Hannah Temme - Founder at Regeneration Centre in Manchester UK.

Tell us about your current role and what it involves

I am the Founder and Director of Regeneration Centre, a community gardening Community Interest Company (CIC). This involves: the coordination of the company’s activities; its team and board members; its legal registration; its impact and vision. I created the organisation in order to make an impact on a cause I feel strongly about, to constantly develop knowledge and skills, and to spend time practically carrying out activities I enjoy, such as growing food and being outdoors. Being Director gives me the freedom and fulfilment of belief in what I am doing and seeing definite positive changes as a result.

What organisation do you work for?

Regeneration Centre works towards reconnecting low income and marginalised groups with nature, their food, their local green spaces and local communities. We do this through collective gardening and nature workshops, transforming neglected spaces of land into productive gardens that can provide residents and volunteers with access to nutritious organic produce, whilst developing skills to grow their own fruit and vegetables at home. These gardens will be the base locations for discussion groups, seasonal events, school workshops and become a hub for raising awareness about climate change, climate anxiety and environmentally conscious behaviour.

How did you find this job? 

I created this job as a result of my experience working within other grassroots organisations, such as Elevate Young Minds, seeing the possibilities of designing and implementing meaningful projects and the availability of funding for my area of interest and concern.

What do you enjoy about your job the most?

I love the creativity this job affords. I am able to envision a whole programme of communal development and put it into action by building partnerships, overcoming obstacles and being imaginative in our methods to achieve the envisioned impact. Implementing a programme from beginning to end requires a huge range of skills and motivation and I enjoy the challenges and personal development it brings. Finally, I enjoy the flexibility of this job - I determine the hours, location and activities of the projects and what kind of difference we will make. That is both collectively and personally empowering.

 What skills that you learnt at university have you been able to apply in your role? 

I use a diverse set of skills in my role, some of which I got through my specific university course and some of which are a result of the different assessment and learning styles. Public speaking and facilitation I developed through presentations, the course content taught me about recognising societal needs and developing solutions. University honed my writing skills, which have enabled me to write successful funding applications and determine effective communication methods, whilst the overall experience itself developed my self-motivation.