The amazing Tropical Tunnel - which features plants and a waterfall - can be found at Workbridge, the educational and commercial arm of the complex mental health charity St Andrew’s Healthcare.
Workbridge provides a vocational learning service to people who attend daily sessions, to help people work towards life and employment skills. There, the learners attend different learning programmes across food and health, creative arts and innovation, design technology and engineering, digital skills, and gardening and the natural world.
But, it was the attendees of the gardening and natural world sessions who came together to create the tropical tunnel, after being asked to think of how an old polytunnel could be reused.
Jenny Lane, Workbridge Manager said: “It was so surreal to see our Tropical Tunnel project featured on the BBC. When we first started working on the project we never would have dreamed that we’d have it showcased on national TV. It was a fantastic achievement.
“The tunnel was all about encouraging our learners to think creatively about items and how we can repurpose and reuse them. It has become a fantastic resource for us at the charity and means we can teach our learners about climate change, eco-systems from across the world, and sustainable living.”
The project was finished in June last year and staff, patients, learners and Workbridge visitors can now visit the tunnel when it is open, taking in the bespoke eco-system that everyone created together.