LAUKCIC & AA Garden – Plant, Create, Grow Together

In this four-week horticultural therapy workshop in partnership with Latin Ageing UK (LAUKCIC), we met a group of women with rich life experiences and unique personal stories. They are passionate, wise, resilient, and carry deep cultural memories. Though they have lived in the UK for many years, they often navigate between caregiving, labour work, immigration status, and language barriers. Having time and space of their own is a rare and precious experience.

These women are not “silent” or “isolated,” but rather a structurally overlooked group. Language obstacles, cultural gaps, and the lack of a social support system have gradually stripped away their opportunities to express themselves, develop interests, and build confidence. This is not an individual “problem” but a collective outcome of systemic marginalisation.

Latin Ageing UK (UKCIC) is one of the few organisations in London that consistently serves older Latin American communities. Here, women speak to each other in familiar languages, trust builds slowly and deeply, and cultural identities are nourished. They are no longer an “invisible minority” but real, vibrant, humorous, and powerful individuals. Before our collaboration, we had only “heard of them.” Through working together, we truly “heard them.”

Our goal in this partnership was not to “teach” gardening or language, but to use gardening as a mediating language—a space where verbal ability is not a prerequisite. Here, participants could express emotions through plants, build relationships with their hands, and practice language in a non-judgmental setting. Through the act of doing, they began to rebuild a sense of belonging and meaning.

A Four-week Gardening Journey: From Silence to Self-expression

We designed a therapeutic horticulture workshop for this group of women, combining emotional functions and language strategies in each session to gently guide them toward expression and connection.

Session 1: “Which Flower Am I?”Keywords: Self-awareness, emotional externalisation, trust-buildingUsing spring flowers, such as pansies, daffodils, and hyacinths, as inspiration, we introduced planting techniques through bilingual cards. Participants chose a flower representing their current or ideal state and created a “psychological balcony” through sowing and collage.

“I chose the hyacinth because it reminds me of the garden back home.”“I picked the pansy because I feel like I have three different moods right now.”

Design purpose: Using floral imagery to help identify and express emotions in a low-pressure setting to establish trust.

Session 2: “Do We Eat the Same?”Keywords: Cultural dialogue, language activation, self-worthParticipants explored seeds of common British vegetables such as courgettes, aubergines, and broccoli. Each person shared the names and recipes from their home countries, co-creating a “multilingual vegetable bed.”

“So this is called courgette? I only knew zucchini!”

Design purpose: Activate cultural sharing through food, empower participants as knowledge providers, and boost confidence in expression.

Session 3: “The Taste of Home”Keywords: Sensory memory, emotional grounding, cultural narrationThis session focused on scent and emotion. Participants made lavender sachets to take home. We then gathered around an “global tea table,” each person sharing a cup of tea from their homeland and the memory it carried.

“This tea reminds me of my family—he made it for me every morning.”

Design purpose: Use smell to awaken deep emotions; encourage cultural identity expression and promote mutual understanding.

Session 4: “Echoes of Growth” – Spring Flower BasketKeywords: Belonging, achievement, self-affirmationParticipants crafted personal flower baskets with the plants they had nurtured. Through choosing, trimming, and arranging, they reflected on their growth over the past weeks.

“This is the first flower I’ve ever grown in London.”

Design purpose: Turn creations into visible proof of “I was here”; reinforce identity and sense of social participation.

Subtle and Real Transformations

During the sessions, we observed:

• Some participants planted for themselves for the first time in years.

• They shared knowledge from home and shifted from “caregivers” to “knowledge holders.”

• They built new social bonds through shared planting and dialogue, with noticeably lifted moods.

• Most importantly, they began asking: “What else can I do, just for me?”

This change was not accidental but grounded in Latin Ageing UK (LAUKCIC)’s long-standing cultural support. Trust, linguistic safety, and cultural familiarity allowed true care to unfold.

From “Caring for Others” to “Caring for Themselves”

We firmly believe:We are not “teaching language” or “teaching adaptation.” We are allowing something to emerge.What matters is not how many words were learned, but whether they were truly heard.Not whether they speak fluent English, but whether they could plant a flower of their own in London.

Gardening is a tool—the real work is about repairing social structures: helping people move from “just a mother/caregiver/migrant” to rediscovering their “self.”

Rooting and Blooming: What This Collaboration Taught Us

This was a meaningful collaboration. We realised that without organisations like Latin Ageing UK (LAUKCIC), which deeply understand cultural context and community dynamics, most “interventions” would struggle to make real impact.

• Cultivating relationships as a foundation for trust

  Latin Ageing UK (LAUKCIC)’s long-term relationships with its community made this project possible. In many migrant communities, mental health support is difficult to implement due to lack of trust or cultural mismatch. Their work proves: relationships are the entry point to caring, and these are not replicable through short-term projects.

• Creating culturally safe and truly therapeutic spaces

  Participants could express themselves in their native language, share migration stories, and bring forward their own knowledge. This is more than just translation—it’s emotional and identity alignment. Latin Ageing UK (LAUKCIC)’s core strength lies in this cultural attunement.

• Building platforms for empowering collaboration

  This project wasn’t just about planting. It was a platform for cross-disciplinary collaboration and co-creation. Latin Ageing UK (LAUKCIC) showed outstanding coordination skills, effectively bridging external expertise and internal community resources—laying the foundation for future health initiatives across movement, nutrition, arts, and more.

• Enabling public participation for women

  This work goes beyond serving older women—it redefines their public roles. It enables migrant women to see and hear one another, to share their experiences, and rebuild their identities. For those marginalised by language or culture, this space is rare and powerful. It is not merely service—it is social empowerment.

• Demonstrating clear potential for growth and replication

  The collaboration received overwhelmingly positive feedback—high attendance, satisfaction, and engagement. Most importantly, Latin Ageing UK (LAUKCIC) showed systemised capacity, clear vision, and willingness to expand. With the right support, they have the potential to scale this model across more languages, communities, and themes.

We don’t just need more “projects.”We need community soil where people can take root and flourish.Spaces and services like these are not extras—they are essential to building a society rooted in dignity and cultural inclusion.