Recovery Through Purpose

Our Work-Based Programme

At River Garden, we believe true recovery means building a life worth living. Our work-based programme is central to your therapeutic experience, focusing on meaningful contribution, skill development, and discovering new purpose.

The programme is structured around five core days of meaningful activity, averaging five hours per day, covering:

Hospitality and Culinary Arts (The Bothy Café)

Gain real-world experience in our successful commercial café. Training includes:

  • Front-of-House: Barista skills, customer care, and payment management.
  • Back-of-House: Food preparation, baking, and professional cooking techniques.
Woman in apron holds two trays of scones in a commercial kitchen.
A man waters plants while a woman holds a potted poinsettia in a greenhouse.

Horticultural Enterprise

Our estate serves as a living classroom. You will gain hands-on experience in:

  • Grounds maintenance and landscaping.
  • Commercial production in polytunnels, cultivating produce, plants, and creating seasonal arrangements.

Woodcraft and Fabrication

Work in our fully equipped workshop, learning to use hand and powered tools while crafting items from garden furniture to conservation structures (like hedgehog homes).

Wooden cutting boards drying on racks in a workshop.
Beekeeper in a protective suit inspecting beehives outdoors.

Supporting Nature, Building Sustainability

Engage in conservation work, habitat creation (including supporting local beehives), and sustainable practices like waste management and reducing our carbon footprint.

Career Development and Progression

Your recovery is the main project, but your future career is paramount. Our Key Workers and Employment Coordinator will proactively source external training, supervision, and placements with employers local to Ayr and in your own community to ensure you achieve your professional aspirations.

Brick building and pathway with black railing next to a row of greenhouses.
Man in green shirt pushes a wheelbarrow along a gravel path in a garden.
Beekeeper tending hives in a garden; person wearing River Garden shirt in the foreground.
Two people harvesting apples in an orchard, wearing green uniforms. Man on a ladder picking apples, woman holding a basket.