Famously, for any prospective do-gooder, there is a golden rule: Treat others as you would like to be treated. Annabelle Padwick, founder of LifeatNo27 has certainly taken the maxim to heart. Stemming from her own mental health journey and belief that “tablets can’t fix a root-cause” LifeatNo.27 offers to all ages the same “perfect combination” of Gardening Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy that Padwick would have wanted as her own treatment from the start.
So, what is the mission of LifeatNo.27?
To provide a range of affordable mental health support services that I never had throughout my whole childhood and adulthood that I know can work for some people. To make available an option that they will never normally be able to access.
The CBT deals with the root-causes, and at the same time the Gardening Therapy builds the confidence and self-esteem to deal with the past and look at the future.
What’s great about running a business in Oxfordshire?
In Oxfordshire, everyone seems to be very supportive, especially in this sector. It’s not a dog-eat dog [world]. Whereas in corporate, especially where I was before, it’s very much dog-eat-dog, everyone’s your competitor, everyone’s trying to outdo each other.
Whereas here, you’re not. You all want to help each other.
Here, you feel like, actually, if you want support you can go to somebody else and they’re not going to try to nick your idea. When I first started I used to worry a lot that if I told them too much people were just gonna take it away and try and do it themselves. Now, I don’t worry so much.
What support have you received through eScalate and how has it helped?
I have had the one-to-one support with Grant Hayward, I’m always emailing him. And, I’ve done a lot of the workshops as well.
I’m more of a creative than I am a business person. So I need other people to bat those ideas around with, someone to sit down and go: “Okay, lets just put all this out, lets have a look at it, lets time-line it”.
To have others to talk to, and moan with, and talk about the struggles we have had the last year. Just to get that off your chest and to know you’re not on your own, it’s like having an extended team that aren’t constantly always there, but you know are there if you need to reach out.
Why is ‘Purposeful Business’ important?
No matter what business you are, I think you have to have the purposefulness in mind, otherwise you become too focused on numbers and stop thinking that every number is a person. That’s something I’m very passionate about. You can’t get so caught up in business that you’re not thinking about the real people, you’re gonna go the wrong way. One you’re not putting back into society, and two, if you’re only thinking about numbers you’re not thinking about what your customers actually want and need.
The more you can do to support the local community, the more they’re gonna do to support you and help you thrive. If you want your customers to love you, you’ve got to be purposeful and give back.
How important is community to LifeatNo27?
Community is everything to what I do. Like any business, without a community we’re all back at square one with nothing but an idea. I need the community, because I need them to come to me if they’re struggling, I want them to feel comfortable that they can reach out. Also, I need the community because they’re the volunteers, they’re everything that makes my business a business and makes it successful.
What are your plans for next year?
As bad as it is, its to make more money. On my own individually, I can only help a certain number of people. If I make more money I can recruit and train more therapists which then means I can help and support more people across Oxfordshire that are struggling.
The other goal is for other businesses to see the value in supporting mental health services, that’s the other big part of what I do. I wrote a book which came out earlier this year, I do a lot of writing for garden magazines every month, and I do a lot of public speaking. That gives me a platform to get businesses to understand that they have to support therapy organisations. A lot of people blame the government and the NHS for not having the budget to support people, when actually it should be about the gardening industry supporting gardening therapy and big football clubs supporting sport therapy.
It’s about getting other businesses to become more purposeful and think about what they can do. Instead of just talking about how good these therapies are, to actually get behind those that fit with what their work is, and support them.
At what point would you sit-back and feel satisfied with what LifeatNo27 has achieved?
I know myself well enough to know it’s never going to completely happen, I’m one of those people. But there are points where even now I look at what I’m doing already and, if I stop, I think: that’s pretty good, you’ve done alright in such a short time frame. But then other parts of me go: I’m nowhere near where I want to be.
In an ideal world LifeatNo27 would be UK-wide with trained therapists across the country. Because that’s the only way we can make it a prescribed therapy [on the NHS]. The only way its possible is for a business like LifeatNo27 to roll it out and make it accessible and affordable for everyone. That’s probably the big goal, to have it everywhere.
What aspect of LifeatNo27 gives you the most pride?
Seeing the people that I support smile for the first time or talk to me for the first time; seeing those transitions and results that are different for every single person. I had one of the guys turn around to me and say that his mental health has never been better. Those are the moments I sit back and go: “Bloody hell love!”.
One other person told me “thank you for giving me a safe space I’ve never had before”. You can’t put any money on that, it’s the biggest sense of achievement.
Thanks to University of Oxford student, James Alexander for collecting and writing this case study for OSEP.