A THERAPY garden has been offering residents at a homeless hostel a safe place to relax for a year.

St Paul’s Hostel in Tallow Hill Worcester opened the Stepping Stones garden this time last year, after it was designed by RHS award winning garden designer, Christian Dowle.

Felicity James, skills development and community engagement manager at St Paul’s, said: “The Stepping Stones garden was a disused, grubby patio area when we started changing into a more therapeutic community.

"Christian Dowle came in and redesigned it so people have an outside space to be in to read the paper and feel safe.”

The kitchen garden is where residents grow fruit and veg and help tend to the garden which Miss James said is therapeutic.

The garden was also a messy area full of rubbish, which residents helped tidy up and built the raised beds where food is grown.

Jamie is a resident at St Paul's and is looking after part of the garden. He said: “I’ve got big compost bins in the corner for all the waste, I’ve grassed over the area and I’ve planted creepers which should block out some of the noise and be nicer to look at. This gives me something to do and I’m learning a lot. I’ve learned a lot about veg, when to prune, when to plant them.”

Jamie, 48, has lived at St Paul's for two and a half years. He said: “It’s probably saved my life, I was heavily into drugs. They are really good people, all the workers are brilliant. If it wasn’t for these people I don’t know where I’d be.”

The hostel aims to help clients who have suffered trauma. Miss James said: “In Worcester, St Paul’s is almost seen as a doss house where people come to remain homeless, but it’s a lot more than that. We have people who have been through trauma in their childhood, all kinds of abuse, parents in prison, and parents with mental health issues.

"We are trauma aware, so when you walk past a homeless person and say what's wrong with them, we say what's happened to them. So it's about changing the question."

St Paul's Hostel offers many different opportunities to clients. Their chef offers training which results in a qualification and a stepping stone to employment. There is a councillor on site who gives sessions every week and residents have access to a job coach."

Police call outs to the hostel have reduced by 41% from 2011.