Showcasing our Community Wellbeing programme with Emmaus, Ipswich
The Emmaus Ipswich Community Wellbeing Project aimed to improve the physical and mental health, wellbeing, and resilience of local residents living near The Dales and The Royal Oak, two community hubs in Ipswich managed by Emmaus Suffolk.
The Emmaus Community Project delivered a series of bespoke interactive sessions designed to support participants’ physical, social, and educational development through a range of programmes focused on gardening, cooking, and outdoor activities. The overall project aimed to:
- Increase participants’ control over health and lifestyle choices
- Promote community ownership and volunteering opportunities
- Enhance practical life skills, including gardening, cooking, and budgeting
- Encourage physical activity, environmental awareness and sustainability
- Provide fun, family-friendly activities that integrate learning and practical engagement
Bespoke programmes
Four of our foundation projects were chosen to be delivered for this programme, to meet the requirements of the funder, and they were:
Get Outdoors, Get Active (GOGA)
A project that combines outdoor exercise with practical gardening and landscaping activities, improves physical health, strength, and stamina through active engagement in garden renovation tasks such as building raised beds, composting, and planting. It also builds confidence, teamwork, and community ownership while enhancing the usability and aesthetics of The Dales site.
Sprouting Out
Sprouting Out introduces adults to food growing and healthy cooking in an accessible, hands-on way. It promotes mental wellbeing through nature connection and nurturing plants from seed to harvest and encourages participants to adopt sustainable, affordable eating habits by using home grown produce in nutritious, low-cost meals.
Grow it, Cook it, Share it
This is designed for parents with early years children, encouraging family learning and healthy habits at home. It strengthens family relationships and supports early childhood development through shared participation, creativity, and communication whilst developing gardening and cooking skills through interactive, child-friendly activities.
Everyday Cooking
Short, one-off sessions focused on affordable meal preparation and reducing food waste. The session provides an opportunity for social connection and shared enjoyment through group cooking and communal meals. It also promotes nutritional awareness and creative cooking using low-cost or home-grown ingredients.
Together, these four programmes form a holistic, community-based approach to health and wellbeing, combining physical activity, nutrition education, practical skill development, and social connection. By embedding learning within the community spaces of The Dales and The Royal Oak, the project ensures lasting impact through improved facilities, stronger communities and participants who feel empowered to continue growing, cooking and using the garden spaces after the courses end.
Thank you ever so much for four lovely sessions at the Royal Oak! It’s very rare you find an activity so interactive, family friendly and educational for free! It’s been lovely getting Teddy involved with the growing of different plants and allowing him to see the process of them growing to being ready to make into delicious dishes to enjoy! Teddy has enjoyed trying the recipes at home and telling all of his family about what he has grown. We would love to come again in the future if we are lucky enough for you to visit again
Project participant
Our Emmaus Ipswich Pilot Project 2025 has proven to be an inspiring and practical model for community-based learning and wellbeing using a combination of some our established programmes to meet chosen requirements and output. It has delivered measurable outcomes in wellbeing, sustainability, and community cohesion, and also created a replicable model for future projects. It stands as a testament to what can be achieved when practical skill development, environmental awareness, and social connection come together in a supportive, hands-on learning environment.
If this is something that you would like to bring to your community then get in touch with us to see what we can build with you.
We are huge believers in collaboration as the way forward and we would love to hear from you.