GEORGE Lewis leans back on his heels and takes a break from digging in the little plot he helps to manage in Bellahouston Garden.

"This project gives me a reason to get up in the morning," he says, with a smile.

George sustained a brain injury after hitting his head in a bad fall.

"I have mobility problems as a result of my injury, but working in the garden is helping me get healthy," he explains.

"It has made me feel worthwhile and I've learned so much – how to plant and harvest vegetables, for a start. And it's improved my diet because I cook what I grow."

George, from Ibrox, joined the Pathways programme at Momentum Skills a few months ago and he says it has transformed his whole attitude to life.

"It knocks your confidence when you have a brain injury," he says.

"Being here has made me consider getting active in my local community, helping elderly people perhaps to look after their gardens.

"And it's helping me learn new skills and ultimately, might help me return to work."

Paul Martin, 42, from Castlemilk, has been on the project for a year.

"I enjoyed planning and designing the garden and working here keeps me fit," he smiles.

"It helped me get a volunteering role at Lambhill Stables community garden and I hope it might help me get into further education too.

"I've always enjoyed gardening, and this has given me a second chance of doing it. It lifts my spirits coming here, and it gives me the confidence to go on when I feel down."

For former labourer Alex McLean, from Condorrat near Cumbernauld, the project has given him back skills he thought he had lost.

It's been great meeting new people and sharing ideas – I really love all aspects of horticulture as a result," says Alex, who suffered a blood clot on his brain in 2008.

"It also gave me the confidence to start volunteering – I now help out at Shettleston Community Garden and make garden furniture at the Glasgow Wood Recycling Yard. Being part of Momentum has done a lot for me."

One of the project's former participants, Joe McCarron, is full of praise for what it did for him.

Joe, an industrial cleaner, fell from a ladder and fractured his skull three years ago.

"When I joined Pathways, I did things I never thought I'd be able to do," says Joe.

"The garden project inspired me to get involved with another allotment, where I work two days per week and I still help out at Bellahouston, mentoring new starts and mucking in when I can.

"Working outdoors helps blow the cobwebs out of my head because I'm just concentrating on the work I'm doing."

Lorraine Murray, who co-ordinated the Pathways project in Glasgow until she left the charity to start a new job earlier this month, has watched with pride as her team of gardeners transformed the space inside Bellahouston Park over the last year.

"We were allocated the space by Glasgow City Council, who have been incredibly supportive, and the guys are currently designing a themed garden and allotment in which to grow their own fruit and vegetables," she explains.

"Sadly, a break-in last year meant we lost a lot of tools and compost, but we have not let it dampen our enthusiasm.

"The team are out in all weathers, making the garden look fantastic, and it has really boosted their skills and confidence.

"Thanks to Robert Watson, the council's allotments officer, we have really come on over the past few months, but hopefully things can develop even further."

James Japp, the new co-ordinator who has taken over from Lorraine, and his team are backing the Evening Times Streets Ahead campaign, which aims to encourage people all over the city to improve their communities.

He was delighted with the news that we are awarding the project £1000.

"Streets Ahead is a fantastic campaign and that money will give us an enormous boost," says James.

"The Evening Times campaign is bound to inspire people to get out into their local communities to see what they can do to make things better.

"Gardening is one of those things that can unite people and here at Pathways, we see that in action. But our little plot is about more than just digging and planting – it's about helping people get their lives back."

BEHIND the walls of Bellahouston Park's community garden, a group of men is hard at work. Pulling out weeds, planting for the spring and maintaining plots through the winter.

They are backing our Streets Ahead campaign in a bid to get more people sowing and growing in their communities.

Like gardeners across the city, this group is always busy. But all of these men are recovering from brain injuries.

The Bellahouston garden is about more than just crops and compost – it's about hope.

And the Evening Times was happy to help – in conjunction with our partners Glasgow City Council, Glasgow Charitable Trust, Glasgow Housing Association and Strathclyde Fire and Rescue – with £1000 towards equipment, plants and materials.

ANN FOTHERINGHAM reports.

LORRAINE MURRAY

ALEX McLEAN