Laura Blane

Laura Blane completed 29 years of police service with Police Scotland, most of which was spent as a frontline officer. Although the job was at times stressful, Laura enjoyed being part of a terrific shift but working shifts whilst bringing up a family was demanding and hectic. “It was through this that I found comfort in my garden. On the most horrible of days, I would dream of planting seeds in a lovely big greenhouse and how much less taxing that would be on my wellbeing.”

“Retirement gave me the opportunity to act on this vision. Having missed out on the college/university experience when I was younger as the choice of courses wasn`t to my liking (I’m at my best when learning experientially). I thought that now was the time to change that. I would like to teach others how to help their mental and physical health through gardening or even just being outdoors in nature.”

“When I looked at the photos of the facilities at the campus I knew this course was for me. I could imagine that this was the perfect location for me to study as it didn`t look like a dark dingy classroom. The fact that the course was more practical also appealed to me. The greenhouses are very old but lovely to walk through each time being made aware of a new scent or colourful flower. It really is amazing.”

“Two days a week are spent in class at the campus, one day online and one day work experience at Greenbank Garden. The course has reinforced some of the things I knew as a trial-and-error gardener but it also given me a lot of confidence in an assortment of new areas.”