Simon Tomlin is Wiston Lodge’s gardener and over the last two and a half years he has dedicated himself to reviving and developing the gardens at Wiston Lodge not simply to provide fresh produce for Wiston Lodge kitchen but also as a place for learning about food production and the natural world . An important part of this project is to create a specific well-being area; a place for quiet reflection for individuals or small groups which he started work on at the end of 2024.
Severe storm damage last winter was a major setback to the garden development and renovation project, relying as it does on limited funding, donations and support from our friends and visitors.
The therapeutic benefits of gardening and being in nature are becoming increasingly recognised and evidenced by NHS and other health bodies, highlighting nature-based interventions as tools for improving mental health, reducing stress and enhancing overall wellbeing.
Simon now runs a mental health and well-being programme at Wiston Lodge every Thursday; this is open to anyone who feels that they could benefit from spending time working in or simply experiencing our garden in its wonderful woodland setting.
“Because I have started working with the mental health support programme and am passionate about creating a specific wellbeing area within the garden, it felt appropriate that I finally open up about my own mental wellbeing” Simon
“As I enter my 69th year, this is becoming increasingly important. Only now am I realising the weight of locking things up. Fifty years ago, when my oldest brother died, the impact of that and the fallout from that event made me want to just lock it all away — so I did. But it doesn’t just go away. And that’s where the anxiety comes from”
As that has become increasingly difficult to carry, Simon has found that working in the garden at Wiston Lodge — and opening up about this with people — is really helping him.
“This is what I want to stress: working in this environment has been of real benefit to me. Encouraging and helping others to experience and reap those same benefits has become my main focus now”
Whether it’s for specific challenges or general wellbeing, the garden offers something meaningful and that’s what inspired Simon to take on the Tour O the Borders, a 120km cycling event in September. A year ago, he’d have said he wasn’t a cyclist, now, he’s doing it as a personal challenge — both the long ride itself and facing the discomfort of being among large crowds, which he’s no longer pretending doesn’t affect him.
Encouraged by his daughter Nina to take up cycling, it’s become an unexpectedly positive step forward –
“She persuaded me to do the Hebridean Way with her last summer, which was the first long distance cycling I had ever done (“long distance” to me was anything over 5 miles !) With her great support I was able to complete that ride. But the Tour O the Borders is a step up from that – not just the challenge of completing the ride itself on the day but also coping with the fact that it
is a mass participation event. I will have to work hard to control the inevitable anxiety that this will entail for me”
In taking on this challenge, Simon also hopes to raise money for the charity, to support the work and development of the garden, so others can experience the same benefits the garden has brought him.