Great Day Out case studies

Regi's story

When two men were jailed for abuse at the care home that Regi had lived in as a child, a whole lot of difficult memories came flooding back. By then a hard-working builder, he suffered a mental breakdown and turned to alcohol and drug abuse.

After his first failed and rushed attempt at rehab, Regi finally recovered and began taking a slower, more constructive approach to rebuild his life. Through the Salvation Army he took part in a Great Day Out, which helped him realise that there were opportunities out there for him. Today Regi volunteers at the Eden Bakery and is also helping out at other charities such as Race for Life and Plymouth’s St Luke’s Hospice, to give back what he says he feels he owes society.

‘Great Day Out gives people the chance… I’ve done something constructive here. I wanted my life back, and I think I’ve done it…. I’ve got confidence in myself and people have confidence in me and my ability, in what I can do, not what I’ve done.’

Paul's story

Paul came on a Great Day Out with Cosgarne Hall in spring 2011, and he loved Eden so much he decided to volunteer.

To begin with he planned to volunteer one day a week but quickly found himself on site for most of the week due to his enthusiasm and ability to fit into and support the team.

Paul Stone, who heads up the landscape gardening team that Paul volunteers with, says 'Paul has been extremely enthusiastic, he has taken advantage of the opportunity to do work that he has been trained for in previous employment.'

He adds: 'He is enjoying being part of the team.'

Paul says he now aims to get paid work and is doing an NVQ in Horticulture. Volunteering at Eden is developing his CV, giving him contacts for further work, and keeping him busy in a supportive environment.

Dean's story

Dean went into care when he was four years old; as he grew up he started getting into trouble and became a prolific offender with a heroin addiction. He started looking after some plants at his hostel for the Eden Project's Chelsea Flower Show Garden, and then came to Eden for a Great Day Out and decided to become a volunteer in April 2010. He now volunteers regularly with the Great Day Out team helping to guide groups around our site and he wants to do a qualification in horticulture.

Dean says: “At Eden you feel at your best, you feel at ease, which brings the best out in you and brings the best out in other people really. I knew that I would like to be a part of this ethos, the great principles they live by here. It’s so much more then just plants, it’s the whole makeup and the whole cycle of life really; looking after yourself, looking after the world you live in. I feel in my heart of hearts that it's right and I wanted to be part of that. In fact, I’m honoured to part of it.”