Bill Simpson swapped his public sector job for a career in horticulture and never looked back!
As a child, I remember helping my dad in the back garden with the vegetables he grew, though I must admit I was not always a willing participant. I didn’t get interested until I was in my 30s and had my own back garden.
In my early career I worked within the public sector, a job which in later years became increasingly stressful. Having become increasingly disillusioned with my work, I was ready for a change. On a holiday in Cornwall with my young family I visited The Eden Project. I was so inspired that in in 2006 I resigned from my job, moved to Cornwall and enrolled to study RHS Level 2 to retrain in horticulture. At the same time, I volunteered at The Eden Project to help increase my horticultural knowledge.
I went on to be employed as business manager and head grower for indoor crops at a community group from an Eden Project nursery and set the group up as a registered community interest company, becoming one of its directors. The eight years I spent there I will always remember with fondness for the people I like to think I supported, and some of my colleagues. I saw that gardening really helped people with huge issues to become more confident and happier in themselves and should be used more widely as a social prescription.
Since then, I’ve used gardening first in my own gardening business and then after my business had to stop due to Covid, for my own mental well-being. I’m semi-retired now and spend lots of my time in my allotment, which I took on two years ago. It’s great to do this as a hobby rather than work, and the pressures that could sometimes bring. I get so much joy growing healthy produce, not only for myself and my wife to eat, but I also get great pleasure gifting fruit and veg to family, friends, neighbours and to a local food pantry giving to those who are struggling with their daily finances. I would say I get the most pleasure from giving to others, it brings me so much satisfaction.
I found my RHS qualification helped me with propagation, crop choice and rotation, soil care, garden design, handling pests and diseases, and sustainability. The most pleasing benefit was not only learning from the first-class lecturers, but also learning from fellow students, many of whom already worked in the industry. It was a big learning curve for me. I enjoyed being part of a horticultural community, a place where we could swap ideas. Thou
