people with the skills, experience and support to undertake the work. The hope is that they will move into longer term employment or further education to improve their skills, motivation and confidence. To date 11 participants have moved into employment.
Russell Smith, manager of Cleaner, Greener Neighbourhoods at River Clyde Homes said: “We consulted with people in the Lynedoch Street area over what environmental improvements they would like to see in their neighbourhood. A full programme has been developed and residents will receive regular updates on progress. This initiative at the nursery marks the launch of the programme and the aim is to have a cross-section of the community involved. To have young people involved at the beginning and to raise awareness of their local area is really encouraging.”
Elizabeth Jack, head of the Wellington Children’s Centre, said: “Not only will the plants brighten up the exterior of the centre, the children had a great time working with the trainees in planting the shrubs. I look forward to seeing the end results.”
Allan Maliska of In-Work added: “We’re happy to be part of this project as it gives young people a great chance to gain a host of life skills and ultimately to improve their employment opportunities.”
New Chairman Elected
January 2015
We are delighted to welcome John Dyer as the new Chairman of Inverclyde Association of
Mental Health. John follows in the footsteps of Alan Robertson who served the Association
for the last year.
John has been an active Board Member for several years and was the Branch manager of Yorkshire Building Society
Green fingered volunteers are bloomin’ chuffed after their work at Glengarnock Railway Station resulted in a prestigious award.
30 Sep 2013
The station was granted ‘Silver Status’ in Keep Scotland Beautiful’s Tidy Station Standards programme.
The environmental charity have assessed all 347 stations in Scotland since summer 2011 – judging them
on issues such as litter, recycling, waste management and community links before awarding Bronze, Silver, and a small number of Gold statuses. Glengarnock’s Silver award marks a turnaround for the station, after
it failed even to achieve Bronze when last assessed in 2011.
Since then its appearance has been transformed thanks to the work of In-Work Limited, the landscaping
arm of Inverclyde Association for Mental Health, which provides gardening opportunities for people recovering from mental health issues. As part of ScotRail’s Adopt a Station project, In-Work has added colourful floral displays to brighten the appearance of both platforms at the station.
Alan Maliska, In-Work Limited project coordinator, said: “ScotRail’s Adopt a Station project has given us an ideal opportunity to showcase our trainees’ skills – and it is great that all their hard work at Glengarnock has been formally recognised.”
in-Work Enterprises Ltd Company No. SC495974 VAT Registration Number: 208488978