Our Story
The evolution of Root Connections
To tell the story of Roots, we first need to tell the story of Dairy House.
Without Dairy House, there would be no Root Connections.
In 2015, Mendip District Council, Addicott Partners (Manor Farm) and the Connect Centre launched Dairy House with a vision of creating a different kind of homelessness support service.
The community house model was developed by Suzanne Addicott, inspired by her experience working with a pioneering community house project in Hong Kong with St Stephen’s Society, founded by Jackie Pullinger.
Dairy House is not a typical hostel.
Set within a thousand acres of working farmland, woodland, orchards and gardens near Stratton-on-the-Fosse, Dairy House offers a safe and supportive residential environment where people can begin rebuilding their lives.
The project takes a holistic approach to recovery, combining person-centred support, therapeutic activities, community living and practical skills development. Together with partner agencies and volunteers, we help residents work towards sustainable housing pathways and a positive future.
In 2018, the Connect Centre secured funding from Somerset Community Foundation to establish a Community Interest Company (CIC), ensuring that all profits are reinvested into work supporting people experiencing homelessness. The idea came from an inspiring volunteer, Maria Read, who wished to find was to engage the residents of the Dairy House with the land around them.
From a simple veg patch, just metres from Dairy House, Root Connections was born.
Over the years, our organisation has developed into a community bolthole, where volunteers and beneficiaries tend to the land together, building their wellbeing, developing their skillset and finding community. We provide a space of wellness and community and, in return, our community enables us to generate income from our veg box and flower subscription services.
We also generate some income through our workshops, events and pop-up shop. Crucially, we rely on donations and grant money, without which we wouldn’t be able to fund our vital cause.
Who we help
Our mission is to improve health and wellbeing for adults, some with complex needs, primarily those who are rurally homeless and rough sleeping.
Our primary target beneficiaries are homeless people and those at risk of homelessness. However we also intend to be of benefit to:
People struggling with social isolation
People with mental health and wellbeing needs
People experiencing long term unemployment
People living in poverty and financial hardship
People with addiction issues
People with learning disabilities
Ex-offenders
People who have experienced crime or abuse
How we help
Root Connections has a mission to help support people in Somerset facing homelessness and those with other complex needs. We do this by inviting beneficiaries to help us in the garden and through this we build skills, build community, build confidence and build wellbeing.
Support plans are developed by our amazing garden team who are trained in therapeutic horticulture. When a beneficiary comes to Root Connections, they meet with a member of the team who talks to them about their wellbeing, current skill level, what they hope to achieve, what they want from Roots. We take the person that they already are and we help them to find a place in our community and in our garden. Often, we encounter beneficiaries who have so much to offer us.
A community built around belonging
Life at Root Connections is centred around community. Our beneficiaries and volunteers work the land together, they cook and eat together, take part in shared activities and develop skills through meaningful work and creativity.
Activities include:
gardening and growing food
creative garden-based arts
woodwork and pottery
outdoor and farm-based activities
Through these experiences, our beneficiaries have the opportunity to build confidence, develop new skills and reconnect with themselves and others.
The power of the garden
Many people experiencing homelessness in Somerset have become isolated from traditional support networks. Root Connections offers space, nature and community while beneficiaries prepare for their next steps. Our environment creates opportunities for people to contribute, learn and feel valued. Our beneficiaries are not simply receiving support; they become active members of a community.