Mayfield Nurseries has received £4,970 to fund its Gardening on Prescription programme designed to help people experiencing mental health issues in Southampton.

The donation was provided by the Santander Foundation, which offers Discovery Grants to UK registered charities for projects that help disadvantaged people in local communities.

Mayfield Nurseries is a charity based in Weston, Southampton, which supports people with mental health problems through horticulture. The organisation is a subsidiary of Solent Mind, a leading mental health charity.

The grant will be used to fund four sessions of Gardening on Prescription, a ten week gardening club designed to improve people’s mental health and wellbeing through learning about gardening whilst meeting others in similar situations. Local participants will learn the basics of gardening, such as growing vegetables and how to recognise different types of plants.

Rachel Hampton, Manager at Mayfield Nurseries, said: “We are so pleased to have received this grant from The Santander Foundation. It means we can reach more people in our community and offer them mental health support at a time they need it.”

Christopher Vallis, Branch Manager at Santander’s Southampton branch said: “The Santander Foundation makes hundreds of donations every year to good causes throughout the UK. Our branch is committed to playing a key part in the community and we are delighted to be supporting Mayfield Nurseries, and hope the donation makes a real difference to local people.”

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Notes to Editors:

Media Contact
Stephanie Harris at Santander                    Tel: 020 7756 4221
Rachel Hampton at Mayfield Nurseries        Tel: 023 8044 7743


About Mayfield Nurseries

Mayfield Nurseries is a social enterprise and subsidiary charity of Solent Mind, the leading mental health charity across Hampshire.

Through donations and the sale of high quality plants, shrubs and consumables, we provide a place for people with mental health issues and learning disabilities to attend the nursery, developing skills and confidence to gain employment, volunteer and make positive steps towards improving their wellbeing.

Integral to our philosophy at Mayfield is that everyone can be involved and work as part of a team to deliver the products we have on sale. We stock a range of bedding and basket plants, hanging baskets, herbs, vegetables, perennials, shrubs, trees and garden sundries all at competitive prices. We pride ourselves on the quality of our plants and our customer service. For more information please visit: http://www.mayfieldnurseries.org.uk/  


Santander Foundation
The Santander Foundation is at the heart of the Bank’s community activities, providing grants to small charities and social enterprises working with disadvantaged people to fund skills, knowledge and innovation projects across the UK. Discovery Grants of up to £5,000 are available to support three types of activity:

  • Explorer: improving people’s knowledge
  • Transformer: supporting skills and experience
  • Changemaker: innovative solutions to social challenges

Over the last five years, the Santander Foundation has provided £25 million in funding to 12,600 UK charities and in 2016 a further £5 million will be available through Discovery Grants and Staff Matched Donations. For more information please visit: www.santanderfoundation.org.uk


Santander UK is a financial services provider in the UK that offers a wide range of personal and commercial financial products and services. It has brought real competition to the UK, through its innovative products for retail customers and relationship banking model for UK SMEs. As at 30 June 2016, the bank serves around 14 million active customers with c. 20,000 employees and operates through 847 branches (which includes 58 university branches) and 69 regional Corporate Business Centres. Santander UK is subject to the full supervision of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) in the UK. Santander UK plc customers are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) in the UK.