Mary’s story – South Ayrshire.
Mary told us that she was in recovery from addiction, experienced depression, anxiety and was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, when she introduced herself to us.
“I can’t enjoy it. My overgrown garden is negatively impacting my mental health.”
Her council owned property was in need of some TLC. With the help of an advocate, Mary was supported to raise a complaint with her local authority, something that at first she felt that she would not able to do.
The Circles Network advocate was able to explain her situation to the local authority and they sent out a team to maintain the garden. In turn this also has raised awareness for the rest of the shared block occupants, as the shared garden space had been neglected.
Mary also wanted to raise concerns that other neighbours were using her bins and leaving them in a unhygienic state. The advocate supported her to raise this issue. Her bins are now left well alone!
Whilst these issues may seem like small things, their resolution provided a huge sense of relief for Mary, who was trying to get by day-to-day on her road to recovery.
With the issues resolved, Mary is now enjoys her garden. Being able to sit in nature has provided her with a mental health release and has eased her feelings of being trapped indoors.
