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“I love the friends I have gathered together on this thin raft. We’ve constructed pyramids in honour of our escaping”
Jim Morrison
GROWING CONNECTIONS
Our Social Mission
Thin Raft is a Community Interest Company helping young people build their skills and self-worth by providing training, knowledge and hands-on gardening expertise. Thin Raft opens opportunites for personal growth through therapeutic gardening, mentorship and developing a gardening community. We grow connections.
We are passionate about helping all young people who feel disconnected, no matter the reason. Gardening can be for those who feel that they don’t fit in, for those who struggle academically, for those who are battling such problems as mental health, ADHD, relationship issues both at school and home, particularly within the post-COVID generation.
Our initial focus is on marginalised pupils in State secondary schools with a particular emphasis on disadvantaged areas. Our projects provide support at the earliest possible stage, acting to positively intervene in young lives which are expected to go one way, but invited to go another. We provide connection to the natural world, contact with positive role models with lived experience of overcoming challenges like those the pupils face now, and the creation of meaningful work.
Our gardens are safe and beautiful places from which to start a journey of change. If you want to grow with us, then we invite you onto our thin raft.
What We Do
We have two elements to our social enterprise:
Our private client commissions where we are engaged to provide gardening services at a pre agreed price with all profit being used to finance the part time horticultural training of a young adult.
Working with larger groups in community settings supported financially by grant funding and donations. However, the aim of any project is to generate income from the sale of plants, fruit and vegetables with all profit being reinvested into the project itself. The ultimate goal is for the venture to be self-sufficient, not reliant on funding, and to be managed by the community with decreasing input from Thin Raft.
Our Approach
Safe Spaces
Our allotment workshops are designed to teach young people the fundamentals of gardening, including: soil preparation, growing, planting and nurturing various plants, pest control and harvesting. These workshops provide hands-on experience and practical knowledge that can last a lifetime, but it is as much about growing connections as it is about gardening.
Thin Raft helps young people to build-self worth and positively reframe how they see themselves by opening opportunities for personal growth through therapeutic gardening, mentorship and the development of a gardening family within the school and then connecting it to the wider community.
Meaningful Work
Through our programs, we aim to make a positive impact on the personal development of young people, fostering a sense of accomplishment, self-worth, and environmental stewardship. Our projects are active not passive; it's a doing thing that flows and not about people having things done to or for them. It's about process, involvement, engagement, feeling connection, belonging, feeling safe and identifying with others. Thin Raft is about giving participants agency and providing them with a different access point to learning, outside of a classroom. Our young people are encouraged to work things out for themselves but this in turn can improve their relationships at school and at home, improve their overall wellbeing and gain confidence to improve enagagement academically.
Self Worth
Our team provides ongoing support and guidance on plant care, maintenance, and seasonal gardening tips. We empower young individuals to develop a green thumb and take pride in nurturing their garden.
Teamwork and Community
We offer personalized garden design consultations to help young individuals plan and create their own garden spaces. Our experts provide guidance on layout, plant selection, and sustainable gardening practices.
Project Spotlight:
The Holmesdale School
Our First Project:
We have big plans for The Holmesdale School in Snodland, Kent where we will be working with Year 8 pupils.
A full programme has been developed starting in September 2025. Initially we will be showing these pupils how to grow vegetables and develop a cut flower bed. We will adopt an organic approach to growing and will explain the wider implications of this in respect of local wildlife and the environment. The produce from the garden allotment will be used within the school kitchen and any surplus will be sold to local food retailers and florists. This will create an income stream providing longevity for the project. More importantly, it will give the young people exposure to business and marketing and has the wider potential of revealing other credible career paths to them.
If you want to know more, get involved or assist financially, please get in touch.
Testimonials
Glenn Prebble
Headmaster of The Holmesdale School
“We are 100% committed to this gardening project. Having taken the school out of Special Measures, we want to continue going from strength to strength. Thin Raft is part of this journey and David's enthusiasm of providing support to our pupils matches our own. It is a true partnership”