Eric Hess

My initial background is in agriculture having spent 22 years in Israel, living on Kibbutz with the exception of army service and a four month visit to the U.S.A where I spent some of time working voluntarily in a home for people with mental illness, visiting communes and generally trying to understand more about life in the U.S.A. While still on the Kibbutz I did some voluntary work with two children who had suffered brain damage and went onto work for a school established on the Kibbutz for children with a learning disability. Upon returning to the U.K. I initially worked in the area of care working with a varied client group. I went to study for two years in Hull, U.K. gaining a certificate in teaching adults with learning disabilities.

Upon returning to London I worked for Mencap, a charity, which provides services to people with a learning disability. I went onto a post in a daycentre for adults with learning disabilities and established a horticultural project for the same client group. The goal was to create a more normal experience whereby people could equip themselves with horticultural, social skills and nurture their self esteem. The main produce was vegetables which were sold to the local community. During that time I trained in counselling and may present as an article some of my final piece for the course called 'Therapy on the run'.

If you take a look at my blog which at some point I will change to a website you will see that I engage in various activities such as bonsai landscapes on a Vietnamese theme, growing and trialling (for hardiness) tropical plants particularly semi-hardy bananas, vegetable gardening and general gardening. There is also mention of other activities I have mentioned these because I feel that these can be of great benefit particularly for people going through a difficult period. I feel that I can offer a service which can offer a number of different aspects such as: Counselling, Life Coaching, Horticultural Therapy ( particularly in the area of vegetable growing, working with people who have a learning disability. I am also a fluent Hebrew speaker. I would be happy to exchange ideas with people who have similar interests.