'Gardening can help young people feel at peace'

Work is under way on a garden highlighting the mental health pressures on young people.

Gardener Charlie Chase has partnered with Young Minds to create a garden which will appear at May's Chelsea Flower Show before being moved to Newham in east London.

He said: "Young people at the moment feel crushed by a million pressures: there's screen time overuse, there's a cost-of-living crisis, there's also eco-anxiety, which is a big part of the Young Minds garden."

Yash, 18, from Tooting, said: "I feel like nature is a really good way to connect with yourself and be able to feel at peace, especially when it's quite warm and there's a lot of different flowers and a lot of colours and smells going on."

The teenager told BBC London that the garden, which will be in Chelsea's All About Plants category, would feature stones on the ground to represent youngsters feeling crushed by a million pressures.

He said: "There's so much going on nowadays. You see global conflict, you see cost of living, even at school, you see a lot of things to do with relationships and GCSEs and A-levels, it's intense.

"I feel like often these things are kind of overlooked... but everyone experiences it differently... You never know what people are going through in their own personal life.

"This garden is a really good way to show that mental health is something that is very serious. I really hope that the garden sort of represents the good side of mental health."

After the show, the garden will be relocated to Newham where it will become a community space for all, according to Young Minds.

The garden will also be used by Chase Gardens to host gardening sessions with the aim of opening up horticulture.

Yash said: "We never remember some of the good stuff that you can do for yourself, like just getting outdoors, being able to just get off your phone and not have to worry about anything online."

He added: "One of the most positive things about my experience is the fact that we've been able to take charge: we've been able to, for example, pick flowers that we want to put in the garden.

"We've been able to design what we want the garden to look like."

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